Two homeless men found dead on NYC subway trains on same day
MTA train operator comments, 'the homeless situation is out of control'
Last week, two men were found dead on the subway. One man was found on the C train in Washington Heights and the other on the 4 train in Brooklyn.
New York City has been hard-hit by the coronavirus pandemic. To date, the city has recorded over 18,000 deaths. The crisis has had an additional effect on the Big Apple as its homeless population has returned to the subways, desperately seeking shelter from COVID-19 exposure.
As commuters in the city stay home amid the crisis, the homeless have found refuge in the nearly empty cars.
READ MORE: NYPD cops seize boy selling snacks on subway in dramatic video
Last week, two men —both presumed homeless— were found dead in subways.
The first man, a 56-year-old, was discovered by transit employees around 9:30 pm on the C train at the 168th Street station in Washington Heights.
The second man, identified as 61-year-old Robert Mangual was found “unconscious and unresponsive,” on the 4 train at the Utica Avenue station stop in Brooklyn.
In a report by the New York Post, a train operator who only identified himself as Eddie said, “the homeless situation is out of control.”
A New York city policeman patrols an empty subway station. (Photo by Stephen Chernin/Getty Images)
In the same report, a veteran MTA train operator named Yann Hicks said that the situation has gotten so bad that MTA workers are staying off the trains. “
“I don’t really want to ride the trains for free anymore because I’m afraid to ride the train,” the union rep said. “The trains are overwhelmed with homeless and you never know what’s going to happen,” Hicks said, “I have to walk through seven to 10 cars just to find a clean car, and be socially distant from vagrants on seats.”
READ MORE: NYC subway operator and father of 2 dies a hero saving lives
Tensions regarding the homeless situation on New York City trains are reaching a fevered pitch with the MTA pleading with Mayor Bill de Blasio to take action. MTA’s transit chief, Sarah Feinberg, has called for the NYPD to go to all end-of-the-line stations and clear out the trains.
Meanwhile, de Blasio asserts in an article from NY1 that “there have been homeless people in the subways going from one end of a line back again, back again, all night long,” de Blasio said. “The way to disrupt the pattern is, between midnight and 5 a.m., close those stations. Deep clean those stations, which is good for everyone in this moment.”
