The state government has yet to offer any substantial alternative to the MTA budget. The service cuts, which include eliminating two subway lines and 35 bus routes and fare hikes of 23 percent, are scheduled to go into effect June 1st.
“Hold the hikes, curb the cuts—Albany law makers get some guts!” was being chanted by those at the rally, this and other strong sentiments were pointed at Albany and the State Senate.
Several organizations participated in the early evening event that was sponsored by Transportation Alternatives. Other participating groups were the NYPIRG Straphangers Campaign, Working Families Party, Keep New York Moving Coalition and the 1,000,000 New Yorkers Against the NYC MTA Fare Hike, an online organization on the social networking website Facebook.
Hundreds of sign-waving subway and bus riders also turned out to show their support and vent their frustrations.
Organizers from Keep New York Moving Coalition helped people make cell phone calls to their state senators on the spot, even providing them with senator’s names, phone numbers and a script to work from. Rally-goers also wrote messages to the state senate on a Facebook wall.
Amir Darvish, one of the creators of the Facebook page has gathered about 75,000 members over the past month.
“Following the outcry, anger and frustration of more than 75,000 of our members, we have taken our fight against the fare hike from the virtual world to the physical one,” said Darvish, co-founder of the
Facebook group.
“We want The Senate, Albany and the MTA to fully understand that this 25% increase will harm us more than they realize, especially in these hard economic times,” continued Darvish.
Paul Steely White, executive director of Transportation Alternatives said, “So far the only decisive action from the State Senate has been to eliminate the most viable plan from consideration. Enough is enough.”
White was referring to the MTA turning down recommendations from the Ravitch Commission, headed by former MTA Chairman Richard Ravitch, which offered several alternatives to fare hike and service cuts, which have so far been rejected by the MTA.
Paul Van Patton, of the South Bronx, shared his understanding of the impact the service cuts will have on his neighbors, “We have the highest unemployment rate in the city, maybe the country, and say someone in my neighborhood gets a new job, how is that person going to get to work?
“We have the B4 bus line, and it passes five or six major health facilities. Most of the people using these health facilities are old, we need the bus lines,” said Van Patton.
