Cuomo demands action on homeless in the subways
The gov’s letter to MTA board comes a day after agency celebrates on-time milestone
BY BILL PARRY
The MTA announced a
“major milestone” on July
11 that subway on-time
performance hit 81.5 percent
in June, the first time it’s been
above 80 percent in nearly
six years.
MTA Chairman Patrick
Foye pointed to the Subway
Action Plan launched by
Governor Andrew Cuomo
and former MTA boss Joe
Lhota as the reason for “more
than six months of sustained
improvement” in the
subway system.
One day later, Cuomo
demanded more.
The governor fired off a
letter on July 12 to the MTA
Board of Directors urging
them to address the increasing
problem of homelessness on
the subways.
In 2018, there were 1,771
homeless people living in the
subway, but that number surged
to 2,178 in 2019, an increase
of 23 percent according to
the MTA’s own statistics,
and trains were delayed 659
times in 2018 by homeless
people who were walking on
the tracks, and engaging in
disruptive and dangerous
behavior including blocking
train doors, something Cuomo
called a “staggering 54 percent
increase from the 428 homeless
related delays in 2014.
“New Yorkers are
unfortunately accustomed
to having homeless issues on
trains and in the terminals
during the winter months,
but this has now become a
year-round phenomenon,”
Cuomo wrote. “Homeless
people often pose a danger to
themselves and others. This is
another example of a problem
long discussed but short
on constructive progress.
The discussion has had the
NYPD point to the MTA and
the MTA point to the NYPD.
Let’s end that exercise and
point forward.”
Cuomo demanded the MTA
develop a comprehensive
outreach plan that coordinates
MTA personnel, social service
providers and shelter and
supportive housing providers
to help the homeless out of
the system and into safe,
supportive environments.
“There is no ‘reinvention
of the wheel’ necessary in this
case,” Cuomo wrote. “Society
serves no one by allowing
homeless individuals who need
help to inhabit the subways.
Let’s actually focus on helping
the homeless, rather than
Photo via Getty Images
political posturing. This is
not an issue for helping the
homeless or the subway riders;
that is a false choice. We must
serve both.”
MTA Chair Patrick Foye
agreed with Cuomo’s stance
that the MTA must act in the
interest of all their customers.
“Homelessness is a serious
societal problem and a critical
matter in the subway system
where it’s recently on the
rise; we fully agree with
the Governor that the MTA
address this issue as part of
its reorganization plan to
become a more customercentric
organization focused
on providing safe and
dependable service to all of
our customers.”
Cuomo added that if the
MTA needs more police or
social service providers
they should make that
adjustment now.
“Change is possible. Two
years ago the system faced a
crisis, and with the Subway
Action Plan we aggressively
implemented a centralized
emergency management
system that sowed that,
despite the bureaucracies’
resistance to change, with a
new way of doing business,
real progress could be
achieved,” Cuomo concluded.
“While bureaucratic change
always brings disruption and
controversy, for the MTA, the
unwillingness or inability to
change continues the status
quo and ensures failure.”
8 TIMESLEDGER, JULY 19-25, 2019 QNS.COM
/QNS.COM
