Shame on Mayor Adams, the MTA and NYPD – Subways Unmasked

So, you thought Bill de Blasio was goofy? With more bluster and little or no actual affect, Mayor Eric Adams may soon pass de Blasio’s worst. How can he keep crime out of the subways if his NYPD troops can’t even get people to wear face masks? As infections soar, big talk doesn’t even rise to the level of political hot air as New Yorkers are routinely exposed to COVID in mask-free, crowded subway cars.

by David Stone

The Roosevelt Island Daily News

Shortly after I took this picture, a woman reproached me. “You don’t have to wear masks on the subways anymore,” she insisted.

“Yes, you do,” I said.

Masks are still required at indoor train stations and on board subways, commuter rail, buses, and paratransit vehicles. You do not have to wear a mask at outdoor train stations and platforms, or at bus stops. You must wear a mask once you board a train, bus or paratransit vehicle.

The MTA Website

“They took it off planes,” she argued.

After realizing that showing her that subway cars don’t have wings would not change her mind, I gradually realized that the lack of protection we deal with on subways is not entirely her fault.

Look around. Not a single sign in the car about face masks. Also not in the hectic Union Square Station. The mayor, the media and the MTA are silent, but infection rates are soaring. Safe to say, no one is doing anywhere near enough to protect us from the newest infection wave or the next one after.

The greater problem may be that Adams, like Governor Kathy Hochul, has bought into politics as marketing. Democrats are late to the game. Republicans have done this for decades.

But presenting an impressive package geared to what marketing says people like supplants actual substance in politics now. And like all marketing, what you’re actually doing may be completely different. It’s all about closing the sale.

It Can Be Done, If You Want It…

On small potatoes Roosevelt Island, Public Safety stepped up enforcement of face mask rules, and you can see the results.

The ever bumbling MTA scratches its collective head, unable to figure out why ridership is not up, while you’re more likely to see a maskless city cop playing games on a cellphone than one even hinting at mask enforcement, is what defenseless riders are stuck with.

Don’t be so hard on old Bill de Blasio. If he had a marketing team like Mayor Eric Adams has, he’d be president now, no tangible accomplishments needed.

davidstone1313

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