New York City Transit created a social media Saturday when it deleted a malicious tweet announcing that the agency would remove banks from the subway station “to prevent homeless people from sleeping.”
The flap began Friday morning, when a Twitter user with the @ Des4gr8ness handle, who only uses “Jeremy” as a visible name, posted a photo of an empty platform at a 23rd Street station with the comment: ” Damn, the banks were f “Is the budget increasing? It’s crazy @MTA.”
The official subway channel, @NYCTSubway, responded, “Hi Jeremy. The benches were removed from the stations to prevent homeless people from sleeping on them. ^ JP”
The initials at the end look like those of the person who wrote the tweet response.
The post was shared thousands of times and garnered hundreds of comments Saturday morning, and critics told the agency to put f-king banks back in a typical New York language.
In fact, many of the comments suggested that the MTA violates the American Disability Act by failing to provide disabled patrons a place to sit while waiting for the train.
One of the most polite responses said, “Hello, NYCT subway. No one’s compassion for other human beings should depend on the weather or the number of deaths from a disease, but at a time like this, that choice is especially disgusting. Not only do you deny the humanity of the homeless, but you hurt the disabled patterns. ”
Another said, “We have bothered you and made the resort more inaccessible to pregnant women, the disabled and the elderly, but you have to understand that it allows us to cause more misery to the homeless.”
The original poster, @ Des4gr8ness, made his account private amid the uproar and in the early hours of Saturday afternoon the New York Transit response was suppressed.
But that didn’t stop New Yorkers from casting an extra shadow over the agency.
Each of the official tweets posted about the subway service on Saturday continued to receive comments about the banks.
A woman asked, “Were there any mechanical problems or was there a homeless person sleeping there?” with mechanical problems at Jay St-MetroTech. ”
The MTA said in an email comment that “The tweet was posted in error and has since been deleted.”
“The subway is not a substitute for a shelter and homeless New Yorkers deserve much better care,” spokeswoman Abbey Collins said in an email. “We have been working with the city on this important issue and have called for more dedicated medical and mental health resources that are urgent to resolve the homelessness crisis that has been exacerbated by the pandemic.”
It’s not the first time the MTA has taken out banks to deter the homeless. Last year he made the same move at West 4th Street station.
