The city deployed 1,000 cops across the subway system early this morning to enforce the governor's historic 1 am. to 5 a.m. shutdown, which will remain in effect, he says, until the pandemic is over.
The Post's preview coverage really played up the NYPD's belief that all will go smoothly. “There is no refusal," Chief of Department Terence Monahan told reporters. "People have to get off the subway.” (This from the paper that just the other day criticized the NYPD for "Orwellian" over-enforcement of social distancing rules.)
Do we really think this policing is going to work out well? It isn't already (NY Post, NYDN, NY Times)
Meanwhile, Gothamist offered a full guide to the shutdown (as we said, it's historic!). The Times has an op-ed from a frustrated conductor/sacrificial lamb (the City offered the perspective of bus drivers). The Daily News editorial board was fine with evicting the homeless (“and the unwashed”) but Guse of the Newsuh offered an epicly different take:
Cuomo demanded the subway be disinfected daily, and the MTA had to hire private contractors to get the job done.
— Clayton Guse (@ClaytonGuse) May 6, 2020
The company hired to clean Flatbush Ave station last night pays its employees like crap (~$18/hr). Six of the 12-person crew at the terminal walked off the job.
In other news from a slow day:
- The Daily News had more details on the cyclist who was killed by a driver yesterday morning.
- Just when no one trusts him to bring back 24-7 subway service when all this is over, not Gov. Cuomo is trash talking the trains. (NY Post)
- There's a Mayberry quality to this amNY story about a thief who stole someone's bike, but we're glad the paper covered it.
- Subway robberies are still up, despite the deep decline in ridership. (NY Post)
- The usually excellent Michael Kimmelman missed a big opportunity to critique the city's mismanagement of the Brooklyn Bridge footpath in his otherwise solid feature on the fabled span. (Times)
- Our friends at Streetopia UWS are asking residents where they want critical street safety improvements. Take the survey here.
