Governor Andrew Cuomo announced on Monday that the MTA will resume 24 hour subway service on May 17th, for the first time since the early days of the pandemic.

Cuomo said the decision was made to bring back service in conjunction with the general reopening of New York which will occur around the same time; as of May 19th, he announced that most capacity restrictions on businesses, restaurants and cultural venues will be lifted.

"Subway trains have never been cleaner than they are now," Cuomo said during a press conference this morning. "Nobody wants the MTA to now go back to the old days. So I told the MTA for my two cents, 24 hour service, yes, but the trains must remain clean and we have to help the homeless and we can't go backwards on the quality of service—that must continue."

The MTA stopped overnight service for the first time in its 116 year history on May 6th, 2020, closing all stations between the hours of 1 a.m. and 5 a.m. to more thoroughly clean the system overnight. Advocates at the time claimed that the true purpose of the closure was to deal with the growing homeless population on the subways.

At the time when it closed, ridership had fallen by more than 90% since the pandemic began in March 2020, and 109 MTA employees had died from COVID-19. As of the end of March 2021, at least 156 transit workers have died of coronavirus.

Transit riders, lawmakers, and multiple MTA board members were all frustrated as the subway shutdown continued into 2021 with no indication when service might resume, despite the decrease in new cases.

In February, Cuomo announced that the system would be shut down from 2 a.m. to 4 a.m., but at the time, the governor maintained that a return to 24-hour service would prevent a deep cleaning each night, despite the federal guidance that the risk of surface transmission is low.

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For the first time since the pandemic started, more than two million people rode the subway on April 8th; before the pandemic, the average weekday subway ridership was typically over 5.5 million.

Last week, a pair of big announcements were made: Cuomo announced that the midnight food and beverage curfew will be lifted for outdoor dining beginning May 17th and for indoor dining beginning May 31st. And Mayor Bill de Blasio announced that New York City aims to “fully reopen" without capacity restrictions as of July 1st. Advocates and riders immediately started to question how both of those things would be possible without subway service fully resuming as well.

Officials have indicated that they are committed to continuing subway cleaning efforts post-pandemic; last year, the cleaning, free masks, and other COVID expenses cost the MTA $334 million.

Cuomo emphasized the importance of continuing to clean the subways as they did during the pandemic, and why he believes it will bring back straphangers who have been reluctant to return so far.

"When they first said surface transmission was a big deal, we went and did deep cleanings—they then started to say surfaces aren't that big a deal, but they never said surface transmission is irrelevant," Cuomo said during today's press conference. "And you put people on a train, you sneeze into your hand, you grab the rail, I'm behind you and I grab the rail, I think [NY Commissioner of Health] Dr. Zucker would say I'm in danger of catching COVID from you. So cleaning is still important—not as urgent as they said it was initially, but it's still important. And you're trying to build confidence for people to get back on the subways."

Cuomo claims that people know the subways are cleaner now because of the MTA's efforts: "They say it: You can smell it. It smells cleaner, the cars look cleaner."

Multiple transit advocates praised Cuomo for returning full subway service.

“For New York City to be a 24 hour city, it needs a 24 hour subway," said Jaqi Cohen, campaign director for the Straphangers Campaign. "We applaud the Governor’s decision to end the hygiene theater that left essential workers stranded overnight for the past 12 months, bringing back much needed overnight service. With overnight subway service restored, New Yorkers can breathe easy knowing that our City’s COVID recovery is on the right track."

Lisa Daglian, executive director of the Permanent Citizens Advisory Committee to the MTA, added, "Our city that never sleeps deserves 24/7 subway service that meets the needs of all riders at all times of day and night. May 17th can’t come soon enough for the essential workers who need to get to work and back home, and as New York reopens and more of us take advantage of all our city has to offer. Thanks to everyone – advocates, elected officials – especially Sen. Schumer – and union members, who make this reopening possible."

TWU spokesperson Pete Donohue applauded the move, but warned that the state needed to do more to protect transit workers: "Felony assaults are up 42% this year compared to three years ago – when there were three million more people using the subway every day," he said. "Restoring 24-hour subway service is a great idea, but the city has to add more mental health services, homeless outreach, and uniformed police officers to the system. Too many transit workers and riders are being harassed and assaulted right now with the current hours of operation."