Socioeconomic disparities in subway use and COVID-19 outcomes in New York City.

Our results suggest that the ability to stay home during the pandemic has been constrained by SES and work circumstances. Poorer neighborhoods are not afforded the same reductions in mobility as their richer counterparts. Furthermore, lower SES neighborhoods have higher disease burdens, which may be due to inequities in ability to shelter-in-place, and/or due to the plethora of other existing health disparities that increase vulnerability to COVID-19. Furthermore, the extended lag time between the dramatic fall in subway ridership and the end of the exponential growth phase for COVID-19 cases is important for future policy, because it demonstrates that if there is a resurgence, and stay-at-home orders are re-issued, then cities can expect to wait a month before reported cases will plateau.