Commuters Told To 'Improvise' As NYC Waits For Subway Safety Plan

NEW YORK CITY — Mayor Bill de Blasio told hundreds of thousands of workers who may go back to work next week not to expect help on commuting during a global pandemic.

"People are going to have to improvise when it comes to mass transit," said de Blasio. "I really want to push back on the notion we can solve everything all the time."

New York City is slated to begin its reopening — on a day in the first two weeks of June the mayor refuses to specify — and send up to 400,000 workers back into city streets and public transportation.

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Yet the Metropolitan Transportation Authority has yet to provide de Blasio or the city a plan to protect those commuters' health in tight spaces where studies have shown COVID-19 thrives.

Solutions floated so far include limits on how many people can be in each subway car and each bus and even a possible reservation system, said de Blasio.

The MTA will also likely continue closing for nightly cleaning between 1 a.m. and 5 a.m. for several more months, de Blasio said.

"We're still not getting the answers we need from the MTA," said de Blasio of his team's meeting Thursday with CEO and Chairman Pat Foye. "There's not always the chance to help everyone all the time for their transportation needs."

Health Commissioner Dr. Oxiris Barbot echoed the mayor's sentiments, telling New Yorkers who couldn't telecommute to consider other modes of transportation.

"People can walk to work," said Barbot. "There are alternative ways to getting around."

New York City Transit interim president Sarah Feinberg took to Twitter to respond to de Blasio's comments.

De Blasio said on "The Brian Lehrer Show" Friday he would meet with Foye later in the afternoon.

Time may be running out for a transportation solution as New York City's COVID-19 tracking indicators showed progress Friday.

The number of Intensive Care Unit patients dropped to 391, nearing the necessary 375 threshold, and both suspected COVID-19 hospitalizations and percentage of positive cases both stood well below the necessary thresholds at 61 hospitalizations and 5 percent testing positive.

Pushed once again to provide answers to manufacturers, construction workers and retailers allowed to reopen during phase one, de Blasio once again refused to specify when exactly they might return to work.

"We are confident that we will be able to go into phase one in the first two weeks of June," said de Blasio. "I'm gonna only say it that way."

Gov. Cuomo said he didn't think it would be possible to enforce strict social distancing measures but said New Yorkers would be asked to wear masks and expect "staggered" boarding times.

"The individual responsibility also pertains to riding the public transit system," said Cuomo. "You see the subway car is overcrowded, okay, wait for the next one."

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