Disturbing video shows extent of NYC’s subway homeless crisis
The 2 train looked more like a shantytown Tuesday morning as homeless continue to seek shelter in the transit system amid the coronavirus outbreak, according to video shot by a disgusted subway conductor.
“I got to send this to the governor, let him see this s–t,” conductor Torry Chalmers can be heard saying as he walks from car to car lined with people sleeping, many with piles of boxes, bags and luggage.
“This is what I gotta do. I gotta go to work in this,” Chambers says. “It’s not making any sense. It’s nasty, nasty.”
Chalmers, a 25-year veteran from the Bronx, told The Post the issue of subterranean homelessness has escalated in recent weeks.
Now, “[t]here could be seven homeless spread out in each car. They trash the train — it’s too many of them and every day it’s getting worse,” said Chalmers, 48, whose video is making the rounds on social media.
“I get on the train and hope and pray there aren’t a lot of homeless people,” he said, adding that he sees the look of fright in wary passengers.
“People are scared when the train comes in the station. If one car looks bad, they’ll run to another — but it’s the same problem in every car.”
“This is what we deal with as transit workers every day. We’re the front-liners — without the respect,” he said.
“We’re out there every day putting our lives on the line … We should get hazard pay,” he said, adding that when he alerts police to the homeless situation, officers only tap them and tell them to wake up and leave, which accomplishes nothing.
On Tuesday, the MTA announced changes to the subway rules to ban shopping carts and require that riders spend no more than an hour on a platform — hours after Mayor Bill de Blasio relented to days of pressure and announced plans to flood end-of-line stations with cops and outreach workers every night.
The new rules, plus increased police and social services, will allow for the removal of homeless individuals, the MTA said.
“People are going to be told that we’re at the end of the line and they have to leave the trains and they have to leave the platforms,” one transit official explained.
“That’ll allow us to disinfect trains and make sure people, not just the homeless, aren’t lingering on the cars or platforms.”
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