Latest news with #OMNY
Yahoo
05-06-2025
- Yahoo
OMNY card reader stolen from NYC subway station: NYPD
HIGHBRIDGE, The Bronx (PIX11) — Police are looking for a man who they say allegedly stole an OMNY card reader from a turnstile in a subway station in the Bronx. The man is accused of forcibly removing the OMNY card reader from the 170 Street station on May 27 around 4:21 a.m., according to authorities. More Crime News Police say the man then ran off and was last seen wearing a black hooded sweatshirt, gray pants and multicolored sneakers. Submit tips to police by calling Crime Stoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477), visiting downloading the NYPD Crime Stoppers mobile app, or texting 274637 (CRIMES) then entering TIP577. Spanish-speaking callers are asked to dial 1-888-57-PISTA (74782). Dominique Jack is a digital content producer from Brooklyn with more than five years of experience covering news. She joined PIX11 in 2024. More of her work can be found here. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
03-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Readers sound off on fighting fare-beaters, Trump's first 100 days and immigrant rights
Manhattan: Re 'Silence to fare evasion is consent' (op-ed, April 28): We're in agreement that fare evasion is a critical and sometimes overlooked issue — but not by the MTA. Anyone who thinks we haven't been giving it the same level of intensity as congestion pricing hasn't been paying attention. In fact, wide-ranging efforts to clamp down on fare evasion have been underway for the last three years, since the formation of an MTA-commissioned Blue Ribbon panel. In that time, we've been making it easier to pay fares with OMNY while making our services harder to steal — with increased NYPD enforcement, yes, but also by hiring hundreds of gate guards and making changes to the physical subway turnstiles and emergency gates. And uniformed Evasion and Graffiti Lawlessness Eradication (EAGLE) teams have been working on fare enforcement on buses, where fare evasion had soared. Not to mention the countless infrastructure interventions, including anti-back-cocking and installing turnstile fins and sleeves. These interventions are working. Subway fare evasion is down 30% since last year, and rates of bus fare evasion have been pushed down for the last three quarters. We agree that what's needed now is decision-makers outside the MTA to restore meaningful consequences for the crime of theft of service. New, less porous fare gates are coming. But until then, we'll continue to work with our partners in law enforcement and the criminal justice system to make sure fare evaders face accountability. Demetrius Crichlow, president, MTA New York City Transit Kew Gardens: Re 'Belichick sez girlfriend was just 'doing her job,' ' (May 1): May-December relationships can be viewed in two ways. The first is that love has no bounds, and the second is that it violates social norms. I once had a friend in a similar situation as Bill Belichick. I asked him if he was concerned about the relationship when viewed as a medical risk. He said: 'I have, and I hope it never happens, but if she dies, she dies.' Phil Serpico Clearwater, Fla.: There are two kinds of people in this world: those who sit back and wait for things to happen, and those who are driven and make things happen. Let it be said, President Trump makes things happen. His first 100 days have been a whirlwind of getting things accomplished. Despite the hateful rhetoric from left-wing, radical Dems fighting against Trump's efforts, he and his dream team won't back down. Most importantly, the border is secured and violent, criminal illegal aliens are being deported. No doubt, Trump will continue to stand his ground and fight. You can be sure he will always put America first. JoAnn Lee Frank Medford, L.I.: The media is playing up the fact that in various polls, Trump has the lowest approval rating for his first 100 days than any president of this century. Some pundits are downright giddy over it. I'm watching this media circus wondering if these people ever heard the sports axiom, 'It's not how you start, but how you finish'? Trump has on his professional and political resumes the gargantuan duo accomplishments of the greatest comeback in American business history and the greatest comeback in U.S. political history. To anyone taking glee in his rough start over trying to solve a generations-long problem of America being taken advantage of in trade, does anyone really think that dancing on his grave now is going to age well? As Ronald Reagan said about the outcome of the Cold War, 'We win, they lose!' Eugene R. Dunn Staten Island: Trump's level of understanding of any of this is way lower than anyone imagines. He thinks foreign countries will pay the tariffs (like Mexico paid for the wall) and he calls them reciprocal because he believes value-added taxes are equivalent to tariffs. Absolute nonsense. I'm not sure any of this matters, since his only concern is to replace progressive income taxes on billionaires with regressive tariffs on everyone else. Michael Rosenkrantz Manhattan: I laughed out loud at Voicer John Procida's hilarious love letter to Trump, assuming that he must be a professional comedian. No such luck. Trump, a trust-fund baby, inherited $400 million from his father and went bankrupt six times. Daddy bailed him out every time. In the real world, people like that are not called businessmen, they're called losers. Perhaps it's time for Procida to put down the Kool-Aid and turn off Fox News, whose own attorneys argued in court that they are an 'entertainment network,' explaining that they peddle their opinions as opposed to actual facts. Furthermore, adding insult to injury, they insisted that any intelligent person would absolutely recognize that what they are hearing from Fox is, in effect, fake news. Apparently, they were wrong. Or were they? Anne Stockton Merion Station, Pa.: After Mike Waltz's departure as national security advisor, will Trump politely ask Pete Hegseth to resign or will he boldly shout at our 'Apprentice' defense secretary, 'You're fired!'? It's only a matter of time until Hegseth joins Waltz on the unemployment line. Paul L. Newman Swarthmore, Pa.: Edmund Burke was an Irishman born in the 18th century, a seminal thinker often credited with formulating the modern political philosophy of conservatism. He's also credited for articulating the notion of the 'Fourth Estate.' Burke said, 'There were three Estates in the British Parliament, but in the reporters' gallery, there sat a fourth Estate far more important than them all.' He was referring to the importance of having a vibrant and powerful free press to call out the excesses and perceived wrongdoings of the government. Some cynics may scoff that the media's role in the era of a president who relentlessly undermines the press' credibility has been greatly diminished. I say it has crystalized how vital its role is. If the press is beaten into a state of quiescent submissiveness, the leap from a democratic republic to an autocratic one becomes so much smaller. Our president grasps this all too well. Ken Derow Edinburgh, Scotland: Political observers have understandably grown weary of lazy references to Hitler when trying to explain Trump. And while a few governments (sadly, including the Westminster administration in the U.K.) try to play normal even while Trump disappears U.S. citizens and protected migrants to concentration camps in El Salvador, no one but the most deluded thinks the orange menace has anything remotely akin to a rigid Hitleresque plan for America. However, those who still cling to the idea of a U.S. liberal democracy when late-stage capitalism is eating itself are naively, gleefully banging on about vote shares and Trump's crashing poll numbers. It's worth remembering that Hitler's Nazi party only ever achieved 37.3% of the popular vote. It almost immediately lost 2 million of those votes. What mattered was that Hitler gained power. Once there, he was unmovable, like dog turd deep in the groove of your shoe. Amanda Baker Highland Falls, N.Y.: When told that the Vatican was publicly criticizing his policies, Soviet dictator Josef Stalin famously replied, 'How many divisions does the pope have?' Trump and his slavish minions seem to want to use the same policy with American courts, ignoring them and daring some action to stop their illegal and inhumane policies. I'm not a constitutional scholar, but if the judges decide they can create a legal militia to enforce their judgements and jail Trump, JD Vance, Pam Bondi and the rest, I'll be the first to volunteer my 70-year-old services. Joe Cyr Manhattan: Mahmoud Khalil's pending deportation is entirely motivated by racism. He was never accused of inciting to riot, the only way he could have plausibly been deemed a threat. Are students and people on temporary visas barred from exercising free speech? If they're subject to our laws, they should also have our freedoms. Khalil must be set free! Elizabeth Sheffren Bronx: Why are they showing cartoons in the middle of the night? Why am I watching cartoons in the middle of the night? Mary Caggiano
Yahoo
20-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Where to find an OMNY card in NYC
NEW YORK CITY (PIX11) – It's out with the MetroCard and in with OMNY – but not every subway station has an OMNY vending machine yet. By the end of the year, public transit riders will need an OMNY card, credit card or smartphone to get past the turnstyle instead of a MetroCard. More Local News Only 264 of 472 subway stations across New York City have OMNY card vending machines, according to the MTA. To see a map of which stations have vending machines, click here. Some stores, like Walgreens and CVS, sell OMNY cards as well. To find a list of stores selling OMNY cards, click here. The MTA promised that all 472 stations will have machines by the fall. The last MetroCard will be sold on Dec. 31, but leftover MetroCards will still be honored at least six months into the year. The MTA said 65% of riders already use OMNY to pay for the subway. Emily Rahhal is a digital reporter who has covered New York City since 2023 after reporting in Los Angeles for years. She joined PIX11 in 2024. See more of her work here and follow her on Twitter here. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
19-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
NYC Bids Adieu to the Iconic MetroCard
The iconic MetroCard, a staple of New York City's public transit system for over 30 years, is set to be discontinued by the end of the year. According to NBC News, MTA Chair and CEO Janno Lieber dropped this big announcement, revealing that the MTA will cease selling and refilling MetroCards by the end of 2025. This accelerated timeline comes as a surprise to most New Yorkers, since the MTA had previously hinted at a 2027 farewell for the magnetic stripe cards. As much as this comes as a surprise to New Yorkers, most of them will likely not be upset by the news. That is because the future of fare payment is already here in the form of OMNY (One Metro New York), which is the current, widely available tap-and-go system that's been gaining traction since its 2019 debut. OMNY has won over most commuters with its user-friendly interface which offers the convenience of using contactless credit cards, smartphones, or dedicated OMNY cards. The MetroCard was first rolled out on January 6, 1994, at the Wall Street and Whitehall Street stations in Lower Manhattan. It was introduced as a means to eliminate the need to carry tokens. By 1997, the MetroCard was accepted system-wide. For those still clinging to their trusty MetroCards, Lieber assures that existing cards will remain functional for at least six months after sales cease, giving stragglers plenty of time to make the switch. This means the earliest we might see a fully OMNY-fied transit system would be late June 2026, though the exact date is still up in the air. Read the original article on GEEKSPIN. Affiliate links on GEEKSPIN may earn us and our partners a commission.
New York Times
19-03-2025
- Business
- New York Times
Swipe No More: M.T.A. to Stop Selling MetroCards
New Yorkers have long prided themselves on knowing how to successfully swipe their MetroCards on the first pass while tourists fumbled their way through the turnstiles. In their heyday, the yellow cards littered the floors of subway stations and piled up in riders' wallets. Now, the MetroCard is finally going the way of the subway token. The Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which oversees the subway and bus systems, announced on Wednesday that it would stop selling the cards at stations on Dec. 31 and in the fall at retail locations such as drugstores and bodegas. The cards debuted in 1993. Instead of swiping MetroCards at subway turnstiles or on buses, riders will exclusively use the authority's new tap-and-go system, which was introduced in 2019 and allows customers to pay with digital wallets on their smartphones and watches; a contactless credit or debit card; or a physical tap-and-go OMNY card from the M.T.A. The transition to the contactless system is expected to save the M.T.A. at least $20 million annually, said its chairman, Janno Lieber. 'It's time to say goodbye to the MetroCard and go all-in on the fare payment system of the future,' Mr. Lieber said in a statement, adding that 65 percent of riders already use the tap-and-go system. He said the change 'also opens the door for new discounts and promotions that'll put money back in riders' pockets.' OMNY cards, which are useful for people who do not have bank accounts, cost $1 and can be purchased and loaded with funds online, at thousands of retail locations, at subway stations and at the M.T.A.'s mobile sales vehicles. OMNY vending machines will be available at all 472 subway stations by the fall, officials said. The frustrating days of swiping a MetroCard several times before it works, or of getting stuck during rush hour behind someone who hasn't quite perfected the necessary wrist flick, will soon be over. But so will that feeling of satisfaction that comes with a smooth swipe — one of the last truly tactile experiences in a digital world that has become increasingly frictionless. In 1993, the shift from tokens to the MetroCard represented 'the biggest change in the culture of the subways since World War II, when the system was unified,' said Jack Lusk, who was the senior vice president for customer service at the M.T.A. at the time. On Wednesday, some subway riders seemed touched by the new shift away from MetroCards. Tara Johnson said she framed her MetroCard when she moved to Los Angeles several years ago and kept it when she moved back to New York. She said she would continue holding on to it now that the card was being retired. 'When I first moved here when I was like 20, that was everything, that was my guide to the city,' Ms. Johnson, 43, said on an L train speeding toward Manhattan underneath the East River. 'It's a piece of nostalgia for me,' she added. Stacie Gorbacheva, 55, an emergency medical technician from Corona, Queens, wore her MetroCard on a necklace while riding the 7 train. She said she wore it not just for convenience, but as a proud emblem of New York City. 'It advertises for us,' Ms. Gorbacheva said. She said she preferred the card to the tap system because it seemed more reliable. 'I trust,' she said. 'I always use.' She added that she would continue wearing her MetroCard around her neck, even after the cards were gone. Ariel Rush, 32, a restaurant manager from Brooklyn, said she kept a MetroCard on hand to loan to people visiting from out of town. She said she would keep it for the memories. 'It's something tangible of what was before,' she said. Even after they are no longer available for sale, the cards will continue to be accepted throughout the transit system, according to officials, who said a stoppage date would be announced later. The M.T.A. said that riders should plan to spend down their MetroCard balances, but that any remaining value would be eligible for transfer or reimbursement two years from their card's expiration date. Public school students already saw their MetroCards replaced with the contactless OMNY cards in September.
