Schumer Says: MTA Must Restore Around-The-Clock Subway Service

     Mayor Bill de Blasio has said he wanted to fully reopen New York City by July 1, a date that he feels is also “the right time” for fully restored subway service, however, U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer (NY-D) says the time to bring back its around-the-clock subway service is now: a year after the subway first closed daily from 1am to 5am for disinfection during the pandemic. On Feb. 22, the overnight shutdown decreased from 2 am to 4am.

     “The city that never sleeps is waking up from COVID, and so should the subway,” said Sen. Schumer.

     Pointing to a significant jump in subway ridership, a drop in the number of coronavirus cases reported in the city, and that approximately half of all the adults in the city have had at least one vaccine dose, Sen. Schumer, who is the U.S. Senate Majority Leader, says the system should resume 24-hour service immediately.

     Sen. Schumer says that he worked to secure billions of dollars in the federal stimulus for MTA to serve New Yorkers who “rely on it fully functioning.”

     According to the MTA, before COVID, 11,000 customers typically used the subway between 1 a.m. and 5 a.m.

     New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who controls the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, has the power to restore 24-hour service on the subways, but neither he nor the MTA has announced a specific date for when around-the-clock service might return.