NEW YORK - Silent turnstiles and empty subway cars mean there are plenty of unlimited ride MetroCards going unswiped.
One of those cards belongs to Sophie Vershbow, a social media manager in the book publishing industry, now working from home.
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Or at least it did belong to her - until someone saw her request on twitter to find her unlimited monthly card a new home.
“I definitely wanted to make sure that it got to go out to one of the essential workers who are keeping us healthy and keeping us fed at this really difficult time," said Vershbow. "They certainly shouldn’t be paying their way to work.”
In the process, she found other New Yorkers who also wanted to swipe it forward, to help the essential workers putting their health at risk to get New Yorkers through the coronavirus crisis.
“I was just so overwhelmed by the amount of people who also wrote in saying that they had MetroCards that they wanted to donate, that I created a sheet so that everyone could write in and be able to source them in one place," Vershbow said.
By Thursday, she had made more than a hundred MetroCard connections.
“It quite literally feels like the least I can do to try and help," Vershbow said.
A website called CoronaMetro also links people still on the job, with New Yorkers who no longer have use for unlimited ride MetroCards.
Elizabeth Adams, a legislative director for a city council member, organized her own swipe-it-forward campaign, with a Google spreadsheet.
“A lot of people are doing this," said Adams. "I’m certainly just one of many New Yorkers who are looking for ways to provide assistant to fellow New Yorkers.”
Adams said she heard from a locksmith, who’s nervous about going to work each day.
“Commuting to work every day is a big thing," said Adams. "There’s a lot of stress that I think goes along with that," she said. “I think, the response we’ve gotten is really positive of people liking to know that other people are thinking about them.”