NYC's Subway Is Still Running Tonight, You Just Can't Ride It
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo officially shut New York City's subway system down Monday night in anticipation of a potentially "crippling" blizzard, but according to reports, the trains are still running—city residents just can't ride them.
Despite Cuomo's announcement, the Brooklyn Paper reports, the trains will continue to run mostly because they have to.
The halting of subway service is the first ever for a snowstorm. It is ill-considered because an actual turning-off of the entire system requires moving all the cars to far-flung facilities for storage, as the agency did during Hurricane Sandy, when flooding was a concern, and rebooting from that takes ages, the insider said.
Emergency personnel will be riding the trains overnight while no one else is allowed to, per the source. The closure will strand people and put lives at risk, not because the subways can't run, but because Cuomo wants to look good, the source said.
In fact, MTA employees were reportedly "blindsided" by Cuomo's decision to close the subway completely, according to the Brooklyn Paper.
By 11 pm Monday, non-emergency personnel were shit out of luck—LIRR, Metro North, New Jersey Transit and PATH trains also shut down, Uber suspended service, and a driving ban took effect across New York, New Jersey and Connecticut.
