This is an archived article and the information in the article may be outdated. Please look at the time stamp on the story to see when it was last updated.

NEW YORK (PIX11) — The MTA and the NYPD have to backed off a plan to “remove” the homeless who have been using the subways as shelter from the cold.

An MTA spokesman announced Sunday night the plan is on hold to prevent it “from being portrayed wrongly.”

The removal was supposed to start Monday at 3 a.m. on the “E” line.

But, due to a report from DNAinfo, the agency was forced to tone down its language, insisting the so-called “outreach program” was to be voluntary.

A transit official said, “We are not doing this to be cruel.”