NYC Subway System To Close Nightly For Disinfecting

The New York Post reports:

The transit system that never sleeps is taking a snooze. New York’s 24/7 subway system will shutter nightly from 1 a.m. to 5 a.m. to facilitate coronavirus cleaning, Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced Thursday in a historic move.

“You never had a challenge of disinfecting every train every 24 hours,” said Cuomo in an Albany press briefing, referring to the challenge he’d put earlier this week to the MTA. “It can best be done by stopping train service from 1 a.m. to 5 a.m. every night.”

The New York Times reports:

The policy will go into effect next Wednesday, May 6, the governor said, and will interrupt service on one of the few subways in the world that runs around the clock. “This is as ambitious as anything we’ve ever undertaken,” the governor said.

He said that shuttle buses, dollar vans and even for-hire vehicles would provide what he called an “essential connector” during those hours to transport essential workers who needed to get to their jobs.

The announcement comes after days of building tension over homeless people using subway trains as an alternative form of shelter and creating what many felt were unsanitary conditions on trains.

The New York City subway will halt service from 1 a.m. to 5 a.m. every night in order to disinfect each train, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said https://t.co/77k0xE481I pic.twitter.com/poG2PuWewZ

— The New York Times (@nytimes) April 30, 2020

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo outlines a plan to suspend New York City subway service for four hours every night to disinfect the trains https://t.co/YG9enewDDm pic.twitter.com/2CTacnAGGf

— CNN Breaking News (@cnnbrk) April 30, 2020

NEW: New York City’s subway system to be shuttered overnight from 1am to 5am according to Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Mayor Bill de Blasio.

This follows multiple published reports about a growing homeless population and poor sanitary conditions that had been growing for weeks.

— Tom Winter (@Tom_Winter) April 30, 2020

This is very significant for NYC. The MTA will stop subway train service between 1 and 5aET in order to disinfect the system, Gov. Cuomo announced Thursday morning, adding they will provide free vehicle transportation for essential workers during this time.

— Shimon Prokupecz (@ShimonPro) April 30, 2020