- The New York MTA said on Twitter that it removed banks from the stations “to prevent homeless people from sleeping in them”.
- The deleted tweet generated an immediate reaction from thousands of people on Twitter.
- An MTA spokesman said the tweet “was posted by mistake”.
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The Metropolitan Transportation Authority, the agency responsible for the New York subway system, got angry on Friday when it said on Twitter that it had removed seats from subway stations in an effort to prevent homeless people from sleeping on them.
On Friday morning, a Twitter user took a photo at the 23rd Street subway station in Manhattan that showed a platform without seats. To inquire about the lack of seats, he tagged the official MTA account next to the photo. About 20 minutes later, he received a response from @NYCTSubway, the account used by the MTA to facilitate customer service and announce changes to the subway service.
“Hi, Jeremy,” read the reply sent by an individual identified as “JP”. “Benches have been removed from the stations to prevent homeless people from sleeping on them.”
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The tweet generated outrage, eliciting hundreds of responses and thousands of tweets with quotes, which are similar to the responses, but allow Twitter users to share the original tweet in their timelines. Some called the policy “totally bad“and”cruel, “while others said the removal of the seats would have ramifications for people with disabilities who depend on the seats while waiting for trains to arrive at stations.
The MTA deleted the tweet on Saturday afternoon.
In this deleted tweet, the MTA said it removed banks from subway stations to “prevent homeless people from sleeping on them”. Screenshot via Twitter
In a statement to Insider, an MTA spokesman said the tweet was a mistake.
“The tweet was posted by mistake and has since been removed. The subway is not a substitute for a shelter and homeless New Yorkers deserve much better service. We have been working with the city on this important issue and we ask for a more dedicated mental health and medical resources that are urgently needed to resolve the homeless crisis that was exacerbated by the pandemic. “
“As someone with arthritis, it is great to know that I will now feel immense pain in order to prevent someone else from suffering less.” a woman said in a tweet.
“I am disabled, so not having a place to sit causes real damage”, another said.
Others said they were surprised that an MTA representative would willingly admit such a policy.
“You must be new – you must come up with a plausible excuse that doesn’t make the agency sound like it’s run by monsters.” one person tweeted.
It is unclear where, how many locations, or when the MTA removed seats from subway stations, and the agency refused to answer follow-up questions. According to a February 2020 report by Gothamist, the agency last year removed the backs of about a dozen banks at the West 4th Street subway station to reduce the number of “people sleeping at that troubled station”.
As Gothamist noted, the MTA in the past has drawn the ire of homeless advocates, as agency officials in the past blamed the homeless for causing unsanitary conditions at stations, being disruptive and causing train delays.
Defenders also questioned New York City’s “Subway diversion program” last year, implemented in 2019 and defended by Mayor Bill de Blasio. Proponents said the program failed to address the root causes of homelessness and instead used the police to criminalize homeless people. The program was quietly discontinued in July 2020, NY1 reported.
The MTA also faced criticism for its decision last May to close metro stations from 1 am to 5 am, in what it considered an effort to disinfect the stations to prevent the spread of COVID-19. The announcement was made by New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, who controls the MTA.
Cuomo’s office did not return Insider’s request for comment.
“The ongoing efforts of MTA and the city to discourage homeless New Yorkers from staying on the subways are not only cruel, but also counterproductive,” Josh Dean, executive director of Human.nyc, a New York organization focused on “homeless homeless people. “said Insider.
“Moving people back and forth makes it infinitely more difficult for people to secure permanent housing, as it becomes almost impossible for homeless support teams to keep in touch and work with people during the city’s bureaucratic nightmare. apply for housing, “said Dean.