Cutback on cleaners sparks safety fears
The MTA plans to do away with overnight cleaners in subway stations across the city — even as trash-fueled track fires wreak havoc on the system, sources told The Post.
Overnight cleaners on the 9 p.m.-5 a.m. shift have already been removed from R-line stations, and the MTA plans to get rid of the late-night workers on five more lines in January and the entire system by mid-2018, the sources said.
“If the stations are not cleaned, that litter and debris is going to go on the track bed, which could cause fires and delay trains,” warned Andrew Albert, an MTA board member who heads the New York City Transit Riders Council.
In mid-July, a track fire in upper Manhattan brought subway service on several lines to a standstill — trapping commuters on aD train and leaving nine people suffering from smoke inhalation.
It has become such a pervasive problem that the state decided to double the fine for littering and the MTA launched an ad campaign to keep trash off the tracks.
TWU shop steward Anthony Staley said there are currently 300 overnight station cleaners who, under union contracts, get paid an extra $150 to $200 every two weeks for the night shifts.
That additional wage is set to increase in 2018 — and the MTA wants to avoid paying it, he said. The change would save the MTA about $1.44 million in salaries per year.
The agency has tried to cut costs as it stares down a deficit of hundreds of millions of dollars.
The MTA did not dispute it was eliminating overnight shifts for the cleaners — but claimed the best way to combat track fires is to load up on personnel “immediately after the rush hours.”
“NYC Transit is taking an extremely aggressive approach that includes the acquisition of new cleaning equipment and intensified cleaning when it’s needed most,” spokesman Shams Tarek said.
MTA board member Charles Moerdler said, “It doesn’t sound to me like the smartest move.”
Staley warned the move will be “unsafe for the public.”
“These workers are a deterrent against potential crime in the stations,” he explained. “This is also going to leave room for homeless people to move into these stations.”
Riders were puzzled — and angered — by the move.
“It’s infuriating. You see it everywhere, all kinds of garbage, and a lot of it dropped on the rails,” griped Ashley Portillo, 28. “It’d be nice if it was cleaner.”
Others said they’ll be worried about their safety.
“I would definitely feel unsafe,” said Alexis Turro. “I feel more comfortable when there’s a worker around, and at some of these stations where there are less people around at night, it would be a little unsettling.”
It’s not the first counterintuitive measure the MTA has come up with to cut down on garbage.
In 2012, the agency removed trash cans from more than three dozen stations — but that idea was an utter failure that only led to more track fires, State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli found.