Field organizer Michael Hernandez relives Straphangers' recent victories.
PHOTO: Ron Brownlow

The Manhattan State Supreme Court ordered the MTA to roll back the fare increases. Riders’ jubilation was short-lived, however; the MTA won its appeal only a month later. But that defeat did not diminish the sweetness of victory for Straphangers.

“You have this huge agency, this $3 billion agency,” Hernandez said, referring to the MTA, “And then you have the Straphangers Campaign, which is three people from a student activism group, in a courtroom, being treated equally. Having the Straphangers Campaign win in Supreme Court was huge.”

The MTA hearing also raised the Straphangers’ profile. Turnout at the group’s rallies doubled and the office received scores of e-mails and phone calls from grateful riders.

“They were saying they had faith in the system again,” Hernandez remembered, “People were very excited and of course we were very excited. You do win on those levels.”

The fare hike brouhaha also brought about other changes. After the lawsuit, the MTA started releasing its annual budget in July. Before that, the agency had waited until November, giving the public only two weeks to look at $3 billion worth of accounting and budgeting before the proposals were passed.

Other recent victories Hernandez pointed to include the introduction of Metrocards, which Straphangers fought to have for a decade before they were introduced in 1997. The MTA had originally opposed the plan, Hernandez said, because of the cost of outfitting stations and buses with new equipment for the cards. But after the introduction of Metrocards, ridership soared, increasing by 50% on buses alone.

The Straphangers Campaign is now focusing on the MTA’s proposed photo ban, which it sees as a “First Amendment issue.” This is not the irst time the Straphangers Campaign has butted heads with the MTA over free expression. In 2000, Straphangers created a poster that featured a photo of commuters crammed into a rush hour train with the caption “With livestock it’s called animal cruelty. With people it’s called a morning commute.” When the MTA refused to allow the poster to be displayed in subway cars, protestors from Straphangers showed up gagged at board meetings.

The Straphangers Campaign is now focusing on the MTA’s proposed photo ban, which it sees as a “First Amendment issue.” This is not the irst time the Straphangers Campaign has butted heads with the MTA over free expression. In 2000, Straphangers created a poster that featured a photo of commuters crammed into a rush hour train with the caption “With livestock it’s called animal cruelty. With people it’s called a morning commute.”

PHOTO: Straphangers

“The MTA said the poster would give them a bad image, as if riders had not seen people crowded in a subway car before,” Hernandez scoffed. Embarrassed by the negative publicity, the MTA relented. (The MTA could not be reached for comment by publication time.)

“Straphangers has been the constant prod and poke to call attention to the needs of riders,” Schaller says.

Hernandez is quick to point out, however, that the Straphangers relationship with the MTA is by no means antagonistic.

The Straphangers Campaign sends copies of all its research and reports to the MTA, which often makes changes based on those findings. The 30-Day MetroCard Balance Protection Program, for example, was based on a Straphangers report that found that many riders were reluctant to buy a 30-day pass because they were afraid of accidentally losing their $70 investment.

“We want to have an expanded system, we want to have good services, so in many instances we’re actually working with the MTA to pressure Albany to give the MTA more funding.”

But for some New Yorkers, there’s a long way to go yet before they’ll be satisfied with the subway.

On a recent subway ride, one woman calls out to her friend: “Get back on the train! The next stop’s 103rd street!”

“Then why didn’t he say 86th?” the friend asks, noting the conductor had skipped a stop without announcing it.

“I don’t know,” the first woman replies, wryly. “That’s subway driving!”

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