NEW YORK (WCBS 880) — Don't expect 24-hour subway service to resume for the foreseeable future.
MTA Chairman and CEO Pat Foye told a City Council hearing on Wednesday that the 1 a.m. to 5 a.m. subway shutdown is the only way the agency can clean the system.
He cited government guidance explaining that frequent cleaning is necessary because "surfaces are still recognized as a route for exposure."
"Significant disinfecting of transit properties across the countries is recommended by the FDA and the CDC," Foye said.
Foye said overnight service won't resume until Gov. Andrew Cuomo's pandemic emergency order ends.
"When the governor declares the pandemic over and lifts the state of emergency, we will promptly move to return the 1 a.m. to 5.a.m service and we look forward to that date coming as early as possible," Foye said.
Mayor Bill de Blasio said he believes 24/7 subway service should be reinstated, but not yet.
"I think right now, we're still bringing back the city," de Blasio said. "I want to get to a point where we have seen how we handle these variants, we are certain about the trajectory that we're on, and we see a lot more people vaccinated and then the day's going to come where it makes sense to go back to 24/7 subway service."
The mayor said he will be a voice for 24/7 subway service "when we are certain that we've reached the right point both on a health level and in terms of our recovery."
Meanwhile, Dr. Emanuel Goldman, who teaches microbiology at Rutgers-NJ Medical School, disputes Foye's reasoning for keeping the subways shut overnight.
"He hasn't looked at the CDC statement on Oct. 28 which said that spreading COVID-19 through touching surfaces is not thought to be the way this virus is commonly spread," Goldman said, adding that airborne transmission is the greater threat. "He's wasting a lot of time, energy and effort with this deep cleaning."
Godlman said the virus does not move very well outside of humans and a standard cleaning would get the job done.
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