REMINDER: MTA to Hold 22 Public Comment Sessions on Proposed Fare Changes

Beginning Monday, Aug. 25, MTA Staff to Collect Comments at Subway Customer Service Centers, Mobile Sales Vans, and LIRR and Metro-North Stations 

Full Schedule Available on MTA Website  

MTA will Accept Comments Online, Via Mail and Via Phone Through September 14 

Editor’s note: The MTA was in Brooklyn last week, as announced here.  Politicians serving Staten Island, including the Mayor, have all stated that this fare hike should not be passed, and that the subways and buses should continue to have the same cost for the time being.  The fare is already an issue for those who live below the poverty line, of which there are many in the five boroughs, often slipping under the radar.  The next Staten Island session will be held at a mobile sales vehicle in New Springville at Yukon Avenue on September 2nd.  The following are Curtis Sliwa’s comments at the MTA Board Meeting on August 19th at 6pm, as transcribed by Youtube.  These issues were briefly discussed in our article over the weekend featuring Curtis Sliwa: 

Then I’m running for mayor and facing the shot callers for the MTA money taking agency. This is unique. Did it one other time. But before we get to that, I was born not far from here, Brooklyn Hospital, 1954. My mother was a telephone operator who had a swing shift and she paid 10 cents for a subway ride and then eventually it was 15 cents. That’s what I remember paying in uh 1960. And then in ‘ 64, I was at PS114 and I was taught by my cousins that there was the pizza principle. Slice of pizza should equal the fair of a subway ride. Now, let’s look at today’s inflation. Ah, the dollar slice went to uh buck 50, right? And yet your fare is astronomical.

And I got to tell you, I get more value out of a buck 50 slice than I do out of the MTA money taking agency. The system is filthy. It smells. You allow homeless people to wallow in their own defecation and urine. Emotionally disturbed persons who get no services whatsoever.  And I got to tell you, the rats, I don’t know what the mayor’s talking about. I’m nocturnal. I’m down in the subways and they’re doing the dance and they’re doing the tarantella on those platforms morning, noon, and night. So if you’re going to ask for an increase from blue collar workingclass people and indigent people, how about providing service?

Because I don’t see the service there. In fact, I remember it was December of 1985. I was making an appearance [with a] different group of people. It was Robert Kylie, I think, was chairman of the MTA then. David Gunn, who was president of the subway service, who actually did a good job. He’s the one who took the trains out when they were graffitied and had them scrubbed. But I remember I threw 300 dimes. I don’t get nervous.  I’m not going to commit an act of civil disobedience here because they were raising the fare from 90 cents to a dollar. And I must tell you, look at the price and the cost of a subway and bus ride today. They are not getting the service, billion[s of] dollars, for the extension of the Q train when you should be [inaudible] of the existing subway system that’s falling apart.

[Testimony concluded by MTA board member moving on to the next person]

Beginning Monday, Aug. 25, and continuing 22 times through Friday, Sept. 12, MTA staff will be at Customer Service Centers in subway stations, mobile sales vans, and Long Island Rail Road and Metro-North Railroad stations in every borough throughout the MTA service region, collecting comments on the proposed fare changes. For the full schedule and list of locations, visit https://www.mta.info/transparency/public-hearings/2025-fare-changes.  

The public comment sessions are a vital extension of the public fare hearings held last week to allow the MTA to engage customers within the service area and relay their comments as part of the public hearing process. They also encourage dialogue with MTA staff who will answer questions on the proposals, provide information about reduced fare programs and raise awareness about the end of MetroCard sales and the transition to the more convenient tap-and-go system. At the Customer Service Centers and Mobile Van locations, customers can sign up for Fair Fares if eligible, transfer their MetroCard balances to their preferred OMNY payment tool and learn about all of the standard services that are offered to customers close to where they live and work.  

All comments collected at these Public Comment Sessions will be included in the public record and shared with the MTA Board for review. 

Additional Ways to Comment Through September 14 

Online: Customers can submit a written or video comment here. 

Mail: MTA Government & Community Relations
         Attn: Fare Hearings, 2 Broadway, 16th Floor, New York, NY 10004 

Phone: (646) 252-6777, telephone agents are available from 6:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. daily. 

Banner Image: MTA New York City Transit President Demetrius Crichlow joins Governor Kathy Hochul as she signs legislation renaming the subway station on the 2/3 lines at 110 St as 110 St-Malcolm X Plaza Station on Sunday, Aug 10, 2025. Image Credit – MTA