Please, Mr. Mayor, fund Fair Fares
Every weekday morning, I wake up and feed my 3-year-old daughter, Monique — she loves the Cap’n Crunch cereal with the berries. Sometimes she’ll give me a hard time, just so she can eat with her school friends instead.
To get her to school, we first have to take a bus from the homeless shelter where we are staying in the Bronx to the subway. Then we take the 4 train and transfer to the D. After I drop off her off at school in Harlem, I head downtown for my shift at a fast-food burger joint.
No matter how bad the commute, I walk in all smiles.
I typically spend three to four hours on the train every day. My daughter and I pass the time listening to music and watching YouTube videos. One time, a man playing the drums on the subway let her bang on them, too. Only in New York.
Most weeks, I worry that I won’t have enough money to afford the subway fare. When I don’t have enough money for a MetroCard, I have to wait for people to swipe me in.
When I’m with my daughter, people are more generous, but it’s embarrassing that she sees me ask strangers for help. Even though she’s only 3, she’s started repeating what she sees me do, asking for swipes on her own. It breaks my heart.
That’s why I’m asking Mayor de Blasio to fund the Fair Fares program, which would allow people like me, who live below the poverty line, to purchase MetroCards at reduced rates. He says we can’t afford it, but I think the city should find a way.
Until recently, with the fastfood industry’s chaotic scheduling practices, workers like me didn’t know how many hours of work we’d get or how much money we’d have at the end of the week. With the new scheduling laws passed by de Blasio and the City Council, some of the chaos is changing. I’m grateful that fastfood workers fought for and won a higher minimum wage and scheduling rights.
Still, I often take home less than $150 a week.
I am working in fast food to provide for my family. After all my other expenses — food, diapers, laundry, $10 to cash my paycheck because I can’t afford the fees associated with a bank account — I often don’t have the $32 that I need each week to buy a MetroCard.
Sometimes it takes too long for people to swipe us in, which makes me late to my daughter’s school and to work. It doesn’t make sense that I work so hard every day and still struggle to afford the cost of commuting to my job. I’m trying my best to support my family and save up to get a place of our own.
One of my daughter’s favorite toys is a play kitchen where she likes to cook imaginary meals. It was a Christmas gift from her godmother. It’s in storage now while we’re in the shelter. We both dream of being able to cook in our own kitchens again.
Obviously, I want nothing more than to get a permanent place to live. Not only for the stability it would give me and my daughter. If I had my own apartment, my other kids, who are 8 and 11, could visit us. But in order to qualify for housing, I’ve been told I should be saving 10% of my paycheck. I can’t do that right now. The costs are just too high. I work hard, but I just can’t get a foothold on my finances.The ability to spend less money getting to and from my job would help a lot.
I am sharing my story because I believe that New York City should be a place my family and families like mine not only survive, but thrive. That’s also why I joined Fast Food Justice, the first nonprofit organization for fast-food workers by fast-food workers.
We’re coming together to educate one another to make sure our rights are respected and advocate for industrywide change. We’re fighting together for stronger and inclusive communities and a better future for our kids.
A half-price bus and subway fare for the poorest New Yorkers would be a great place to start. Fair Fares should be a priority for the mayor if he is a true champion of poor and struggling New Yorkers.
Sometimes, I wish that my daughter and I could go take a trip somewhere special. But for now I’m just trying to get on the subway.