Extended hours and free 2nd face masks on trains

It’s good news for late-night straphangers — and riders who need fresh face masks.

The city’s overnight subway shutdown will be scaled back starting early Monday, with passengers not allowed to ride from 2 a.m. to 4 a.m. instead of the 1 a.m. to 5 a.m. closure that went into place May 6.

At the same time, Metropolitan Transportation Authority officials said transit crews would help riders meet new guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention by giving out a second mask to anyone who asks.

A CDC study published last week found doubling up masks dramatically decreases the risk of spreading COVID-19. Wearing a surgical mask over a cloth one — or tightening the loops on a single surgical mask — is up to 65% more effective at containing droplets that come out of a person’s mouth or nose, the CDC said.

Transit workers at subway token booths — and those who dole out masks on trains — will give riders a second mask whenever they ask, MTA officials said. Doubling up on masks could help more New Yorkers feel safe returning to mass transit, even as MTA officials warn subway train cleaning will be less efficient during a relaxed overnight closure.

Still, MTA Chairman Patrick Foye said in a statement Sunday, “The continued partial suspension will allow for the most aggressive disinfection regimen in MTA history.”

The extended hours give New Yorkers two extra hours to ride — a change that takes a step toward restoring 24-hour subway service that had been a central part of New York life for 115 years until last spring.

Subway trains have continued to run on the same schedules as before the shutdown, but only cops and transit workers have been permitted to board during the close-down hours.