[Mick]

I guess the answer is 19,000.  Until yesterday, the NYC subway system was being cleaned in normal fashion every 72 hours while in service.  Even while residents were being told to shelter in their homes and businesses were shuttered, the subway kept running.  The homeless kept sleeping in the subway.  The "essential" workers kept riding the trains to work.  Over 100 of the MTA workers have died of the virus.

Last night the wise leaders of NYC finally shut down the subway system for a thorough deep cleaning.  They had to remove hundreds of homeless residents of the tunnels to pull this off.  

Why did it take so many deaths before this was done?

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/07/nyreg...aning.html

Political will surrounding the homeless is always an iffy proposition, due to the intractable and conflicting issues surrounding:

1) The causes of homelessness (drug addiction, financial pressure, personal preference to live outdoors).
2) Social dichotomy between a there-but-for-the-grace-of-god compassion for the homeless against a genuine disgust for the same group.
3) Remedies, which by default are controversial.

And that's why there were so many deaths before it was done. And why otherwise sane politicians think it's perfectly acceptable for tens of thousands of people to defecate in the street and shoot up drugs in public, even providing the syringes.

[Mick]

I guess the answer is 19,000.  Until yesterday, the NYC subway system was being cleaned in normal fashion every 72 hours while in service.  Even while residents were being told to shelter in their homes and businesses were shuttered, the subway kept running.  The homeless kept sleeping in the subway.  The "essential" workers kept riding the trains to work.  Over 100 of the MTA workers have died of the virus.

Last night the wise leaders of NYC finally shut down the subway system for a thorough deep cleaning.  They had to remove hundreds of homeless residents of the tunnels to pull this off.  

Why did it take so many deaths before this was done?

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/07/nyreg...aning.html

Political will surrounding the homeless is always an iffy proposition, due to the intractable and conflicting issues surrounding:

1) The causes of homelessness (drug addiction, financial pressure, personal preference to live outdoors).
2) Social dichotomy between a there-but-for-the-grace-of-god compassion for the homeless against a genuine disgust for the same group.
3) Remedies, which by default are controversial.

And that's why there were so many deaths before it was done. And why otherwise sane politicians think it's perfectly acceptable for tens of thousands of people to defecate in the street and shoot up drugs in public, even providing the syringes.