MTA task force will partner with cops to address subway homelessness

An empty subway car. Photo by AbsoluteWade via Wikimedia Commons

By David Brand

The MTA announced a task force to address the number of homeless people in the subway system, less than two weeks after Gov. Andrew Cuomo sent a letter to the agency urging it to take some sort of undisclosed action.

“Homeless people often pose a danger to themselves and others,” Cuomo said in the letter. “Let's actually focus on helping the homeless, rather than political posturing. This is not an issue of helping the homeless or the subway riders; that is a false choice. We must serve both.” 

The new task force will work the MTA Police and New York State Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance to create a plan within 30 days, according to the MTA.

“Homelessness is a growing problem on the subway, with a growing impact,” said MTA Managing Director Veronique Hakim in a statement.

People experiencing homelessness and their advocates, as well as MTA workers and lawmakers, have questioned Cuomo’s directive to a transit agency to address the problem of homelessness.

Assemblymember Andrew Hevesi told the Eagle it’s “absurd” that Cuomo “who should be stopping the homeless crisis from growing, is telling an agency that he controls that they’re not doing enough.”

The Coalition for the Homeless called on Cuomo to fund affordable and supportive housing development to end homelessness once and for all. 

“Let him step up with more housing and services specifically targeted for homeless people,” the organization said in a statement. “Stop shifting the cost of shelters off to localities and stop the prison-to-shelter pipeline from the state’s correctional facilities.”