Rally for Transit Rescue Today at Union Square

rally.jpg
There will be a rally today from 5:30 to 7:30 at Union Square (Broadway and 14th St. in Manhattan) in protest of planned MTA fare hikes and service cuts. Event organizers include Transportation Alternatives, the Straphangers Campaign, the Working Families Party, Keep New York Moving and the Facebook group "1,000,000 People Against the NYC MTA Fare Hike."

Says TA:

Rally-goers will hear from fellow riders whose bus and subway lines are about to disappear, as well as from labor and transportation advocates. They will make phone calls to their State Senators, and handwrite messages to the NY State Senate on a giant "Facebook Wall," conveying what fare hikes and service cuts will mean for their commutes. The wall will be hand-delivered to Senate leadership.

This event is likely to draw media coverage, so if anyone who’s planning to attend is able to bring pro-bridge toll signs it could be a good way to show that members of the transit-riding public — unlike state lawmakers — aren’t ready to concede on the merits.

ALSO ON STREETSBLOG

Transit Riders to Albany: Get to Work on a Real MTA Solution

|
Photo: Ben Fried. Yesterday’s rally in Union Square drew hundreds of transit riders calling on the State Senate and Albany leaders to enact a long-term solution for the MTA’s enormous funding shortfall. Judging by the cheering sections in the audience, most of the crowd was mobilized by the Facebook group "1,000,000 People Against the NYC […]

Fare Hike 2011: It’s Official

|
The monthly unlimited Metrocard will break the $100 barrier on January 1, following today’s 12-2 MTA Board vote to balance the agency’s budget by enacting a package of fare increases. (Get full details on the fare hike package from Ben Kabak.) NY1’s John Mancini reports that the MTA Board faced some predictably withering public testimony […]

This Week: The Rider Rebellion Rallies for Transit

|
After a successful demonstration of support for the Prospect Park West bike lane last week, livable streets activists need to rally again to defend the city’s transit system. Join Transportation Alternatives’ Rider Rebellion in Union Square on Wednesday to show elected officials that more fare hikes and service cuts aren’t acceptable. Tonight: DOT is working […]

Schumer, Labor Leaders Rally to Keep Buses and Trains Running

|
L-r: Senator Chuck Schumer, ATU Vice President Larry Hanley, TWU Local 100 President John Samuelsen, and City Council transportation chair James Vacca. Photo: Ben Fried Senator Chuck Schumer joined a coalition of labor unions and transportation advocates at Penn Station today to call for emergency federal funding for the nation’s transit systems. The rally made […]

Putting Facebook to Work for Transit Rescue

|
Got a Facebook account? The Campaign for New York’s Future is asking transit riders to use the image on the right (get it here) as their profile pic, while changing their status to: “Telling my state senator I oppose the MTA doomsday fare hikes and service cuts at www.KeepNewYorkMoving.org" In other it-ain’t-over-’til-it’s-over doomsday news, as […]