Riders group evaluating success of ‘Fair Fares’
BY MARK HALLUM
With over 70,000 New York
City Transit riders enrolled
in the Fair Fares program, an
organization representing straphangers
is checking the pulse of the city’s poorest
who get half-priced MetroCards.
The Riders Alliance is conducting a
survey to gather information on how
the program benefi ts riders and how it
can improve.
The Oct. 1 announcement came
shortly after Mayor Bill de Blasio announced
that citywide poverty rates
have reached historic lows.
The Fair Fares program aims to further
decrease citywide poverty rates by
making MetroCards more affordable for
low-income residents. The Riders Alliance
is calling for the program, which
received $106 million in the city’s 2019
budget but was later doubled to $212
million, to be expanded not through
funds but outreach.
With 76,000 current enrollees, a rally
at the City Hall R station called for
logistical improvements and invitations
to the plan for unemployed New Yorkers
as well as SNAP recipients.
“We have a commitment from
Mayor de Blasio that the program
will be fully rolled out by January
2020 to about 750,000 New Yorkers
at or below the federal poverty line,”
Allan Singer was one of several at a Riders Alliance rally advocating
for New Yorkers to complete a survey on the Fair Fares program
said Rebecca Bailin, political director
for the Riders Alliance. “During the
campaign, while we were fi ghting so
starting 2016, we heard from Lowincome
New Yorkers that the cost
of a MetroCard was prohibitive. But
people still need to get to where they
need to go.”
Allan Singer is an unemployed
Marine Corps veteran who said that
while he often has to make the decision
of whether to eat or pay subway
PHOTO : MARK HALLUM/DOWNTOWN EXPRESS
fare, he has never been invited to enroll
in the program by the city Human
Resources Administration.
Singer often has to make the call of
whether or not to risk going to jail for
turnstile jumping.
“I’m very frustrated that I have not
been invited,” he said at the Oct. 1 rally.
“It’s important to me because I have
to choose between a MetroCard and a
meal to get to my appointments, I feel
that’s unfair as a veteran on public assistance
and being unemployed.”
Mike Gonzalez from Astoria has the
Fair Fares card which has allowed him
to pay some extra bills as well as put
some money aside.
“I’ve benefi tted from a great deal,”
Gonzalez said. “This is a program I
think all New Yorkers should be able
to benefi t from.”
De Blasio celebrated the release of
data that showed the poverty rate is at
a nearly 50-year low with the median
household income gaining by 13 percent,
or $7,501, up from $56,298 in 2013
to $63,799 in 2018, according to the
mayor’s offi ce.
But while the median household income
grew by double-digits percentage
points, the poverty rate only dropped
by 3.6 percent, 20.9 percent in 2013
to 17.3 percent in 2018.
De Blasio committed $106 million
from the 2019 city budget for halfpriced
MetroCards after pressure from
various groups throughout the city.
In December 2018, Comptroller
Scott Stringer put the program into
question for the fact that it was only
available to weekly and monthly unlimited
MetroCard holders which only
make up about 15 percent of low-income
city dwellers.
The survey can be accessed at Fair-
Fares.info.
Read more at thevillager.com
Battery Park City home to America’s highest rents again
BY EMILY DAVENPORT
Some of the country’s most expensive
neighborhoods in 2019
were found right here in Manhattan,
but Battery Park City’s rental
prices seem to soar higher and higher
every year.
RENTcafe recently released a report
that explores which neighborhoods
in the country, by ZIP code,
are among the most expensive in
2019. According to their findings,
out of the top ten most expensive
areas, seven ZIP codes were
in Manhattan.
Manhattan’s 10282, encompassing
Battery Park City, was found to
be the most expensive neighborhood
in the country with an average rental
price $6,211 per month.
As sky high as the average rent
is, that number represents an increase
of 12.4 percent increase
year-over-year.
Holding the spot as the second-most
expensive neighborhood in America is
Manhattan’s 10013 ZIP code, covering
Tribeca and SoHo, with an average
rental price of $5,327 per month.
Following behind at number three is
Manhattan’s 10023 ZIP code, holding
For the third straight year, Battery Park City has the highest rent in America, according to RentCafe.
the Upper West Side, with an average
rental price of $5,053 per month.
While Tribeca and SoHo rents went
down 0.8 percent year-over-year, the
Upper West Side’s rent increased 5.4
percent compared to last year.
Jumping down the list to number
seven, Manhattan’s 10065 ZIP code
covering the Upper East Side has an
average rental price of $4,777, marking
a 6.1 percent decrease year-overyear.
At number eight is Manhattan’s
10002, encompassing the Lower East
Side (LoDel) area, with an average
rent of $4,666 per month, a 2.8 percent
increase year-over-year.
Following very close behind at
number nine is Manhattan’s 10025
ZIP code in the Upper West Side with
an average rental price of $4,646. The
PHOTO VIA GETTY IMAGES
tenth most expensive neighborhood
in the country is Manhattan’s 10028
ZIP code, covering Yorkville, with
an average rent of $4,642 per month.
These areas each increased 1.6 percent
and 3.7 percent, year-over-year.
To read the full report, visit rentcafe.
com/blog/rental-market/marketsnapshots/
americas-most-expensivezip
codes-2019/.
4 October 3 - 16, 2019 DEX Schneps Media
/thevillager.com