mark1447 Posted December 22, 2009 Share #1 Posted December 22, 2009 For decades it has been as much a part of the school year as textbooks, bag lunches and gym, but the free student MetroCard is under threat and hundreds of protesters today said they are ready to fight the proposed change. The MetroCard is a kind of badge of honor for half a million school kids in the city, no matter the length of commute: the Bx-21 to the 5 Train or the N to the R to the Q. It's all been free, thanks to a steady item in the MTA budget. But the famously cash-strapped agency just voted to get rid of the free rides for kids. Officials called it a painful but necessary cut in the face of a $400 Million budget deficit. But today, hundreds of students yelled back in what organizers called a "Day of Outrage." Protest organizers promised thousands, but only several hundred showed up -- a thinning possibly due to weather or the approaching Christmas holiday. Demonstrators were packed into metal pens which the NYPD set up on Madison Avenue, about 30 yards west of the entrance to MTA Headquarters. Kids ranging in age from 13 to 17 carried signs, huddled together, and chanted "No transportation, no education!" Several of the hand-made signs read "Save the Students, Not The Bankers." Samad Ahmed, 16, who takes the N Train to get to school in The Flatiron District, put it this way: "I mean we're in a recession. I don't know how you expect my Dad, who drives a car for a living and works real hard to keep us fed, to take on another burden. It's unfair." And other students said if they're forced to pay for their transportation, they might skip school. "By taking this away they're going to start a whole chain of events," said Jordan Orvam, a high school senior in the Bronx. "Absences, illegal activity. I don't think they realize the consequences of what they're about to do." Elected officials say with enough pressure, the MTA can put the student rides back in the budget before the cuts take effect next summer. SOURCE: WNBC- New York Dec. 21, 2009 WABC<7> Video: http://abclocal.go.com/wabc/video?id=7182662&syndicate=syndicate§ion= Please have Adobe Flash to watch! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SoSpectacular Posted December 22, 2009 Share #2 Posted December 22, 2009 Oh boy... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DOB2RTO Posted December 22, 2009 Share #3 Posted December 22, 2009 I wonder if those who take the trains n buses to work saying, "now maybe my commute will be quieter"............ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SoSpectacular Posted December 22, 2009 Share #4 Posted December 22, 2009 I wonder if those who take the trains n buses to work saying, "now maybe my commute will be quieter"............ Lol this really shows how much liberty kids have in going to school unlike other places where you rely on a cheese bus to go to the sole high school in town. We have so many schools around here but only a select few can offer "what everyone wants" so they'll travel far and long to get there when they already have a school not far from home! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NX Express Posted December 22, 2009 Share #5 Posted December 22, 2009 Something tells me this won't pass. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MTARegional Bus Posted December 22, 2009 Share #6 Posted December 22, 2009 I don't get why kids have to so far away just to go to school,if you want to go to school go to one near you.take one bus or train no hassle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NX Express Posted December 22, 2009 Share #7 Posted December 22, 2009 Some people don't want to go to schools near them. Some schools are just ********. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MTARegional Bus Posted December 22, 2009 Share #8 Posted December 22, 2009 Some people don't want to go to schools near them. Some schools are just ********. Well looks like them most's of them will have to get a part time job just to get into there favorite school. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DOB2RTO Posted December 22, 2009 Share #9 Posted December 22, 2009 Well looks like them most's of them will have to get a part time job just to get into there favorite school. It's a good lesson for them. You want something good, you must work for it......... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
S78 via Hylan Posted December 22, 2009 Share #10 Posted December 22, 2009 I want to see this happen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grand Concourse Posted December 22, 2009 Share #11 Posted December 22, 2009 :tup: I wonder if those who take the trains n buses to work saying, "now maybe my commute will be quieter"............ That's exactly what I've been saying Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SevenEleven Posted December 22, 2009 Share #12 Posted December 22, 2009 It's for the better. For all those farebeaters who hop through the back door or hop the turnstile, you shouldn't be complaining. If you didn't pay the fare now, you aren't going to be paying it after the cuts. If you haven't been taking things for granted, you wouldn't have a problem with this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
St Louis Car 09 Posted December 22, 2009 Share #13 Posted December 22, 2009 These kids are full of it,not all of them.Some of them cut school with the free passes,going to the movies,hangin out etc.But i have to admit this can be problematic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fordhamkid7721 Posted December 22, 2009 Share #14 Posted December 22, 2009 It's not for the better. It's for the worse if even more kids are gonna skip school because they can't afford to get there. Parents aren't gonna be too happy with shelling out an extra 1200 bucks a year or so for transportation expenses for their kids to get to school as tough as this economy already is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grand Concourse Posted December 22, 2009 Share #15 Posted December 22, 2009 Concidering the MTA is a state agency - can you really blame them for wanting the city to pony up the money? If the people wants the MTA to give the kids the free rides, they need to complain to the city to demand they pay for their rides. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Y2Julio Posted December 22, 2009 Share #16 Posted December 22, 2009 Skip school? So I guess no one was getting educated before there were school metrocards? Kids nowadays are too damn lazy to put any effort into it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MattTrain Posted December 22, 2009 Share #17 Posted December 22, 2009 Students are treating their Student passes as if they have a right to have them in the first place. It is a privilege, not a right. If you abuse it, you lose it, and might get into trouble by school/law. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SoSpectacular Posted December 22, 2009 Share #18 Posted December 22, 2009 Students are treating their Student passes as if they have a right to have them in the first place. It is a privilege, not a right. If you abuse it, you lose it, and might get into trouble by school/law. Exactly... you can only use them to get from home to school and back, nothing else. If you've used your Student Pass in any other way (and one of my friends nearly got in some trouble about it) you don't deserve it... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fordhamkid7721 Posted December 22, 2009 Share #19 Posted December 22, 2009 I don't abuse mine so w/e...but still we shouldn't have to pay because of the MTA's smart way of handling money<sarcasm> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Y2Julio Posted December 22, 2009 Share #20 Posted December 22, 2009 I don't abuse mine so w/e...but still we shouldn't have to pay because of the MTA's smart way of handling money<sarcasm>Once again, it's not the MTA's fault. The city/state is cutting fund that it provided to the MTA to cover the cost of issuing student metrocards. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SevenEleven Posted December 22, 2009 Share #21 Posted December 22, 2009 It's not for the better. It's for the worse if even more kids are gonna skip school because they can't afford to get there. Parents aren't gonna be too happy with shelling out an extra 1200 bucks a year or so for transportation expenses for their kids to get to school as tough as this economy already is. Pfft. That's like my mom saying back when I went to a Catholic school, "Don't go" because it's too much money. The upcoming generation needs to know that life doesn't work for you. YOU have to make it work. On the other note, your math is wrong. For public school students, there's only 180 days of school. At the current fares, that comes out to $810 a year. Sounds like a burden? - There are ways to cut down on the price. - Besides farebeating. I'm a student too. I have to cough up a 30-60 min journey home each night. Despite the fact that I have a full fare Metrocard, I have a lot of spare Metrocards and money on me at all times in case anything goes wrong. I don't want to use the money that I get allocated each week on fares, so I save them for when the occasion arises. If these generation of kids used their brains for once (not pointing out the ones who actually do), all you have to do is get a job, budget your money and find alternatives. But, I guess they're becoming too lazy for that too. Skip school? So I guess no one was getting educated before there were school metrocards? Kids nowadays are too damn lazy to put any effort into it. Thank you and that's the problem that will plague all of these kids who are complaining about it. Nobody wanted the fare hike how many times, how many years ago to happen. Guess what? It did and we adapt and got over it. We can do the same here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mark1447 Posted December 22, 2009 Author Share #22 Posted December 22, 2009 It's for the better. For all those farebeaters who hop through the back door or hop the turnstile, you shouldn't be complaining. If you didn't pay the fare now, you aren't going to be paying it after the cuts. If you haven't been taking things for granted, you wouldn't have a problem with this. Speaking of Farebeating.. Let em do it LOL! Watch when these kids/teens have to pay NOT 2.25 but 100$! And maybe even jail time for those over 18 and still in school.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
INDman Posted December 22, 2009 Share #23 Posted December 22, 2009 And maybe even jail time for those over 18 and still in school.. You don't get jail time for fare evasion unless you have a record or an outstanding warrant. I'm not too sympathetic to the loss of student metro cards because I am still going school (still in college) and I don't get a student card even though... I'm still a student.Tell these kids to get a part time job or something, thats what I do every summer so I have money to go out and party and.... take the train to school. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe Posted December 22, 2009 Share #24 Posted December 22, 2009 Skip school? So I guess no one was getting educated before there were school metrocards? Kids nowadays are too damn lazy to put any effort into it. They grow up expecting hand-outs left and right. I know I didn't grow up that way, it was made very clear that I would have to work for the things I want. Really is a shame that many parents see parenting as optional. Speaking of Farebeating.. Let em do it LOL! Watch when these kids/teens have to pay NOT 2.25 but 100$! And maybe even jail time for those over 18 and still in school.. Someone underaged definitely wouldn't go to jail for jumping a turnstile. Even most adults wouldn't go to the slammer for that unless they popped a warrant (i.e. they were a wanted person). The fine even gets thrown out half the time anyway...what a joke of a justice system we have in this city... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Urbanfortitude Posted December 22, 2009 Share #25 Posted December 22, 2009 It's not for the better. It's for the worse if even more kids are gonna skip school because they can't afford to get there. Parents aren't gonna be too happy with shelling out an extra 1200 bucks a year or so for transportation expenses for their kids to get to school as tough as this economy already is. THose same kids would probably have skipped school for some reason anyway. Of course parents may not be happy with shelling out extra money to get their kids to school but part of parenting is sacrifice. Plenty of parents...especially the struggling single parents...out there making things happen for their kids despite hard times and obstacles. This is nothing new. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.