Student MetroCards the main issue at MTA hearing, Upper West Siders affected by MTA budget cuts too

The M10 bus, one of many routes that are either being shortened or completely eliminated by the MTA

Plenty of angry, fed-up Manhattanites made their voices heard March 4 at the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s public hearing on its proposed fare hikes and service cuts.

The main issue of the hearing, which took place at the Haft Auditorium at the Fashion Institute of Technology, was the cuts to student MetroCards, which benefit more than 550,000 students, according to the Straphangers Campaign.

Zabar’s: an Upper West Side institution

Zabar's on 80th and Broadway

Check out our knishes!” a voice exclaims on the PA, as customers seeking shelter from the cold pace around, stopping every now and then when they see an item that they might want to buy. “We have all types of knishes! Potato knishes, spinach knishes, garlic knishes, whatever you want, we’ve got it! And they’re all baked right here at Zabar’s!”

Zabar’s. You would be very hard-pressed to find someone who lives on the Upper West Side that has never heard of Zabar’s.

Taking up roughly two-thirds of the block on Broadway between 80^th and 81^st Streets, Zabar’s has been an Upper West Side institution for decades. To anyone who happens to pass by the store and peer inside the window, it looks like a typical supermarket. However, once you step inside, you’ll see that it is anything but.