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Video: Gov. Cuomo's briefing for April 30, 2020

By Howard B. Owens

Press release:

  • MTA Will Disinfect New York City Subway and Bus System, Metro-North, Long Island Railroad
  • MTA to Provide Alternative Transportation to Essential Workers From 1:00 AM to 5:00 AM as Part of Essential Connector Program
  • Governor Cuomo: "I've consulted with the elected officials on the MTA's recommendation and we all agree to accept the plan on the Essential Connector Program. The MTA is undertaking something that people would've said was virtually impossible. Trains and buses will be disinfected daily. The service will continue. The MTA will also disinfect the fleet on the Metro-North and the Long Island Railroad, which is what goes out to Long Island, goes to the Northern suburbs. They can do that without any disruption in service because of the volume of ridership, et cetera."
  • Cuomo: "Just think about it. The entire public transportation system in downstate New York will be disinfected every 24 hours. This is a joint MTA, state, city partnership. We're doing a lot of things here that we've never done before. I am never one to shy away from a challenge. I don't believe government has that option. I'm never one to say, 'well, that's just too much, too hard, too ambitious.' We can do it. I believe we can do it. I believe we can do anything. I believe we can build bridges, I believe we can build airports, I believe we can defeat global pandemics. But this is as ambitious as anything that we've ever undertaken. It's going to require a lot of extraordinary service and effort from multiple agencies all working together."

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