THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK
Office of Communications
City Hall
New York, NY 10007
Release #001-2010

Speaker Quinn, Council Members, Students and Advocates Rally Against MTA Cuts
Council Launches Public Petitioning Campaign Against Service Cuts

New York, NY ― City Council Speaker Christine C. Quinn, together with Council Members and dozens of students today rallied against the MTA’s latest round of service cuts. The cuts, announced last month, would impact riders citywide but would have the greatest negative impact on riders who depend on student metro cards and access-a-ride service. Leading transportation, student, senior and paratransit advocates joined at the press conference.

The Council also announced a new petition drive as a way for New Yorkers to voice their concerns about the cuts and the negative impact they will have on their daily lives. The campaign, “Don’t Leave New Yorkers Stranded,” can be found at the Council’s webpage, www.council.nyc.gov/html/action_center/mta.shtml.

In addition to today’s press conference, Council Members will be petitioning in their districts throughout the five boroughs over the next week.

“The MTA has proposed cuts that would leave tens of thousands of New Yorkers stranded – New Yorkers who depend on bus and subway service day in and day out,” said Speaker Quinn. “Each of the students standing with us today would in fact be stranded with the loss of their means of getting to and from school. Attending these high schools is a window of opportunity for school kids who have worked hard and are striving for better opportunities in their future. We should be doing all we can to support them, not take steps to make their success more difficult.”

The latest MTA “doomsday” budget calls for the elimination of two subway lines (W and Z) and 21 bus routes, the partial elimination of the G line and dozens of additional bus routes, and service reductions system-wide. It would also eliminate student metro card discounts over two years and prompt up to 700 layoffs.

Said Council Member James Vacca (D-Bronx), “Eliminating student fares at a time when New York families are already struggling with higher taxes, fees, fares, and tolls is simply out of the question. Student metro cards are a lifeline for working- and middle-class children. We all know the MTA is in trouble ― but threatening to prevent hundreds of thousands of students from attending the schools that best meet their educational needs is a new low, even for this agency.”

“Many of our City's students travel for long periods of time to get to and from school and afterschool programs each day. Rescinding the student metro card program affects many of those who can least afford it yet have no alternative to staying closer to home,” said Council Member Gale A. Brewer.

Last month, Speaker Quinn, together with leading transportation advocates and City Council colleagues, joined in advance of the scheduled MTA board meeting to urge board members to reject the latest round of “doomsday” service cuts and to instead reallocate $140 million of capital funds to temporarily close an unexpected gap in its operating budget.

The additional funds proposed by the Council Members and advocates would come from two sources: More than $90 million in unspent federal stimulus aid that may be allocated toward operating expenses through a congressionally sanctioned process known as “flex,” and roughly $50 million in MTA operating funds that are currently being used to supplement the capital budget. The combined funding boost would be more than enough to offset the $129 million the MTA expects to save through cuts to subway and bus service citywide.

“Riders have every right to be mad as hell,” said Gene Russianoff, staff attorney for the NYPIRG Straphangers Campaign. “It’s true that the financial mess is not of the MTA’s making. But the Straphangers Campaign believes the MTA has the resources to prevent the service cuts. We urge the agency to use available federal stimulus funds and capital funds now coming out of the operating budget."