Students Demand Fixes To NYC's Flimsy Student OMNY Cards For many New York City students, commuting to school has become a daily gamble: will their fragile green OMNY student card work at the turnstile, or will they face the choice of paying full fare, hopping the gate, or missing class? Parents and students across the city report that the paper-thin cards are failing under normal use, cracking after exposure to rain, bending in backpacks, or suddenly deactivating without warning. Replacement requests often take weeks to resolve, prompting some families to warn that the combination of unreliable cards and slow service is pushing students toward fare evasion to avoid missing class or after-school programs. The issue has drawn widespread attention, with students and parents in multiple boroughs describing cards that cannot withstand the rigors of daily life. Some students told Gothamist they end up paying the full fare when their pass fails, while others said peers skip the payment altogether and jump the turnstile to avoid delays. Chalkbeat has documented similar concerns from the school side, with principals and transportation coordinators reporting replacement waits that can stretch beyond a month. The New York City Education Department acknowledged the problem, stating that over 890,000 student OMNY passes have been distributed to schools and urging families to contact their school’s transportation liaison or designated staff when a card fails. The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) noted it flags cards for potential misuse and emphasized that schools play a key role in reactivating or replacing passes.#new_york_city #transportation_alternatives #metropolitan_transportation_authority #student_omny_cards #new_york_city_education_department
