Gothamist
A non-profit newsroom, powered by WNYC.
Gothamist
Listen Live
News
As NYC Reopens, Pressure Mounts On Cuomo To Restore Overnight Subway Service
By
Jake Offenhartz
Published Apr 29, 2021
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
Never miss a story
Email address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .
Scott Heins/Gothamist
By
Jake Offenhartz
Published Apr 29, 2021
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
We rely on your support to make local news available to all
Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2026. Donate today
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
New Yorkers can soon buy a beer without a cheese sandwich or stale chips. Starting next month, the city’s bars and restaurants will no longer abide by any curfew at all. By July 1st, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced on Thursday, New York City aims to “fully reopen" after over a year of state-mandated restrictions intended to slow the spread of COVID-19.
But as the city’s coronavirus infections begin to recede and the pace of reopening starts to quicken, one hallmark of city life remains stubbornly dormant: 24 hour subway service. Nearly a year after the system shuttered overnight for the first time in its 116 year history, neither Governor Andrew Cuomo nor the MTA have put forward a specific date for when it might return.
The lack of information has frustrated transit riders, lawmakers, and multiple MTA board members, who said they never got a say on the major service disruption in the first place. More than two-thirds of New York City residents support a return to overnight subway service, according to a poll conducted earlier this month.
“It’s past time to do this,” Andrew Albert, a rider representative on the MTA board**,** told Gothamist on Wednesday. He added that the decision hinged on when Cuomo, who controls the transit authority, decides to give the green light to reopen.
David Jones, another MTA board member, echoed the call: “This was never fully discussed about how long this was going to last. The rationale for it has kept changing... I’m in favor of immediately setting a date for reopening.”
Transit officials have repeatedly said that overnight subway service will return once the pandemic is over, but declined to offer details about how that determination would be reached. Earlier this week, NYC Transit President Sarah Feinberg said the agency would “get there on 24/7 service soon.” Feinberg previously indicated the closure would last at least until summer.
In February, Cuomo announced that the system would be shuttered from 2 a.m. to 4 a.m., a narrower window from the original 1 a.m. to 5 a.m. closure implemented last May. The governor has maintained that a return to 24 hour service would prevent necessary deep cleaning each night, despite the federal guidance that the risk of surface transmission is low,
The closure has also enabled the MTA to rid the subway system of its overnight homeless population, a group that the governor described as “disgusting” and “disrespectful” in the week leading up to the decision. A spokesperson for the Governor's Office did not respond to Gothamist's inquiries.
“It's his political calculation,” said Danny Pearlstein, the policy and communications director at the Riders Alliance, which has pushed for months for the system to be restored. “Everyone at the MTA is waiting for the governor to make the call.”
Cuomo’s announcement on Wednesday that the curfew on bars and restaurants would lift next month has also increased pressure to bring back overnight service. In a tweet, Andrew Rigie, the head of the NYC Hospitality Alliance, noted that “restoring 24/7 subway service will be critical for workers and customers.”
Under legislation passed by the State Senate, the MTA would be required to reopen full subway service once the COVID-19 State of Emergency is no longer in effect. State Senator Brad Hoylman, who sponsored the legislation, told Gothamist on Wednesday that additional measures could be introduced to force the return of overnight service if the governor drags his feet on lifting the State of Emergency.
Earlier this week, the state legislature took its first step to repeal an emergency order issued by the governor, moving to repeal the directive requiring that food be purchased with alcohol.
“The legislature wants to have a role in a lot of these decisions made at the height of the pandemic,” Hoylman told Gothamist. “The city's opening to business, workers have to get to their jobs. Now is the time to restore normalcy to our transit system.”
Tagged
we the commuters
subway service
MTA
Jake Offenhartz
Jake Offenhartz is a former Gothamist reporter.
Read more
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
MORE news
A flood watch issued for New York City as heavy rains and thunderstorms roll in
Wet weather is expected to clear in time for a relatively dry weekend.
By
Brittany Kriegstein
Published Aug 27, 2026 at 8:12 a.m. ET
‘I just close’: Bodega workers weigh protections after Bronx, Brooklyn killings
Police are searching for Jesus Acosta after killings at stores in the Bronx and Brooklyn. A bodega group is calling for new protections.
By
Charles Lane
News
‘I just close’: Bodega workers weigh protections after Bronx, Brooklyn killings
Police are searching for Jesus Acosta after killings at stores in the Bronx and Brooklyn. A bodega group is calling for new protections.
By
Charles Lane
NYC ‘Rocky Horror’ fans do the 'Time Warp' again for Tim Curry
By
Giulia Heyward
and
Phil Corso
Brooklyn bar owner details Adams-era NYPD shakedown claims in $6M lawsuit
By
Ben Feuerherd
West Point professor says he was pushed out for objecting to climate directive
By
Ryan Kost
Never miss a story
Catch up on the most important headlines with a roundup of essential NYC stories, delivered to your inbox daily.
Sign upEmail address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .