The city is cracking down on homeless people they say misbehave on subways.
At an MTA board meeting Monday, New York City Transit President Andy Byford says he's instructed group station managers to remove any homeless people who may be causing problems for other riders.
According to Byford, managers can leave the homeless alone if they are sitting on one seat, but they should call police if they witness someone lying across a seat or exhibiting antisocial behavior.
"I think there is a fundamental difference between someone coming in to keep warm, I get it, and sitting on a seat, maybe dozing off, I don't have a problem with that. But lying across a seat or behaving in an antisocial manner or making a mess is not acceptable. That crosses the line," he said. "So increasingly, that's the kind of thing I want our GSMs, in conjunction with our chief's officers, to bear down on. Warming up is one thing, but being offensive, obnoxious and antisocial is another thing, and that we're not prepared to tolerate."
MTA Board Member Charles Moerdler warned Byford that "humane treatment is absolutely essential" when dealing with homeless people in the subways. "We entirely concur," Byford replied.
Byford said he would expect the city and/or the NYPD would provide support if people are "causing offense to other customers or making a mess."
At a news conference Tuesday, NYPD Chief of Department Terence Monahan said the department's goal isn't to make arrests, but to provide services as part of procedures that began last year.
"We set up stops at the end of the line where our officers were able to empty the trains out. The trains were able to get cleaned. We brought people into a room, offered them some coffee, had services down there. Offered them services, give them an opportunity to get out of the cold, get into some kind of shelter," Monahan said.
Monahan said that so far in 2018, officers have had interactions with 37,000 people on subways who they've offered to help find shelter.