As New York City opened up, Gov. Andrew Cuomo took the 7 Train Monday to show how safe MTA buses and trains are for residents to use.
The governor praised the MTA for using the past month to perform some 30,000 station cleanings and disinfections, and some 500,000 subway car cleanings and disinfections. Those cleanings and disinfections would occur daily, he said, some through the use of UV light technology.
“New York City and the MTA are reopening, and today I took a ride on the 7 Train because if the subway isn’t safe for me, then I wouldn’t ask anyone else to go on the subway,” Cuomo said. “The MTA has done phenomenal work – the subway cars are cleaner than they have ever been in my lifetime, and they are disinfecting the cars every single day. And during this period of reduced ridership, the MTA has also smartly increased their construction, so fewer riders were inconvenienced and accelerated $2 billion in capital projects.”
The capital projects would include: rehabilitating the F Train’s Rutgers Tube, four years ahead of schedule; accelerating construction on 11 ADA stations, including adding 24 new elevators; rehabilitating the 138th Street Grand Concourse Station; and accelerating the repairs to steel and concrete defects and leaks at the 2/3, 4/5 Train’s Eastern Parkway Line in Brooklyn.
Cuomo also reminded New Yorkers that masks are mandatory when riding public transportation systems and that residents should follow all public health guidelines, including maintaining social distancing whenever possible and using hand sanitizer. The state will also be providing the MTA with over a million masks and 25,000 gallons of hand sanitizer in 500,000 2-ounce bottles.