“It’s Been Bad Since Christmas” – Subway Service Slows Dramatically As Worker Shortages Cause Mass Delays

One day after New York’s Gov. Kathy Hochul delivered her state of the state address – her first major address since taking over from her former boss Gov. Andrew Cuomo this past summer – the NYT and the rest of the media gallery praised her performance. But despite her alluring promises about ending “unproductive” rivalries between the elected leaders of NYC and the Empire State.

Unfortunately, she still has one major, economy-wrecking problem to solve, and it’s this: on any day this week, some 1,300 people out of a work force of 6.3K (roughly 1/5th) have been absent from work from the MTA due the ongoing crush of omicron case.

The soaring jump in absenteeism, which the transportation authority attributes to the virus, has meant a lack of workers to keep up with the regular train schedules, leading officials to suspend service this week on three of the system’s 22 subway lines and reduce schedules on many others, leading to longer wait times.

NYC’s shortage of workers has made it the most critically underserved public transit system in the country, the NYT reports.

“I feel like it’s been bad since Christmas,” Jennifer Hall, 41, said Wednesday morning as she waited with her son for a D train in the Bronx.

The news comes as New York State confirmed 85K new cases on Thursday, a new daily record for the Empire State. – READ MORE