@newyorknico Tomorrow, the MetroCard officially becomes a relic of the past. Introduced in 1993, it replaced subway tokens and became a daily ritual for millions of New Yorkers. It lived in our wallets for over 30 years and quietly carried the city through workdays, late nights, and everything in between. On the eve of its discontinuation, I linked up with my friend Thomas McKean, a New York artist who’s spent decades collecting used MetroCards and turning them into intricate collages and sculptures. Thomas believes the MetroCard was one of the rare objects that connected New Yorkers across every neighborhood, job, and background. No matter who you were, you had one in your wallet. A small piece of plastic that belonged to everyone. Now officially history.
♬ original sound - Nicolas Heller
31 డిసెంబర్, 2025
"It was almost like a magical object...."
"It brought New Yorkers together, that everyone had one in their wallet and we had that in common, and it's the way of the world — you can't stop it...."
పోస్ట్లు
39 కామెంట్లు:
I never had one of these cards but I may still have a pre card subway token. Are people really sentimental for this stuff?
What's a 'wallet'?
The $0.15 NYC subway token fits the DC busses
In Boston there was this artist woman who painted pictures of single Starbucks and DD cups. They ended up in the wall in the kitchens of many fabu Back Bay brownstones…
when do the free grocery stores show up?
when do the lines start?
have people realized yet, that hiring a failed rap singer to run the second largest city in the country is a BAD idea?
Someone is actually paying to use the subway? All i see is videos of gate jumpers, of all races and persuasions.
Just removed one of these from my wallet from visiting NYC for the US Open in Sept. First time there since 2009. Every 15 years or so works for me.
I still have a Magic Kingdom pass from the 1980s that supposedly is still good but the couple of times I tried to find out I was thwarted by the hoop jumping necessary to discover…
My guess is that there is, at least, tens of millions of dollars of "value" on existing Metrocards that now will never be used. Sort of like a gift certificate for a store that went out of business (although not quite--the marginal cost to the subway of the additional passenger is zero).
In any case, the cards make good bookmarks; that's how I use mine.
I say we need to eliminate US postal system and cemeteries.
gilbar said...
have people realized yet, that hiring a failed rap singer to run the second largest city in the country is a BAD idea?
Soon enough, gilbar, soon enough!
I love seeing people with a passion.
Garbage in, masterpiece out. Thank you for this post.
Many years ago, oil traders in Houston discovered that the Algerian Dinar coin could be used as a token in the Houston tollway system. Since they are worth less than a penny, tollway trips were essentially free to anyone who could get their hands on these coins.
We used cards on the DC subway ever since it opened in the 1970s. This is like curbside garbage cans - New Yorkers marveling over when they finally received some technology that was already available for decades in the outside world.
That guy is the inspiration for Wes Anderson.
'My guess is that there is, at least, tens of millions of dollars of "value" on existing Metrocards that now will never be used.'
I asked ChatGPT what was replacing the metrocard and it informed me that "Existing MetroCards can still be used for a time into 2026, and remaining balances can be transferred to OMNY cards or accounts under a transition policy"
That means the people who want to strip the trains for scrap metal to sell and take a dump on the floor will be the only riders soon.
Keeping freeloaders out of a system is the point of a fee. I doubt they got enough revenue to make it run from the fee. It was meant to make it so only people who were vested in the system participated.
Who uses the subway anymore? Based on recent stats, about 4 million every day in 2025.
"Someone is actually paying to use the subway? All i see is videos of gate jumpers, of all races and persuasions."
I took the subway this morning. I saw one kid crawl under the turnstile. Then at my destination there was a "security" person standing by an open emergency exit. Someone walked right through, and the guard just said "good morning" to him.
As for the unused metrocards, in theory one can transfer their value to one of the new omni cards, if you can actually find one of the service desks at a handful of stations.
CJinPA said...
I love seeing people with a passion.
Yes, very creative and he seemed like a cool, philosophical dude who sees meaning in all facets of life.
Weekly Cap: After $35 in a 7-day period (Monday-Sunday), Subway riders pay zero for the rest of the week on subways/local buses.
You can ride any bus or NYC subway for a month - $127.
@ Ron Winkleheimer
Thanks for clarifying. Now it's a question of the effort cost of whatever is the conversion process, versus the value recovered; again, my guess is very few will bother.
I have, probably $20-30 in small change in a bowl on my dresser. Is it money ? Well, obviously yes.
But it's been there for many, many years, and I have no volition to go through the pain spend it. So, maybe no.
What if the subway or busses were setup so that they simply would not function unless a scanner determined that everyone on board had a paid card, and nobody could override it. Everyone looking at each other asking "OK, who's the asshole in here?"
"I have, probably $20-30 in small change in a bowl on my dresser. Is it money ? Well, obviously yes.
But it's been there for many, many years, and I have no volition to go through the pain spend it. So, maybe no."
Same here.
Nonsense - the MetroCards were always poor designed replacements for the Tokens - which were quite handy and highly efficient for use on buses and subways - and also were generally accepted as currency throughout NYC at newsstands, delis, etc.
have people realized yet, that hiring a failed rap singer to run the second largest city in the country is a BAD idea?
"There's one thing that you can give me that Leslie can't and that's passion" -- Line from a rap song called "General Hospi-Tale" with Afternoon Delights.
Everybody has a passion. Some collect subway cards, others collect baseball cards, still others collect votes. Depends on your passion.
If paddy chavevsky were alive he would revisit hospital fron 1971
Delaware River (NJ-PA) bridge tokens were also a thing, apparently until the turn of this century. It took a while to find that out since the phrase "bridge token" has been taken over by the tech world.
Turnpike tokens were also in use in CT, NJ, NH, MA, and elsewhere. Someone who has a large store of discontinued subway and highway tokens uses them to make jewelry, and apparently, people actually buy it.
From the headline I thought this was going to be about condoms. CC, JSM
It was 15 and 20 cents for a subway token when I lived there, 5 cents for the Staten Island ferry. The metro card was a recent (1995) thing.
I caught a ride with a salesman who had a box of phony freeway tokens, he had a machinist friend who manufactured them. Have I also mentioned phony mufflers for trucks and truckers smuggling cigarettes from North Carolina? The official NY economy was just the tip of the cash economy.
Reading the comments I’m getting the impression that this will level the playing field between law abiders and law breakers.
bagoh20 said...
What if the subway or busses were setup so that they simply would not function unless a scanner determined that everyone on board had a paid card, and nobody could override it. Everyone looking at each other asking "OK, who's the asshole in here?"
This is the underlying conflict here.
Who is supporting the system and who is just a sponge living off of the hard work of others?
The sponges are going to regret the inevitable outcome of pissing on the builders.
The whole point of the metro fee was to give people the opportunity to support the builders.
have people realized yet, that hiring a failed rap singer to run the second largest city in the country is a BAD idea?
Soon enough, gilbar, soon enough!
"Soon enough" is already too late.
Lazarus said...
Turnpike tokens were also in use in CT, NJ, NH, MA, and elsewhere. Someone who has a large store of discontinued subway and highway tokens uses them to make jewelry, and apparently, people actually buy it.
Back a long time ago when I was young, NYC subway tokens on a necklace with the "Y" as a hole in them was quite popular among a certain subset of the NYC population. And if you were a guy in the know and noticed the young woman you were trying to pick up in a bar was wearing one- you knew enough to move on and not waste your time.
"It was almost like a magical object...."
That’s what She said…
"have people realized yet, that hiring a failed rap singer to run the second largest city in the country is a BAD idea?"
It could be worse. They could have hired a successful rapper.
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