The M.T.A. is bolstering railroad service as two more regions prepare to open.
With the Mid-Hudson and Long Island regions poised to start reopening this week, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo announced new public transit safety measures on Sunday in an effort to ensure public health as those areas emerge from lockdown.
Long Island Rail Road trains will add more cars to create more space for travelers, who will be required to wear face masks while riding, the governor said.
“They’re going to add more cars to the trains so people can space out and socially distance when Long Island opens,” Mr. Cuomo said Sunday during his daily briefing at Jones Beach on Long Island.
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority is running some 700 trains along the Long Island Rail Road under its coronavirus-era reduced service plan. In anticipation of a gradual reopening of Nassau and Suffolk counties, the M.T.A. is planning to add up to 105 train cars to its current capacity, an increase of roughly 15 percent, said an agency spokeswoman, Abbey Collins.
It will also store extra train cars in 15 yards across the system, in case additional cars need to be quickly deployed.
The M.T.A. is expected to announce capacity enhancements for Metro-North Railroad riders this week, too, Ms. Collins said. The Metro-North Railroad serves much of the Mid-Hudson region, which is set to begin reopening on Tuesday.
New Yorkers are embarking on a summer of uncertainty.
Memorial Day weekend in New York City usually marks the beginning of a vibrant summer to come.
We set up smoky barbecue grills on stoops and in parks. We rush to the city’s sandy shores when beaches open. We wait on line — no, not “in line” — to ride the Wonder Wheel in Coney Island.
The weekend serves as a peek into what the city will look like in the coming months. A taste of summer that keeps New Yorkers looking forward. But this year Memorial Day weekend occurs under the shadow of the coronavirus.
Wealthier areas of the city haven’t experienced the same level of devastation. They have not seen it either; many residents of the wealthiest neighborhoods have flocked to vacation homes.
The New Yorkers who remained were the same New Yorkers who would normally host those stoop barbecues, starting on Friday afternoon and through dusk on Memorial Day.
This Memorial Day, New Yorkers might not be able to strike a match and light their grills. Children would have to stand six feet apart from one another for the ice cream truck. Beachgoers might only dip their toes in the sand instead of jumping into the first waves of summer.
But New Yorkers have a reputation to uphold. We take care of one another. We can be shaken but not broken. We don’t give up and we do not run. We know that better days will arrive.
No plans yet to open houses of worship in New Jersey, Murphy says.
Days after President Trump demanded that the nation’s places of worship reopen “right away,” Gov. Philip D. Murphy of New Jersey said the state would like to do so “sooner rather than later” but cautioned that he did not know when they could be safely opened.
“We want to make sure we do it right, responsibly, and that we don’t kill anybody by doing it too fast,” Mr. Murphy said Sunday during an interview on CNN’s “State of the Union.”
As of Sunday, houses of worship in more than half of the states could legally open, but many had decided to remain shut for now. Many that are considering opening for in-person worship soon have been mapping out new seating arrangements or foot traffic flow.
Mr. Murphy, who said he had been in contact with President Trump on Friday — the day the president commented on reopening houses of worship — said on CNN that “bad factors,” including lack of ventilation and close seating arrangements in houses of worship needed to be considered in determining when they could open.
“I think we’ll get there, but I can’t tell you when,” Mr. Murphy said.
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As The New York Times follows the spread of the coronavirus across New York, New Jersey and Connecticut, we need your help. We want to talk to doctors, nurses, lab technicians, respiratory therapists, emergency services workers, nursing home managers — anyone who can share what’s happening in the region’s hospitals and other health care centers.
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Sandra E. Garcia, Dana Rubinstein and Andrea Salcedo contributed reporting.
Source: NY times
