The Wall Street Journal - 20.03.2020

THE WALL STREET JOURNAL. ** Friday, March 20, 2020 |A11B

cause a colleague had dis-

played symptoms.

“It was literally like a cold

feeling came over my body,”

said Mr. Logan, who is 39

years old. He said Thursday

that he can’t get tested be-

cause he hasn’t developed vi-

rus-like symptoms.

Some MTA workers who

might have come in contact

with an infected colleague said

they weren’t told where or

when they may have been ex-

posed. Tramell Thompson, a

subway conductor, said that

has led to rumors among staff

about possible cases across the

system, including in train yards

and bus depots, such as the

Fresh Pond Depot in Queens.

Thursday evening, an MTA

official said three employees

at the depot were thought to

have tested positive for the vi-

rus earlier in the week. Ken

Lovett, a spokesman, said 34

people who may have been in

contact with the infected

workers have been told to self-

quarantine.

The MTA continues to run

at full service, even as rider-

ship on its subway, buses and

commuter railroads has fallen

by two-thirds or more since

the outbreak of the virus.

MTA Chairman and Chief

Executive Patrick Foye has

said service could be reduced

as ridership drops further. But

he said the system must keep

moving so police officers,

health-care professionals and

others can get to work.

Some smaller mass-transit

agencies have taken measures to

reduce workers’ interaction with

the public, such as stopping

ticket checks or by dropping

fares altogether. The MTA, which

expects to lose almost $4 billion

this year because of reduced rid-

ership, continues to collect fares,

but has stopped accepting cash

on commuter-rail lines.

ets. Others work closely with

colleagues, sharing vehicles,

office space and desks.

MTA officials sought to al-

lay worker concerns Thursday

by live-streaming an informa-

tion session for employees in

which officials read and an-

swered their questions.

Employees wanted to know

what the MTA is doing to pro-

tect workers with underlying

medical conditions. They also

asked how they could practice

social distancing in jobs that

require close contact with col-

leagues or the public.

Mr. Warren said some

workers’ jobs didn’t lend

themselves to social distanc-

ing, so they should focus on

washing their hands. Employ-

ees with underlying medical

conditions, he said, should

seek guidance from their doc-

tors and from the MTA’s hu-

man-resources department.

Throughout the week,

workers including Trevor Lo-

gan, a subway train operator,

received calls to stay home be-

cause colleagues displayed

symptoms, according to sev-

eral transit workers.

Mr. Logan said he was pre-

paring to go to work Monday

when an MTA health worker

called to say he should quar-

antine himself for 14 days be-

New York’s Metropolitan
Transportation Authority an-
nounced Thursday that 23
workers have tested positive
for the new coronavirus, as of-
ficials held a briefing for em-
ployees to allay fears about
being infected on the job.
Until Thursday, the MTA
said just one worker had
tested positive. Some of the 23
infected workers had public-
facing roles, the MTA’s chief
safety officer, Patrick Warren,
said in an interview. But in
most cases they didn’t display
symptoms while at work and
were a low risk to riders, he
said. The authority frequently
disinfects stations, buses and
railcars, he noted.
MTA spokeswoman Abbey
Collins declined Thursday to
say how many employees had
self-quarantined. The number
changes daily and will continue
to shift, she said, adding that
the MTA follows state and local
health guidelines when dealing
with people who may have
been exposed. “We are doing
everything we can to protect
our workers,” Ms. Collins said.
The MTA’s 74,000 workers
spend their days close to the
public, driving buses, directing
passengers and checking tick-

BYPAULBERGER

MTA Workers

Test Positive

A Long Island Rail Road employee demonstrated a disinfecting method on a train car Thursday at the Hicksville Station.

ANDREW KELLY/REUTERS

GREATERNEWYORKWATCH

NEW YORK CITY

Many Hotels Are Set

To Shut Their Doors

Hundreds of hotels in New
York City are expected to close,
laying off and furloughing tens
of thousands of workers as hotel
owners struggle to reduce losses
from the coronavirus pandemic.
About 80% of the city’s
55,000 hotel workers likely will
be laid off within the week, ac-
cording to estimates based on
the city’s dropping hotel occu-
pancy rate, said Vijay Dandapani,
president of the Hotel Associa-

tion of New York.

The vast majority of the city’s

700 hotels are expected to close

their doors in the coming weeks,

as large swaths of the country

urge residents and businesses to

severely limit their movements

in an attempt to halt the spread

of the virus, hotel consultants

and representatives said. Own-

ers hope to reopen when the vi-

rus is contained, but many ex-

pect that could be months if not

longer.

Earlier this week, Hilton

Worldwide Holdings Inc. said it

would suspend operations at the

New York Hilton Midtown. Mar-

riott International Inc. also said

it would furlough tens of thou-

sands of its workers world-wide.

For the week ending March

14, the hotel-occupancy rate for

hotels in New York City dropped

almost 44% to 48.8%, according

to hotel data firm STR.

Not all will close, however.

Ravi Patel, owner of the Ravel

Hotel in Queens, reduced his

staff by 50% to about 25 people

working part time and has

closed off portions of the hotel.

The occupancy rate of the 113-

room hotel is between 20% and

25%, he said.

—Keiko Morris

CONNECTICUT

Primary Will be

Moved to June

Gov. Ned Lamont said Con-

necticut will move its primary

election set for April 28 to June

2 due to the coronavirus.

The move “will enable voters

to still safely participate in our

state’s elections while also pro-

tecting their health and the well-

being of those who help to carry

out elections—our town clerks,

registrars, voters and dedicated

poll workers,” Mr. Lamont said.

—Joseph De Avila

MANHATTAN

Former Prosecutor

Files Netflix Lawsuit

Former Manhattan prosecutor

Linda Fairstein has sued Netflix

and film director Ava DuVernay

over her portrayal in the stream-

ing service’s miniseries about the

Central Park Five case, which sent

five black and Latino teenagers to

prison for a crime they were later

absolved of committing.

Ms. Fairstein claims in the

lawsuit, filed in federal court in

Fort Myers, Fla., that the four-

part series “When They See Us”

defamed her by portraying her

as a “racist, unethical villain.”

“Most glaringly, the film series

falsely portrays Ms. Fairstein as in

charge of the investigation and

prosecution of the case against

the five, including the develop-

ment of the prosecution’s theory

of the case,” Ms. Fairstein’s law-

yer, Andrew Miltenberg, said. “In

truth, and as detailed in the law-

suit, Ms. Fairstein was responsible

for neither aspect of the case.”

Netflix called the suit “frivo-

lous.” Emails seeking comment

were sent to a representative

for Ms. DuVernay.

—Associated Press

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