Exclusive | NYC students still slinging OMNY cards for up to $500: I have these for no reason
They’re boarding the gravy train.New York City kids continued pawning off their special student OMNY cards this week, despite MTA and city Department of Education claims that they were cracking down on illegal sales of the free transit passes.The cards, which get students four rides any time of day for an entire year, were still going for up to $350 this week, The Post found, despite its front-page expose Sunday busting students for pushing the scam.One sly student was seeking a whopping $1,500 for one card on Facebook Marketplace.This week, posts by students from Flushing, Queens, to Gravesend, Brooklyn, to the East Shore of Staten Island, offered the OMNY cards — which replaced the student MetroCards previously given to students — for $100, $200 and as much as $350.The new program from the state and the city provided 1.5 million cards to schools, funded with $25 million from the state Department of Transportation and $50.5 million from the city Department of Education.The ads frequently contain misleading information.
“Never deactivate[s],” one ad online this week falsely claimed.“Lasts for 2 years,” claimed another.
Cards can be deactivated if students report them lost and request a new one from their schools.And they are only usable through fall 2025.Last week, a student tried peddling a card to an undercover Post reporter but it was declined at the turnstile, apparently because it was deactivated.
A few hours later, the listing was marked “sold” to someone else.“I have these for no reason, I go on car and I’m trying to upgrade my bike so I’m selling these one is mine one is my brother who is also going on car,” one ad out of Jamaica, Queens, for two of the passes explained.“Queens only … come to me any time besides above 10pm,” it added.Another would-be seller apparently got a kick out of his gimmick, posting an ad titled “Student omny card lol.” The South Richmond Hill, Queens, student dropped his price from $500 to $200...