In a surprise announcement today, New York City Transit Authority interim president Sarah Feinberg said subways will take the first step back toward full time service next week.
In May as the pandemic raged, New York subways initiated a first ever regular, planned closing.
Trains were officially shutdown from 1:00 to 5:00 a.m. daily, allowing for deep cleaning in combating the coronavirus. Some trains kept running on a limited basis, however, because city employees needed them and because the MTA simply didn’t have anywhere to park all the idled trains.
It was also widely seen as a tactic for removing homeless New Yorkers out of the system and into shelters.
But that’s changing, a positive sign on short notice.
Effective Monday, February 22nd, NYCTA will limit closings to a window of 2:00 to 4:00 a.m.
Feinberg characterized it as the start of a “return to normalcy,” music to a lot of ears.
“I Can Ask”
Chair Fay Christian opened the Operations Advisory Committee on February 12th, reading out member names from a prepared sheet that omitted Melissa Wade. It didn’t feel intentional, but it struck me as odd precisely because it came from something prepared. Lydia Tang gently corrected her, noting that Wade was, in fact, a member of the committee. Wade met the moment with grace, or perhaps she simply wasn’t bothered by it.
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