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PUBLIC TESTIMONY
Testimony by Danna Dennis, Senior Organizer at Riders Alliance
5:12:25
ยท
167 sec
Danna Dennis, a senior organizer at Riders Alliance, advocated for the expansion of the Fair Fares program to the New York City Council. She emphasized the program's vital importance for New Yorkers who rely on the city's transit system and its tangible impact on communities.
- Dennis urged the council to expand Fair Fares eligibility to 200% of the federal poverty line, which would allow individuals earning up to $29,000 to qualify.
- She highlighted that the expansion could potentially add another 400,000 riders to the program, bringing the total enrollment to around 800,000.
- Dennis stressed the challenges faced by many New Yorkers living in poverty, working multiple jobs, and struggling to afford basic necessities, emphasizing how Fair Fares can make a significant difference in their lives.
Danna Dennis
5:12:25
Actually did the opposite.
5:12:27
Okay, good afternoon everyone.
5:12:29
I know a long day.
5:12:31
Thank you Council Chair Ayala and also esteemed committee members.
5:12:36
So my name is Dana Dennis.
5:12:38
I am a senior organizer at the Riders Alliance.
5:12:42
We're a grassroots group made up of subway and bus riders from all across New York City, and I am sitting before you today to advocate for the expansion of the Fair Fairs program.
5:12:52
This is something that I come before you year after year to discuss.
5:12:56
The program itself is vital for the well-being of countless New Yorkers, right, who rely on our city's transit system.
5:13:04
It's something that I personally have been working on for a decade.
5:13:08
It is the most important thing I probably have ever worked on in my life.
5:13:13
Fair Fairs is a program that I can tangibly see impact my community.
5:13:18
I see it across the city, I see it go into the hands of writers, and it changes lives.
5:13:24
Being able to have the discount, being able to have access to programs, appointments, school, being able to search for work, it is something that folks feel, and especially when you're living and facing what it feels like in the survival mode, right, in poverty, which unfortunately way too many New Yorkers are facing.
5:13:45
We pride ourselves on you know being the richest city in the world, but we also need to know that there are many New Yorkers who don't feel that impact.
5:13:53
A lot of us are just working two and three jobs.
5:13:56
We have two and three roommates, and we're barely being able to keep a roof over our heads.
5:14:00
So, I'm representing those New Yorkers today as I speak to you.
5:14:03
And it's pivotal, right?
5:14:04
Every year we come to talk about fair fairs, and it really isn't a program that we have found that the council struggles to support.
5:14:12
Often council members come out and support fair fares.
5:14:16
Actually, was in your first year, Councilmember Ayala, as a council member, that you were immediately a champion, and we have seen that with many folks, including the speaker herself, right, Speaker Adams.
5:14:27
But we want to encourage everyone, and sorry, I'll wrap it up, one more time to just come out on behalf of this program.
5:14:34
We're at 145%, the axe this year as it has been for the last couple of years is really to get us to that 200,000 mark, my other colleagues here are going to speak to that, but we're talking about having currently up to 400,000 riders enrolled, and that 200 would get us another 400,000 riders.
5:14:52
Everyone in this room knows someone who's making $29,000 who's struggling, but if you increase fair fares to 200% of the federal poverty line, that's what it's going be, a single individual at 29,000 who can then get it.
5:15:06
So imagine what it feels like to make less than 29,000 and still be trying to get a discount for your transit fare.
5:15:12
Thank you.