By Caroline Lewis

Whether from the news, the subway carolers or your vocal office mate, you’ve probably heard: The MTA pushed through another fare hike last month, which will take effect in March. Highlights include raising the regular fare from $2.25 to $2.50 and charging a $1 surcharge for the purchase of a new MetroCard. The MTA plans to help set off its deficit with “moderate” biannual fare increases, which means another hike will roll around in 2015. Truly, they’re in a bad way. Before incurring an estimated $5 billion in damages from Hurricane Sandy, the MTA was already dealing with a huge deficit and had reached an impasse with MTA workers, who are still working without a contract.In other words, the MTA is that guy running around pantsless on the subway. Will New Yorkers finally look up? Some are quietly playing with their smartphones, others are shaking their heads in resignation, and still others are chuckling, “It’s all part of that subway charm!”

We spoke to people near the Union Square station to see what (if anything) they think of the new fare hike and how they think the subway could improve.

OTDT: What do you think of the upcoming MTA fare hike?
“I’m a longtime NYC resident. I grew up here, and I feel that people are really being pushed to the limits as far as finances are concerned, and an MTA hike is just outrageous. I mean, really I think it’s just mismanagement of money and finances and people really cannot afford to have to pay more.”—Sheri Chard

“Well, I grew up here, but I don’t live here anymore, but I heard about the fare hike and I think we shouldn’t have to pay more for what we get, for the service that’s provided here.”—Davida Scretchings

“Why, is it going up to $2.50? I’m sure the trains will be 25 cents better. And that’s sarcasm.”—Rufus X.

“I think it’s worth it. You can go a long way for $2.25 now. They had a lot of damage with the storm, it costs a lot to remedy it, and for me to pick up a quarter, I mean, it’s not that much.”—Pique Buford

“It’s going up 25 cents? I’m walking everywhere. But I guess $2.50 to get all these different places is worth it. People need to get to work and go to school, so obviously people are going to spend the money. There’s nothing we can really do about it. But it’s going to add up really quickly.”
—Emma Buford

“Oh yeah, I think it’s disgusting. Well, listen, I mean if you see the economic situation of not only our city, but also the United States—the economic situation is chaotic. I think raising taxes and the fares on trains and ferries is disgusting.”
—Germano Riviera

OTDT: What does the MTA need to improve?
“I feel that the services as far as the timeliness of the subways should be better. I’ve had so many issues where I can’t physically fit my body onto a subway because it’s so crowded during rush hour. And I live on Roosevelt Island, and the F train is just absurd with the crowdedness of the subways.”—Sheri Chard

“I feel that there should be more security in the subways.”—Davida Scretchings

“Infrastructure. So when [a storm] happens, it’s not as debilitating. We’re due to have storms, I’m assuming, in the next 10 years, and the subway’s very old. The infrastructure’s very antiquated. It’s like the gas lines. They break because they’re old and they’re worn and there’s no detecting when it’s going to happen. So we need to rebuild all over the city and in all of those areas, so if it costs me a quarter, I think we can all afford a quarter.”
—Pique Buford

“If you get a $20 MetroCard, they give you the added bonus [of $1.40], and so then you have a weird balance and you end up with an uneven amount. It’s just annoying because you have an insufficient fare, but it’s a significant amount of money.”—Emma Buford

“I think they should start thinking of trying to save a little bit of money for the people that don’t have it, particularly after Sandy. People got displaced, there’s no jobs—I think it’s terrible.”
—Germano Riviera

PURSE SNATCHER
An unidentified man attacked a 51-year-old woman as she was walking along East 80th Street on Monday and seized her purse. According to the victim, an East 85th Street resident, the man approached her around 11 p.m. and demanded money. He then threw her against a pole and onto the ground as he grabbed her purse, but only took a pack of cigarettes from a small bag within the purse. The thief fled toward Fifth Avenue, and remains at large.

SHOPLIFT FEVER
One shoplifter did not know when to quit on Monday. Workers at a pharmacy on Second Avenue first confronted him outside their store around 4 p.m. after he swiped goods from their store. He argued with the workers, then fled toward East 63rd Street. A witness told the workers that the shoplifter left a shopping bag in a newspaper box on 63rd Street, so the workers went to investigate, and were confronted by the shoplifter, who told them, “That’s my stuff.” The group got into another dispute, then the thief suddenly grabbed a gold chain off the neck of one of the store workers, a 59-year-old Bronx resident, and fled toward Third Avenue. The workers chased the perp and found the chain discarded on the sidewalk. The thief has not been caught.

BODEGA BRAWL
Two men got into a fight in a Second Avenue bodega on Saturday. A 37-year-old was talking with friends around the grocery store’s entrance before the altercation at about 12:45 a.m., and then was attacked by a 27-year-old, who punched him in the face multiple times. What caused the fight was not reported, but the attacker was arrested for assault shortly after the incident.

PHONE SWIPE
A young woman riding the M86 bus was busy with her iPhone around 10 p.m. on Monday when the device was suddenly snatched from her hand. Startled, she looked up and saw a teenage boy’s back as he ran off the bus at a stop. The victim, a 26-year-old who lives on East 88th Street, stored her driver’s license and credit cards in the phone’s case. Police were able to arrest the thief, a 15-year-old, later in the day.

MEAN CUSTOMER
A rowdy patron crossed the line last week when he punched a bar worker in the face. Prior to the attack, the worker, 56, asked the 18-year-old patron and his friends to leave the Third Avenue bar around 1:30 a.m. last Thursday, Nov. 22. The patron was apparently unhappy with this request, and lashed out at the worker, causing a laceration over the worker’s right eye. The worker reported the attack to police, and the patron was arrested for assault.

Photo by dandeluca

By Paul Bisceglio

Just in time for the weekend’s predicted sunshine, Rockaway Beach’s new Williamsburg-to-the-beach “Rockabus” is kicking off its service this Saturday and Sunday with free roundtrip rides to shore.

Beginning at 9:30 a.m. and departing every 35 minutes, yellow school buses will cruise back and forth between Metropolitan and Meeker Avenues and the beach’s boardwalk at Beach 86^th Street. The final bus leaves the beach at 6:55 p.m.

“The inspiration for the Rockabus came after realizing that there should be an affordable way to get out to Rockaway that doesn’t involve spending an hour underground on a beautiful day,” Rockabus founder Sam Morrill told the Gothamist. The service will charge $10 one way and $18 round trip.

Visit Rockabus’s site for all the details, and don’t forget sunscreen.

Pollster Matthew Weaver, of Bronstein & Weaver Inc., broke down the borough’s 2005 Democratic primary and noted how areas with a lot of bus commuters, train riders and car drivers voted in each election district. Weaver did similar studies in other races throughout the country, he said, but found that the pattern is prominent in Manhattan.

“This is a level deeper, to try to categorize people who otherwise may be very similar in their demographics, but very dissimilar in other areas of their lifestyle, such as commuting and how far you commute,” Weaver said.

In the 2005 race between District Attorney Robert Morgenthau and Leslie Crocker Snyder, Weaver saw that bus and train commuters preferred the challenger whereas the incumbent scored with voters who have a 30-minute commute.

In the 2005 mayoral primary, victor Fernando Ferrer was popular among bus and train commuters while runner-up Rep. Anthony Weiner was a hit with car drivers.

“It should force [candidates] to redefine to what they see as relevant interest groups, and relevant target strategies in terms of spending,” Weaver said.