Members of the New York Police Department patrol the subway on Feb. 22.
Photographer: Timothy A. Clary/AFP via Getty Images
Does New York Really Need an All-Night Subway?
In May, the MTA halted the system’s famous 24-hour subway service, running late-night “ghost trains” without passengers. Riders say it’s time to get back on board.
A few weeks ago, I committed what many consider to be a cardinal sin in New York City’s transit community (aside from saying you just bought a car): I went on Twitter and questioned the city’s long-mythic 24-hour subway service.
Among New Yorkers, the fact that the city’s trains run all night, every day, is an oft-invoked point of pride. Like many only-in-New-York phenomena, this does not happen only in New York: Rapid transit systems in Copenhagen and Chicago, along with several other cities, also have 24/7 service. But when the Covid-19 pandemic led New York’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority to stop serving passengers overnight in May, many locals recognized the significance of this interruption: For the first time in the system’s 117-year history — outside of disasters like Hurricane Sandy and 9/11, or transit strikes — Gotham’s turnstiles went silent.