What should a rider do in this case, Mayor Bill de Blasio?
Hizzoner on Tuesday advised straphangers to avoid taking crowded rush hour trains amid the coronavirus crisis — but commuters say there’s a more pressing problem.
Photos shared with The Post show four people asleep on the seats and floors of one D train car Tuesday morning, which a witness likened to a “hostel.”
The sight shocked straphangers, who said de Blasio’s advice is out of touch with reality.
“De Blasio tells us not to use the train if we don’t have to, but what does he know? He doesn’t take the subway,” said one rider who identified herself as Val.
“I know homeless people don’t want to be in a shelter, but they need to find a place for them out of the subways until the virus blows over. It makes me nervous when I think about it.”
As COVID-19 cases in the city surged to 36 and 173 statewide, de Blasio advised commuters on Tuesday: “We have a real concern about the super-packed subway cars. Particularly at rush hour. If you don’t need to be on one of those, please avoid them, even if that means letting a few trains pass until one’s less crowded.”
On Monday, he had said city outreach workers were developing a “systematic effort to go through all of their contacts with homeless individuals, reach them all, check on their health, see if there’s any sign of symptoms, follow up where there is, get them health care.”
But pushed on Tuesday, Hizzoner admitted the city-contracted outreach workers were doing the “same exact outreach efforts we’ve been doing now for months,” but with added medical care for those showing coronavirus symptoms.
The city and MTA’s efforts to get homeless people off the system have recently been slammed by government watchdogs — with the MTA’s inspector general finding workers from contractor Bowery Residents’ Committee holing up in their office and spending just a quarter of their time conducting in-person outreach at some stations.
Confronted by the D train images, an MTA spokesman Tim Minton blamed riders and NYPD cops, saying, “Sleeping on subway floors and across train seats is a violation of subway rules that we ask customers to respect and our law enforcement partners to enforce.”
“Homeless outreach teams continue to provide attention, services and offers of treatment where appropriate — almost 45,000 contacts on subways since the MTA task force was deployed last summer — and the city has pledged outreach as well,” he added.
But riders say the city needs to do more.
“Honestly, the city should try to give homeless people on the subway a kit with hand sanitizer, alcohol wipes, a mask and other medical necessities,” said Sarah Elizabeth, 19, a hospital worker from the Bronx.
“They don’t have access to medical care. In the end, it’s up to us to go to the doctor when we feel sick or get symptoms.”
Additional reporting by Julia Marsh
