Outrage as New York’s MTA introduces RESERVED bus seat in memory of Rosa Parks: ‘This is

New York City‘s Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) is facing backlash for reserving a bus seat to honor Rosa Parks during Black History Month. 

More than 4,000 people chimed in on an Instagram post from the MTA about the tribute to civil rights icon Parks. 

Parks famously refused to give up her bus seat to a white woman in segregated Montgomery, Alabama, in December 1955.  

Her arrest for the act of protest sparked a 381-day bus strike – a significant turning point in the Civil Rights Movement. 

The MTA celebrated her legacy by marking a seat on one of the city’s busy buses with a yellow ‘RESERVED’ sign.  

A massive cardboard portrait of the activist has also been propped up on the seat. 

‘To commemorate Transit Equity Day and Black History Month, a seat has been reserved today to honor the legacy of Rosa Parks,’ the MTA wrote on Wednesday, which was Parks’ birthday.

‘Each and every day, we’re committed to providing accessible and equitable transit for all.’

But the gesture did not go over well with many Big Apple residents.  

‘[Not going to lie] we love Rosa but this is crazy,’ one man reacted with a laughing face emoji. 

‘Wow, making a difference with this one guys,’ another sarcastically chimed in. Someone said the memorial was ‘like a parody skit.’ 

‘Don’t piss me off,’ a man who was less than pleased with the exhibit said.  

‘How about you lower the fare to commemorate her legacy,’ someone added, referencing the recent increase in transit fares despite Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s pledge to make buses across the city free. 

‘You dead a** bro? Make the fare $2.75 again. We need that not a preoccupied seat,’ someone demanded. Standard bus fares increased from $2.90 to $3.00, while express bus fares increased from $7.00 to $ 7.25. 

‘How much of the MTA budget went into this?’ someone asked. 

‘This is not it,’ one user asserted. ‘Sentiment might be right-headed, but no one who actually rides the bus would have cosigned this. C’mon guys @MTA.’

‘Couldn’t you at least have cleaned the bus for her,’ someone asked, referencing the traces of snow salt and dirt visible on the floor of the bus.  

Sar, an 18-year-old from the Bronx, bluntly commented: ‘[Somebody] sittin on that anyways [not going to lie].’

Sar later told the Daily Mail he thought the tribute was a ‘great idea’ in theory but not so much in practice. 

‘The buses are unbelievably packed and people want to sit down, and it’s New York, people are going to sit down anyways so I don’t think it’ll be appreciated properly,’ he said.

‘The gesture itself was fine, however it’s taking away a seat that a disabled person or a pregnant woman or someone who had a long day at work could have used.’ 

Several viewers agreed that the display could be taking away a seat from someone who needs it, but others did not share that concern. 

‘Oh my god bruh it’s one seat like goddamn, it’s never that big of a deal. They could put a pillar there, and y’all wouldn’t complain this much,’ one man replied to the criticism. 

Despite the outrage and mockery, people also applauded the MTA’s efforts. Users shared emojis of clapping hands and hearts to show their support. 

But other skeptics said the MTA should also honor other names of the Civil Rights Movement, such as Claudette Colvin. 

Colvin was 15 years old and pregnant when she refused to give up her seat on a bus about nine months before Parks did. She recently passed away on January 13 aged 86. 

Parks’ birthday was federally recognized as Transit Equity Day in 2021 by Pete Buttigieg, then the Transportation Secretary. 

But the MTA and other bus systems across the nation have honored Parks – who died at 92 in October 2005 – through similar displays since at least 2005, according to reports at the time. 

Metros including Washington DC, Los Angeles and Portland, Oregon, even offer free bus rides on the anniversary. 

The Daily Mail has contacted the MTA for comment.