I agree that we shouldn't make the tradeoff that London does. I'm a NY lifer and being out in London past 10pm makes me feel like I'm skulking around in a period drama.

But bus rapid transit is real and many of the people who make this city run (my dad for many years drove a cab he picked up from a garage in LIC) already depend on buses for their last mile commute. It is entirely possible to do five years or a decade of overnight subway shutdowns with BRT supported by real enforcement and protected lanes while preserving the city's culture.