To view our videos, you need to
enable JavaScript. Learn how.
install Adobe Flash 9 or above. Install now.

Then come back here and refresh the page.

Seniors and the disabled are entitled to reduced fares, but if they lose their cards, it can take up to three months before they receive a replacement.

During that time, they have to scrape together exact change and prove their age to bus or subway workers, or else pay full fare.

"We're asking them to just issue a temporary card for three months until their bureaucracy can issue them their permanent card again," said Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer.

"Seniors need their MetroCards as lifelines. It's not just a matter of convenience, it's a matter of necessity," said Manhattan Assemblywoman Linda Rosenthal.

"Seems to me that they should try a little harder to help us. All we're trying to do is make use of what is basically a very good system, but bureaucracy tangles it up sometimes," said Jan Levy, a senior citizen.

MTA officials argued that temporary cards would only add another level of production and prolong the time it takes to replace a reduced fare card.