New York City Transit Interim President Sarah Feinberg appeared on Fox 5's Good Day New York with Rosanna Scotto to discuss the MTA’s ongoing response to COVID-19 and Phase 1 re-opening.

A transcript of the interview appears below.

Rosanna Scotto: Joining us this morning with details, Sarah Feinberg, the Interim President of New York City Transit. Sarah, I'm going to stop saying interim because I feel like you've had more handed to you since you've been on the J-O-B than Andy Byford certainly did, and handling it beautifully. So are we ready for this?

Sarah Feinberg: Oh, thank you so much. Yes, absolutely. We are. Look, I was on three different trains this morning. I was on the L, I was on the Q, I was on the F. Most important thing: trains are clean, stations are sparkling and I saw nearly 100% compliance on wearing masks. So, that made my morning already. And New York is clearly ready for this and it's excited to be back on their subway system.

Scotto: Okay, so I know at least the wearing of the mask is part of this 13 point plan that you're putting into effect, which also includes hand sanitizers will be available. There's new signage and decals. What else can you tell us that the MTA is going to continue to do?

Feinberg: Yeah, so look, there are masks at every single booth. So if you somehow forgot your mask this morning or going forward, you can go to a booth and ask for a mask. There’s hand sanitizer at the booths and in the stations, big dispensers and also little mini bottles to go. We are reminding everyone that masks are absolutely required and enforced. We have increased service so that we have added as many trains as we can so that we can make sure that there's a lot of service so that people can get a little bit of space, give yourself a little bit of time plan your commute. You know if you can go in a little bit later, stagger your hours, that would be ideal, but we're ready for you.

Scotto: I know that you're really calling this full regular service, but do you anticipate that a lot of people will be driving in on their own, that they're a little shaky as to whether or not they trust and feel comfortable being on the system.

Feinberg: Look, some people may do that. But this is New York City, right? We know that a lot of people don't have cars. That's not an option. And so for everyone who chooses to ride this system today, you have a clean system, you have clean trains, service is running really well, this morning. We have everything you need. We want people to be able to focus on their own commute, their own safety, we're going to give you everything you need, the tools that you need to keep yourself safe.

Scotto: At this moment, so I'm seeing that you all are asking, though, for some more emergency funding from the federal government, some $3.9 billion. What will that be allocated toward?

Feinberg: Yeah, look, I mean, we've just taken a massive hit in terms of you know, ridership which was down 90%. And so look, I think what you're seeing with us is we're the leading edge of all the other transit systems, right? I think every transit system just to keep functioning just operating service the way we have, we're going to need help from the federal government.

Scotto: You know, it was just several weeks ago that you all started doing the 24/7 around the clock, cleaning of the trains and having homeless people put aside during that time so that the workers could do their job. Will that continue as well?

Feinberg: Yeah, look, I mean, the Governor has said that we will remain closed from one to five for the length of the pandemic. I think that makes sense, it gives us the ability to surge into the system. We're cleaning 24 hours a day at this point, stations are cleaned and disinfected twice a day. And all of our cars that are in service are cleaned five, six, seven times a day. Having the system to ourselves for a couple of hours a night so we can really surge in with cleaners is really helpful.

Scotto: You know, I was just in another state where it was so vastly different from being here in New York. No one was wearing a mask. And they were practicing social distancing to some extent, but there was a cavalier attitude, a comfort that we don't see here. So I'm just wondering -- I mean, drastically different when I got back in town. But I'm wondering for those people who don't have a mask on even though you said we have masks. If they refuse to, what happens?

Feinberg: Well, look, I just don't think we're going run into that much. I mean, everyone that I'm seeing this morning is wearing a mask and I've been riding this system for the entire pandemic, and most people have been wearing masks. I think people are taking this really seriously. New York has paid such a high price here. And I think people just know that it's what you do now, you get out before you leave the house, you put a mask on. If you somehow forgot it or it’s torn or the elastic is broken, we have an extra one for you. If you happen to see someone without a mask, you don't need to police this yourself. Please don't confront your fellow passengers. Leave that to law enforcement, leave that to the MTA personnel. Frankly, I think they're probably going to get so many dirty looks from everyone on the car. They're getting off the car and they're going to walk.

Scotto: How are your MTA folks holding up? I mean, I know so many of them were hit with the, with the illness early on. They've had to deal with other things, with other events that have happened. How are they faring because they are also heroes in this?

Feinberg: Thank you so much for asking about them. They're wonderful. They are heroes. They get up every morning, they run this service that's running in this building. They operate the buses to get everyone where they need to go. They've been absolute heroes throughout this and by the way, they spent the last 48 hours with me out in this system, putting down floor decals, stenciling stations, making sure there's hand sanitizer in every single station. So even on, you know, day 99 everyone at MTA was, you know, pulling along shifts all over the city, making sure everyone who got up this morning to commute had what they needed. I'm grateful to them.

Scotto: It definitely sounds like you're ready. Sarah Feinberg, President, look if Cuomo has a problem with me not saying interim, tell him to give me a call. I'm just gonna say President of the New York City Transit. Thanks Sarah. Good luck today.