NEW YORK, NY — The following statement by Coalition for the Homeless is in response to last night’s subway shutdown. Last week Mayor de Blasio and Governor Cuomo announced a new policy to close the subway nightly from 1:00AM to 5:00AM to remove homeless New Yorkers who are using the subway as refuge. “Last night, the MTA and the NYPD began implementing a policy that is pushing hundreds of vulnerable homeless people into the streets in the middle of a pandemic. Meanwhile, thousands of hotel rooms sit empty — places that could be used to help homeless New Yorkers get back on their feet and maintain safe social distancing. The City and State are failing our homeless neighbors at a time when their very lives are at risk and when the solution is so easy and obvious,” said Giselle Routhier, Policy Director at Coalition for the Homeless.
