Student OMNY cards sold on Facebook Marketplace will be deactivated: MTA

NEW YORK CITY (PIX11) – New York City students got entrepreneurial with their heavily discounted, school-provided OMNY cards — but city officials may have their plans foiled.

Listings on Facebook Marketplace show the cards — which are good for four free rides a day all year — on sale for up to $225 each. New York City schools handed out the cards at the start of the school year.

Earlier in September, students were listing their cards for as much as $1,500, the New York Post reported.

Now, schools and transit officials are shutting down the shopping spree.

“The small number 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,” said a spokesperson for the MTA.

Facebook and eBay have started taking the listings down at the request of the MTA, according to a spokesperson for the agency.

On Wednesday morning, over a dozen listings for student OMNY cards were active on Facebook Marketplace, boasting markdowns, flexible prices and public handoffs. One seller advertised 15 student cards for $40 each, the “CHEAPEST PRICE OUT THERE!,” according to the listing.

“Perfect gift for someone or if [you] use the train/bus on a daily,” the listing reads.

Many of the listings were taken down Wednesday.

A New York City Public Schools spokesperson said the department is looking into the sales, and expects students to use the OMNY cards properly.

“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,” said a spokesperson for the MTA.

Emily Rahhal is a digital reporter from Los Angeles who has covered New York City since 2023. She joined PIX11 in 2024. See more of her work here and follow her on Twitter here .

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