NYC students selling school-issued subway cards good for four free rides daily per year for up to $1,500: ‘A STEAL’

These kids are taking the city and the MTA for a ride.

New York City students are hawking their new, school-issued OMNY cards for up to $1,500 to straphangers looking to get their hands on the subway and bus passes, which offer four free rides a day for a year, The Post has learned.

Over 1.5 million student OMNY cards were sent to schools at the start of this school year to distribute under a new $5.5 million program from the MTA and the city Department of Education.

Within hours of receiving them, NYC schoolkids transformed into black-market entrepreneurs, flooding Facebook Marketplace with aggressive ads seeking $35 to $1,500 for the OMNY cards.

As of Friday, The Post counted 34 ads on Facebook Marketplace, while a kid on TikTok bragged he’d sell his for $100 to an “old head.”

Unlike the student MetroCards of the past, which only allowed three rides a day from 5:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. on days school was open, the OMNY cards offer free trips anywhere in the city, 24/7, 365 days a year.

“Each card is worth $4,234,” one savvy senior from Edward R. Murrow High School in Midwood, Brooklyn, wrote in his $200 listing. “Do the math . . . A STEAL.”

The sly scholars — most too young to even open a bank account on their own — flashed their business acumen and negotiation skills, offering deals for bulk purchases and urging prospective buyers to go cash-only.

A Brooklyn student — who was hawking two OMNY cards and a $25 baggie of weed on her Facebook Marketplace account — dropped her original asking price of $700 to $500 to hungry commuters. The pass was eventually marked sold on Friday at the discounted price of $200.

“Take both for $300 or $170 each,” read a Marketplace listing posted by another student peddling two cards.

“Unlimited rides and transfers,” a student from Jamaica, Queens, promised in her online listing for $100.

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Another, who proclaimed himself the “reselling goon,” was pushing his for only $65, down from $100. He previously sold Jordans and Nike sweatpants over Facebook.

Students could theoretically sell more than one card — and scam their customers out of rides.

That’s because students can claim their cards lost or stolen and request a replacement from their school. The old card would then be deactivated — and the buyer would be stuck with a useless card.

One young entrepreneur even admitted in his listing that he got a new card and is selling the old one — which could potentially swindle someone out of $270.

An undercover Post reporter arranged meetings with two sellers this week, the Murrow senior and a freshman from Franklin Delano Roosevelt HS in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn.

The senior claimed his school had him sign a waiver acknowledging he would only get one card. And any student could get the cards from his school, he said, despite DOE eligibility requirements excluding kids who live too close.

He said he only lived two blocks from school and was issued one.

The freshman initially turned down an offer from The Post for $35.

“Nvm, someone offered me $50,” he said. “Sorry.”

But he jumped at a counter-offer of $75.

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“Fr?” he asked, short “for real?”

The student agreed to payment through Apple Pay.

He, like several students during The Post’s sting, assured the “buyer” that once a card was activated, it couldn’t be deactivated.

But when he demonstrated the card at the turnstile, it was denied. “Card not accepted,” the screen flashed red and the Post reporter ended the deal.

Two hours later, the listing was marked “sold.” The FDR seller later told The Post he sold his useless card for $35.

When contacted by The Post about the tsunami of student sellers, MTA Chief Customer Officer Shanifah Rieara said, “The handful of student OMNY cards showing up on the internet — out of hundreds of thousands distributed at schools — are being deactivated, meaning their value is zero.”

“So … buyer beware,” Rieara said. “To anyone who thinks they can pay for unauthorized cards to masquerade as students and scam New Yorkers, we’ve got a bridge to Brooklyn we can sell you.”

It’s not clear, however, how the MTA will identify the cards being sold online since most have their serial numbers hidden and sellers use fake names.

The DOE’s webpage says: “Your Student OMNY Card is for you – and only you! Don’t share it and risk having your pass confiscated.”

Unauthorized sale of a farecard is a class B misdemeanor, which can carry a maximum of three months in jail, fines or community service, according to the MTA’s rules of conduct. Free or reduced-fare OMNY privileges may not be sold or transferred, according to the system’s terms of service , and can also result in the MTA cancelling the pass.

The well-intentioned, city and state taxpayer-funded program is meant to make it easier and more affordable for eligible students who live far enough away from school to use public transportation, including the subway; local, limited and select buses; the Staten Island Railway; the Roosevelt Island Tram and the Hudson Rail Link.

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“The expanded benefits provide the foundation for New York City students to learn how to utilize the public transit system and build a culture of tapping,” the MTA and DOE announced in July.

The MTA tracks the taps, allowing it to count how many people ride from every station and improve service, according to the DOE website.

There should be safeguards against abusing the program, one NYC dad told The Post.

“There’s no upside to kids turning around and selling their OMNY cards — that’s not a good outcome, but I do think it’s inevitable,” he said.

Nicole Gelinas, a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute, says the city could address the problem by requiring photo IDs on student OMNYs.

“It shouldn’t be beyond the bounds of technology for a student ID to double as a student transit card,” she told The Post.

It’s hard to say how much money it is costing the MTA, Gelinas added, but she estimates it could be in the millions.

Hannah Meyers, director of policing and public safety at the Manhattan Institute, sees the scam as part of a rise in youth crime.

Her research using NYPD data found that robbery arrests for kids under 18 was up 45% in 2023 compared to the year before, and grand larceny among the same group surged over 80%.

“The [OMNY] scam speaks to the growing criminality among teens and young people and less respect for grown ups and the fact that there’s a certain way to behave,” she said.

The city DOE said it is looking into the scam.

“We are grateful to be able to provide student OMNY cards to help our students get to and from school, and students are expected to use the cards for the purpose intended,” spokeswoman Jenna Lyle told The Post.

Even students who aren’t trying to make a quick buck off the OMNY cards recognize their value, many taking to social media to brag about its perks.

“Using the new [OMNY] card to go everywhere but school,” one LaGuardia High School sophomore wrote with a heart-eyes emoji in a social media post reshared by the viral page New Yorkers. Another post featured five girls dancing and flashing the bright green student cards above their heads.

One envious college student shared a selfie video and joked, “Just a college girl waiting at a random bus stop so I can steal some high schooler’s OMNY card.”

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