Subways Will Return To 24/7 Service Starting May 17, Cuomo Says

NEW YORK CITY — Round-the-clock subway service in New York City will resume May 17 after more than a year of late-night, pandemic-related closures.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo made the announcement Monday morning following days of increased pressure — including from Sen. Chuck Schumer — to fully reopen the subways.

He wrapped it into a broader swath of reopening announcements that end most pandemic-related capacity limits and eliminate restaurant curfews.

"Now you'll have people working till 4 o'clock in the morning again, so the MTA will resume their 24-hour service on May 17 to coordinate with the economic and social... activity increase," he said.

The MTA will resume 24-hour subway service beginning Monday, May 17.

The improvements to the MTA in cleanliness and quality of service will continue.
— Andrew Cuomo (@NYGovCuomo) May 3, 2021

Trains stopped running overnight — an unprecedented step in the transit service's history — during the pandemic so MTA crews could clean and disinfect subway cars.

They're now closed between 2 a.m. to 4 a.m. — and many riders, advocates local leaders and politicians have increasingly called for the closures to end in order to hasten the city's burgeoning reopening.

Over the weekend, Schumer declared it "high time" to reopen the subway, especially with the city's restaurant and bar curfew ending.

“The city that never sleeps is slowly—but surely—living up to its name again and waking up from the COVID-19 pandemic, but so should the subway system—and ASAP,” Schumer said in a statement. “Workers and riders need a fully functioning, 24/7 subway system badly, especially with restaurant and bar curfews slated to end. We already hear the stories of people left largely stranded during the current late-night shutdown, and the thing is, it will only get worse as the city fully reopens. To keep this recovery and good trend going, we need the subways working around-the-clock."

Cuomo appeared to heed Schumer's call. He prefaced his announcement by pointing out coronavirus rates continue to dip and vaccinations, while flagging, have protected wide swaths of New Yorkers.

He said called for city, MTA and NYPD officials to keep up steps related to cleanliness and homeless people on the subway.

"We cannot go backwards on the quality of service," he said.