New York City Transit is apologizing after the MTA's Twitter account stated that they were removing benches from subway stations to stop homeless New Yorkers from using them.
"Benches were removed from stations to prevent the homeless from sleeping on them," the MTA tweeted, in response to a user who inquired about their disappearance.
The explanation went viral and was met with wide-ranging condemnation on the site.
“We have inconvenienced you and made the station more inaccessible to the pregnant, disabled and elderly, but you must understand that lets us inflict further misery on people without homes," one user replied.
The MTA later released a statement to the New York Post, explaining that the tweet was incorrect, but reaffirmed that the subway is not a homeless shelter.
“The tweet was posted in error and it has since been removed. The subway is not a substitute for a shelter and homeless New Yorkers deserve much better care,” spokeswoman Abbey Collins said. “We have been working with the city on this important issue and have asked for more dedicated mental health and medical resources which are urgently needed to solve the homeless crisis that has been exacerbated by the pandemic.”
https://twitter.com/_/status/1358146570722639875
[Via]
