NY1 was on the scene when students and their parents protested cuts to the free student MetroCard program at Mayor Bloomberg's subway station (Lexington and 59th Street)—the mayor didn't show up, though "members of his security detail appeared and then left."
The protesters want Bloomberg to promise to fund the free MetroCards for over 500,000 students, which costs the MTA about $214 million. The effort is usually funded by the city, state and MTA, but the MTA wants to eliminate the program due to its budget deficit. According to NY1, the mayor's office "says that the city has kept the money in place for the program, but the state has not." (The State Senate okayed $65 million for the program; the Assembly hasn't.)
With regular 30-day Metrocards costing $89 a pop, it means students' families would have to shell over up to $1,068/year for each student's commuting. One student lamented, "My parents lost their jobs. I don't see them half the time because they're always doing job searches. It's been crazy. We can't pay $1,000 for each person, and there's a lot of people in my family." The students and parents are expected to be at the 59th Street station there tomorrow and Thursday as well.
