For many homeless people in New York City, the subways are an alluring spot. Getting in costs just two dollars; they’re open 24 hours a day; and train cars and stations provide shelter from the elements. Yet for the millions of New Yorkers who use the subway to commute around the city, homeless people can make the trips unpleasant and the subways unsightly. In a move designed to combat the growing number of homeless people taking up residence at various train terminals, the MTA and the Bowery Residents’ Committee have pledged to increase outreach efforts and the number of case managers targeting the subway’s homeless.
According to Heather Haddon of amNew York, a new $1.5 million contract is set to commence in March, and case workers will target areas such as Penn Station and Grand Central where the homeless concentration is particularly high. Over the last few years, the number of homeless people in subways has risen, and an increased attention to this problem will serve both social needs and commuter comfort.
8 comments
You actually believe the homeless pay a fare to get in?
They beg for money to get in.
OT: Robert’s LM program axed today
http://www.nypost.com/p/news/l.....LakjaPgLyM
Thanks. I knew this was happening. Had a tip about it a few weeks ago but couldn’t confirm.
I’m not so sure if Grand Central has so much of a concentration of the homeless as it used to have.
When they did the extensive renovation of Grand Central, all the benches were removed from the former large waiting room, obviously to make it no longer an attractive place for homeless people.
That room is now called Vanderbilt Hall and can be rented for private parties.
Why cant we just give authority (and equipment) to the cops patrolling the trains to ask customers to show them their metro cards, swipe the metro cards to see how long person X has been in the subway system.
Give the cops authority to eject anyone who has stayed on the trains beyond a set time. (Perhaps the time it would take to make the longest possible trip in the system).
Then were will they go? Just wonder around the streets getting increasigly cold and tired? Is it really so terrible to be riding in the same train as a sleeping homeless person?
I am not anti-homeless, but I do think it is unpleasant for them to hang out in the trains. Often, when I board a train around 11 pm (when I get off work), there are 4-5 homeless people in the train car, and maybe one other commuter. Often it smells like someone’s unwashed parts, and sometimes I feel threatened by the homeless men who leer at me.
Then again, if I were suddenly homeless, I would most certainly head to the trains for the night!