Coronavirus Closure? New York City Council Members Request Temporary Shutdown Of Subway, Bus Service
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Four members of the New York City Council have issued a request to temporarily close the city's transit system.
Council Member Robert Holden has written to Gov. Andrew Cuomo's office, saying subways and buses should be shut down for at least one week to allow for a deep clean.
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The letter cites the high rate of coronavirus deaths among MTA workers.
The council members want the city and state to partner with for-hire vehicle services to provide rides to essential workers during the closure.
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The MTA issued the following statement regarding the request:
"What these council members don't realize is that shutting down mass transit during this unprecedented crisis would be dangerous and could lead to even more deaths. Even with subway ridership down more than 90 percent, we are making it possible for doctors, nurses, first responders, grocery and pharmacy workers, and other essential personnel to get to work and save lives. The MTA has led the nation in its efforts to protect its employees and customers, disinfecting its stations and rolling stock daily and even breaking away from federal guidance and providing hundreds of thousands of masks to our heroic workforce before the CDC recommended it."
The MTA says it is using "enhanced sanitizing procedures," disinfecting trains and buses every day and disinfecting stations twice a day.
