File photo
24-hour subway
service returns
COURIER LIFE, MAY 7-13, 2021 5
BY MARK HALLUM
New York straphangers will
once again be able to surf the
subway system around the clock
beginning on May 17, as Gov. Andrew
Cuomo announced plans
to reopen 24/7 service as part of
a regional reopening plan.
The controversial overnight
shutdown from 2 am to 4 am was
ostensibly to “clean” the subway
system, although many transit
advocates argued that train cars
could be cleaned while open to
the public. Adding to their ire,
MTA offi cials still kept the subway
cars moving on a normal
schedule, but stations were simply
closed to ordinary New Yorkers.
Now, though, with 7 million
New Yorkers across the state
getting vaccinated, MTA offi -
cials will once agains restore
overnight service to the largest
subway system in America.
Gov. Cuomo hailed the overnight
closure as an effective way
of removing homeless people
from the subways, saying the
unhoused population was effi -
ciently transferred to “supportive
services” at the end of each
night.
“I can’t tell you how many
New Yorkers say to me, there
were fewer homeless, who are
now on the trains because when
they closed in the evening for a
couple of hours at night. They
did the cleaning and they refer
the homeless to supportive services
which is what they needed
in the fi rst place,” Cuomo said.
“Nobody wants the MTA to
now go back to the old days. So
I told the MTA — for my two
cents — 24-hour service, yes,
but trains must remain clean
and we have to help the homeless,
and we can’t go backwards
on the quality of service,” he
added.
Transport Workers Union
Local 100, which represents up
to 40,000 MTA employees, had
some concerns about the resumption
of the New York City
staple of overnight mass transit
service.
“Felony assaults are up 42
percent this year compared to
three years ago – when there
were three million more people
using the subway every day,”
Local 100 President Tony Utano
said. “Restoring 24-hour subway
service is a great idea, but
the city has to add more mental
health services, homeless outreach,
and uniformed police offi
cers to the system. Too many
transit workers and riders are
being harassed and assaulted
right now with the current
hours of operation.”
Cuomo also attempted to
reconcile the possibly false pretense
of cleaning surfaces when
the scientifi c community has
known for months COVID-19
does not spread via surfaces by
explaining that the effort instituted
under his direction made
people feel better about riding
while giving homeless New
Yorkers options between the
streets and shelter.
“Riders organized and won
back 24/7 subway service. After
more than a year of punishing
overnight commutes that
impacted tens of thousands of
essential workers, New Yorkers
will see a long-overdue return to
a crucial part of normalcy,” Riders
Alliance Executive Director
Betsy Plum said. “New York is a
24/7 city because of our subway.
The restoration of 24/7 service
is a victory not only for the city’s
reopening but for New Yorkers’
determination to hold our public
offi cials accountable.”
coming back
COVID rate drops to new low
Seven other areas of the
city had registered 5 percent
or higher seven-day positivity
rates between April 23-29
– three of them in Brooklyn:
Cypress Hills/East New
York (11207, 5.43 percent),
Sunset Park (11220, 5.39
percent), and Gravesend/
Homecrest (11223, 5.26 percent).
Other areas with 5
percent or higher seven-day
positivity rates included
Richmond Hill, Queens
(11418, 5.69 percent), Charleston/
Prince’s Bay/Woodrow,
Staten Island (10309, 5.55
percent); and and Tottenville,
Staten Island (10307,
5.18 percent).
Highest number of new
infections
As for the highest raw
number of new COVID-19
infections, two areas of Cypress
Hills/East New York
occupy the top two spots in
the city. Between April 23-
29, the 11207 ZIP code registered
183 cases, while the
11208 ZIP code logged 150
infections — a combined 333
cases.
Yet that number was
still 21.6 percent fewer than
the tally recorded between
Mary Altaffer/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo
April 13-19, when the 11208
ZIP code had 257 cases and
11207 ZIP code had 168 infections
— a combined 425
cases.
Brooklyn areas dominated
the top 10 list of highest
total infections between
April 23-29. Along with Cypress
Hills/East New York,
the other areas of the borough
on the list include
Sunset Park (11220, 147
cases); Ocean Hill/Brownsville
(11212, 123 cases); Gravesend/
Homecrest (11223,
117 cases); Flatbush/Prospect
Lefferts Gardens
(11226, 108 cases); and Canarsie
(11236, 104 cases).
Manhattan continues
to have the fewest new
COVID-19 cases in the city,
with seven areas logging
three or fewer cases total
between April 23-29. The Financial
District (ZIP codes
10004 and 10006) and Battery
Park City (ZIP codes
10280 and 10282) each had a
combined three cases.
Two ZIP codes outside of
Manhattan — City Island,
Bronx (10464) and Douglaston/
Little Neck, Queens
(11363) each had just one
COVID-19 case.
The steep reduction in
COVID-19 cases indicated
in city’s Health Department
data seems to be confi
rmed through state Health
Department fi gures announced
on Sunday.
Statewide stats
New York’s statewide
seven-day positivity rate,
as of May 1, was down to
1.49 percent — with New
York City registering a 1.78
percent rate. Of the 2,849
new positive cases reported
on May 1, 1,304 of them (45.7
percent) emanated from the
fi ve boroughs.
The reduced statewide
positivity rate, according to
Gov. Andrew Cuomo, is the
lowest fi gure since October
2020. Hospitalizations,
intensive care admissions
and intubations are also
continuing to drop.
Even with the slowing
spread of COVID-19, the virus
continues to kill people.
Another 33 New York state
residents died of the virus
on May 1 — including four
in the Bronx, six in Brooklyn,
one in Manhattan,
eight in Queens and two on
Staten Island.