Mayor Mamdani And Speaker Menin Must Guarantee Poor And Working-Class New Yorkers The Right To Travel In Our City
Photos: YouTube Screenshot|Wikimedia Commons New York – A handshake agreement between the Mayor and Council Speaker on the FY27 NYC budget is expected as soon as Friday. Despite public commitments from the Speaker to deliver on Fair Fares expansion, and the Mayor’s campaign promises of free transit access, we fear that an agreement between the two leaders to lower costs for riders will not happen. In response, Riders Alliance Executive Director Betsy Plum and VOCAL-NY Co-Executive Director Jeremy Saunders released the following joint statement: “In the City budget due next week, Mayor Mamdani and Speaker Menin have a golden opportunity to transform Fair Fares, save money for poor and working class riders and end the ticketing and arrest of New Yorkers whose crime is being unable to afford the train. With a $3 MTA fare and enormous spending on aggressive NYPD enforcement, it’s only fair that every New Yorker has the basic right to travel across their own city, whether to make medical appointments, job interviews or even just visit a sick family member. “If fully funded, the proposed Fair Fares expansion would provide free access to the subway and train for riders earning up to 150% of the federal poverty level and half fares for a new group of riders earning between 150% and 300%. This proposal could save over two million struggling New Yorkers nearly $1,000 each next year. “Poor New Yorkers could finally get around and get ahead without the added burden of paying for transit service. Workers, including many union members who are the backbone of our city’s economy, would get a meaningful break on the subway and the bus. “It is said that budgets are moral documents. Given the current option between 24-hours in a bullpen versus the ability to see a doctor because of a dispute over $3, this feels truer than ever. “Mayor Mamdani made world history by running a campaign that promised lower costs for New York transit riders. Speaker Menin made free and reduced fares for more New Yorkers a signature issue from day one. This is our year to transform Fair Fares and put money in the pockets of those commuters who are having the hardest time affording life in New York. If not now, when?”
Black News 
Photos: YouTube Screenshot|Wikimedia Commons
New York – A handshake agreement between the Mayor and Council Speaker on the FY27 NYC budget is expected as soon as Friday. Despite public commitments from the Speaker to deliver on Fair Fares expansion, and the Mayor’s campaign promises of free transit access, we fear that an agreement between the two leaders to lower costs for riders will not happen.
In response, Riders Alliance Executive Director Betsy Plum and VOCAL-NY Co-Executive Director Jeremy Saunders released the following joint statement:
“In the City budget due next week, Mayor Mamdani and Speaker Menin have a golden opportunity to transform Fair Fares, save money for poor and working class riders and end the ticketing and arrest of New Yorkers whose crime is being unable to afford the train. With a $3 MTA fare and enormous spending on aggressive NYPD enforcement, it’s only fair that every New Yorker has the basic right to travel across their own city, whether to make medical appointments, job interviews or even just visit a sick family member.
“If fully funded, the proposed Fair Fares expansion would provide free access to the subway and train for riders earning up to 150% of the federal poverty level and half fares for a new group of riders earning between 150% and 300%. This proposal could save over two million struggling New Yorkers nearly $1,000 each next year.
“Poor New Yorkers could finally get around and get ahead without the added burden of paying for transit service. Workers, including many union members who are the backbone of our city’s economy, would get a meaningful break on the subway and the bus.
“It is said that budgets are moral documents. Given the current option between 24-hours in a bullpen versus the ability to see a doctor because of a dispute over $3, this feels truer than ever.
“Mayor Mamdani made world history by running a campaign that promised lower costs for New York transit riders. Speaker Menin made free and reduced fares for more New Yorkers a signature issue from day one. This is our year to transform Fair Fares and put money in the pockets of those commuters who are having the hardest time affording life in New York. If not now, when?”
