Subways Set Pandemic High Last Week With 2.3M Riders, MTA Says

NEW YORK CITY — New York City's subways set a pandemic ridership record last week as the city took its first steps toward a true "reopening."

More than 2.3 million riders rode the subway on May 21, MTA officials said.

The tally came Friday during a week in which subway service returned to 24/7 service and many coronavirus restrictions lifted in the city.

“This new record shows people are returning to their everyday lives and returning to the subway for their commuting needs," Sarah Feinberg, interim director of city transit. "There is more progress to be made, more milestones ahead, but we are very encouraged to see this trend continue into the summer."

The single-day tally eclipsed the previous record of 2.2 million passengers set May 14, officials said.

The ridership total is impressive post-pandemic — a time when New Yorkers by-and-large avoided subway — but still doesn't come close to the daily number of 5.5 million seen in 2019.

MTA officials have taken pains to emphasize the system is cleaner than ever. But they've stopped short of calling it safe — in fact, transit officials have engaged in a back-and-forth feud with Mayor Bill de Blasio over a spate of high-profile attacks.

De Blasio, after accusing MTA officials of fearmongering over safety, last week pledged additional NYPD officers to police the system. Those officers still might not be enough, MTA officials warned.

Regardless of whether safety fears are keeping wider swaths of New Yorkers from subways, it appears many are more comfortable returning to the MTA system.

The Long Island Rail Road and Metro-North Railroad set pandemic records last week, with respective days of 110,100 and 94,500 customers, officials said.

And MTA's bridges and tunnels saw roughly 966,000 vehicles cross on May 21, the most in 15 months, officials said.