Pols push fare break
MORE THAN half of his City Council colleagues are urging Speaker Corey Johnson to fund half-priced MetroCards for low-income New Yorkers, the Daily News has learned.
A letter to Johnson and Council Finance Chairman Daniel Dromm was signed by 35 members in favor of the “Fair Fares” proposal to spend about $200 million to cut the cost for New Yorkers living below the poverty line, which is $24,339 for a family of four.
“The city’s own poverty measure shows that commuting costs are pushing New Yorkers into poverty and the impact is more significant than child care costs,” the members wrote in the Council’s response to the mayor’s budget. “To be a truly progressive city, we should fund half-price MetroCards for New Yorkers living in poverty.”
The mayor last year proposed $250 million for half-price MetroCards for 800,000 New Yorkers but made it contingent on the passing of a millionaires’ tax.
He included it not in his budget but in his “Fair Fix” proposal to fix the subways, which has seen little traction in Albany.
In his State of the City address, Mayor de Blasio vowed to make New York the “fairest” city in America, and used the word “fair” or a variant of it some 42 times, the members noted.
“New York, which continues to face staggering levels of income inequality, cannot be the fairest city in America while hundreds of thousands of our neighbors have trouble accessing daily necessities because they cannot afford to take the bus or subway,” they said, urging the council to lead so that “the mayor will follow and join us in weaving a vital new thread into our social safety net.”
While de Blasio has said the city needs the millionaires’ tax to fund the program, the city routinely rolls out new, pricey initiatives without identifying new taxes or revenue streams for them.
“There are a lot of things the city has to go to Albany for. This is something the city actually has the authority to do without making it contingent on action from Albany,” Nancy Rankin of the Community Service Society, which along with the Riders Alliance launched the Fair Fares campaign, told The News. “We already have the legal authority to secure a discounted fare, as long as the city makes up the foregone fare revenue. We don’t have to create hurdles here where there are not hurdles.”
The groups were optimistic about the plan’s support.
“Council members know the need for Fair Fares in their districts, they see it every day, they see people begging for swipes,” said Rebecca Bailin, campaign manager at the Riders Alliance.
Johnson has previously been receptive to the program, they noted — as did Johnson’s office.
“The speaker is supportive of Fair Fares. The budget process is just beginning, but this is an issue that is part of his commitment to help this city’s most vulnerable,” Council spokeswoman Jennifer Fermino said.
De Blasio’s office pointed to looming budget cuts as well as a need for a special revenue stream to fund the endeavor.
“The mayor of course wants to provide relief to those in need, which is why he included Fair Fares in his Fair Fix plan,” spokeswoman Freddi Goldstein said. “Given serious budgetary threats from Washington and Albany, this is not something the city can fund on its own.”
The letter was signed by Council members Barry Grodenchik, Adrienne Adams, Mark Levine, Donovan Richards, Peter Koo, Daneek Miller, Rory Lancman, Margaret Chin, Ydanis Rodriguez, Mark Treyger, Kalman Yeger, Vanessa Gibson, Inez Barron, Costa Constantinides, Rafael Salamanca, Jimmy Van Bramer, Justin Brannan, Antonio Reynoso, Ritchie Torres, Andrew Cohen, Stephen Levin, Debi Rose, Carlos Menchaca, Robert Cornegy, Ben Kallos, Mathieu Eugene, Rafael Espinal, Carlina Rivera, Diana Ayala, Helen Rosenthal, Keith Powers, Brad Landers, Alicka Ampry-Samuel, Bill Perkins and Jumaane Williams.