Goodbye, MetroCard

Summary

All Of It with Alison Stewart — “Goodbye, MetroCard”

Date: December 30, 2025
Guest: Jodi Shapiro, Curator at the New York Transit Museum
Theme: Farewell to the MetroCard—reflecting on its history, culture, and impact as New York transitions to a new fare payment system.

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Episode Overview

Alison Stewart and guest Jodi Shapiro bid farewell to the iconic New York City MetroCard, marking the system’s transition to contactless fare payment. They explore the MetroCard’s cultural significance, technological innovation, and the unique collective memories and emotions tied to this piece of city infrastructure. Listeners also call in to share their personal MetroCard stories as part of a citywide sendoff, and the New York Transit Museum’s new “Farewell MetroCard” exhibit gets a spotlight.

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Key Discussion Points

1. Origins of the MetroCard and Technological Push

• Why the Switch?

  • The MetroCard was less about solving a “problem” and more about modernizing fare collection, inspired by global systems moving away from tokens.
  • “Tokens had been around since the 50s… [magnetic stripe cards] were pretty much the only excuse that [the MTA] needed to say, let’s try and do that for ourselves.” — Jodi Shapiro (02:09)

• Subway System in the 1990s

  • Subway cars like the Redbirds and R32s were iconic.
  • Stations were dimmer, with fewer stops than today.
  • Ridership had dipped but was rebounding post-disinvestment.

2. Transition Challenges and Public Education

• Transferring Difficulties

  • Earlier, transferring from subway to bus required paper transfers and person-to-person interaction—barriers the MetroCard helped eliminate.

• Learning to Swipe

  • Most Americans hadn’t seen swipe cards before.
  • “Changing the minds of millions… who are used to paying with a token... That was a huge challenge.” — Jodi Shapiro (05:21)
  • MTA launched campaigns to teach New Yorkers to swipe at the right speed and check balances, skills that were entirely new.

• Memorable Ads and Tricks

  • MTA ran ads with instructions, and riders devised their own swiping “tricks.”
  • Alison recalls: “I remember going to work. Like, I don’t understand.” — Alison Stewart (06:43)

3. Listener Memories and MetroCard Anecdotes

• Emotional Attachments

  • Callers and texts pour in with stories of MetroCard’s impact—from the relief of unlimited rides to the heartbreak of losing that coveted yellow ticket.
  • “The one thing you never wanted to do was lose your wallet or keys and your monthly Metro card because it was a nightmare.” — Caller Camillo, Glendale, Queens (07:55)

• Defects and Hacks

  • Early MetroCard flaws allowed riders to “bend” cards for free rides until MTA fixed it.
  • “If you dented it in the right place… it would pass and give you free rides.” — Caller Peter, Jackson Heights (08:48)

• MetroCard as NYC Status Symbol

  • A Florida vacationer earned instant New Yorker “clout” by flashing his MetroCard at a bar.
  • “At least I showed I wasn’t lying about being a New Yorker.” — Listener text (14:16)

4. MetroCard Mascot: The Misfit Cardvark

• Unrealized Mascot
  • A marketing proposal for “Cardvark”—an orange, MTA uniform-clad aardvark with a swiper on his arm—never materialized but is now part of the Transit Museum’s exhibit.
  • “He’s ridiculous. I do. He’s ridiculous. I love him.” — Jodi Shapiro (18:44)

5. From Blue to Gold: Card Features and Perks

• Evolution of the Card

  • The original MetroCards were blue, eventually replaced by MetroCard Gold (yellow) in 1997, which unlocked multi-ride, unlimited ride, and discount transfer features.
  • “MetroCard Gold basically eliminated [the two-fare zone].” — Jodi Shapiro (22:58)

• Notable Media

  • Classic advertisement for MetroCard Gold plays; listeners guess the celebrity voice.
  • Correct answer is Mandy Patinkin (28:54), though another commercial featured then-Governor Pataki (32:17).

6. MetroCard Math and Balancing Woes

• Keeping Track
  • Riders found it tricky to track balances, resulting in odd leftover amounts (“MetroCard math”).
  • “There used to be a website where you could…figure out how much money you had to put on the card to get an even number of money... I would rather not spend my time doing that.” — Jodi Shapiro (16:23)

7. Security, Data, and the System’s Impact

• Security Questions
  • Caller asks about MetroCard being hacked; Jodi demurs, but acknowledges public curiosity (26:09).
• Crucial for Data Analysis
  • The MetroCard’s electrified, computerized system crucially enabled the MTA to collect granular ridership data, helping shape service and policy.
  • “On the surface, it’s a way to pay for your fare. But deeper down, it is a way for the MTA to improve service.” — Jodi Shapiro (27:14)

8. The MetroCard in NYC Culture and Art

• Art and Merchandise
  • MetroCard artwork and designer items (e.g., a Kate Spade coin purse).
  • Listeners share making art and crafts or collecting special edition cards (e.g., Supreme, David Bowie).

9. Is the MetroCard as Iconic as the Token?

• Enduring Legacy
  • Jodi predicts the MetroCard will become as iconic as the subway token:
  • “I think it will… In time, the Metro card will be that way also.” — Jodi Shapiro (29:13)
  • She describes its symbolic value for freedom of movement and the city’s unique fabric.
  • “New Yorkers are very, very emotionally wrapped up in our transit system… Our city would not be what it is.” — Jodi Shapiro (31:12)

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Notable Listener Quotes & Moments

• Unlimited Card = Freedom:
  “Having the monthly Metro card and being able to just go wherever was such a huge… sense of freedom in New York.”
  — Caller Marissa, Brooklyn (24:05)

• MetroCard Math:
  "Every time there was a change… you'd have to start doing the math all over again."
  — Jodi Shapiro (16:23)

• Cardvark the Mascot:
  "Cardvark is, as you would expect, an aardvark. He is orange. He is wearing an MTA uniform, and he's got a swiper on his arm to teach people how to swipe. And he was just a concept. It never happened."
  — Jodi Shapiro (18:44)

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Timed Highlights

• 00:08–01:53: Alison introduces episode theme; MetroCard’s impending retirement.
• 02:09–03:15: Jodi explains the MTA’s rationale for introducing the MetroCard.
• 04:18–05:21: Listeners invited to share MetroCard memories; public education campaign memories.
• 06:43–07:48: Swiping challenges and early adopter stories.
• 07:55–09:16: Callers reminisce about MetroCard’s role in everyday life and early glitches/hacks.
• 09:42–11:54: The massive infrastructure and technology overhaul needed for MetroCard rollout.
• 14:16–14:38: MetroCard conferring New Yorker “clout.”
• 18:23–20:23: Anecdotes about the MetroCard mascot and challenges replacing the token.
• 23:16–23:41: 1997 MetroCard Gold advertisement (voice: Mandy Patinkin).
• 24:05–25:19: Freedom conveyed by the monthly MetroCard (Caller Marissa).
• 27:14–28:16: MetroCard’s role in providing valuable data to the MTA.
• 29:13–31:12: Will MetroCard reach iconic token status? Jodi explains her take.

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Memorable Quotes

“It was a huge challenge to change the minds of millions of people who use your system who are used to paying with a token.”
— Jodi Shapiro (05:21)

“The Metro card served so much purpose in my life. It helped me transition from the underground to above ground. I was able to get a car, get insurance because of the Metro card. I was able to save money.”
— Caller Camillo (07:55)

“Having the monthly Metro card and being able to just go wherever was such a huge… sense of freedom in New York.”
— Caller Marissa (24:05)

“On the surface, it’s a way to pay for your fare. But deeper down, it is a way for the MTA to improve service.”
— Jodi Shapiro (27:14)

“New Yorkers are very, very emotionally wrapped up in our transit system... Our city would not be what it is.”
— Jodi Shapiro (31:12)

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Final Thoughts

This episode serves as a heartfelt farewell to a New York icon, blending nostalgia, history, technological insight, and the quirky emotional ties New Yorkers share with their transit system. The MetroCard’s practical and symbolic significance echoes across generations and neighborhoods—cementing its future as an urban artifact, even as the city steps into a new contactless era. The Transit Museum’s “Farewell MetroCard” exhibit captures these stories, ensuring the yellow card’s legacy endures.

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For further MetroCard memories or images, listeners are encouraged to tag @allofitnyc on Instagram or visit the New York Transit Museum’s current exhibit.

Transcript

[Caller/Listener]

Foreign.

[Alison Stewart]

This is all of it. I'm Alison Stewart, live from the WNYC studios in soho. Thank you for spending your day with us. I am really grateful that you're here. On today's show, we're going to talk about the history of lunch culture in New York. Get ready to call in and share your memories. We'll also speak with WNYC's education reporter about how the cell phone ban impacted school lunch. Spoiler alert. It's noisy again. And if you're still figuring out where to spend tomorrow night, we have some great New Year's Eve options for you. That's our plan. So let's get this started with a farewell to a New York City icon. Tomorrow is the last day the Metro card will be sold or refilled in New York. It's the end of an era. Think back to the early 1990s. When the metro card was first introduced in 1993, New Yorkers had to be taught how to use them. The rollout was slow going, but within a few years, we all knew how to swipe correctly. Yes, you had to get the speed just right. But 30 years and 3.2 billion metro cards later, that era is ending and the MTA is fully transitioning to a tap and go system. Now, New York subway system doesn't just move people around, it also moves the culture, which is why the New York Transit Museum is marking the end of this era with a new exhibit called Farewell MetroCard. Joining me now to talk about it is curator Jodi Shapiro. Jodi, welcome back.

[Jodi Shapiro]

Thanks, Allison. I love coming here and talking about all things transit, all things traffic.

[Alison Stewart]

Okay, let's get in the wayback machine and go back to the early 1990s. What problem was the MTA trying to solve when it introduced the Metro card?

[Jodi Shapiro]

I don't really think they saw it as so much as a problem, more as a way for them to introduce more modern technology into the system at that time. Tokens had been around since the 50s, and everyone was used to using it. And some other systems across the globe were starting to use magnetic stripe swipe cards as a fair payment system. And that was pretty much the only excuse that they needed to say, let's try and do that for ourselves.

[Alison Stewart]

What was the subway like in the early 90s remind people of that.

[Jodi Shapiro]

So in the 1990s, the subway was a little bit different than we know now. The cars that have become iconic in New York, like the redbirds and the R32 brightliners, those were still in full force. Some of the stations were a lot darker than they are now. If you've noticed, there's much, much brighter lighting in them.

[Caller/Listener]

And.

[Jodi Shapiro]

And there were fewer subway stations back then, too. So it was a natural progression for the adoption of a new fare payment system that required some kind of technology.

[Alison Stewart]

Was the number of people taking public transit, was it lower then?

[Jodi Shapiro]

It was a little bit lower. It was on the rebound from the disinvestment years. Yes. Remember those? Yeah. So, you know, and. And it was. A new fare payment system was seen as a way to encourage more people to take the subway and the bus.

[Alison Stewart]

It was harder, though, to go from the subway to the bus back then.

[Jodi Shapiro]

It was. You could. You could transfer. If you paid with a token on a bus, you could get a transfer from the bus operator. If you went from the subway to a bus, you could go to the booth and ask for a paper transfer. But that was really it. There was no way, no, no way besides talking to another person to do it. You know, you're a New Yorker, I'm a New Yorker. You know, sometimes you just don't want to talk to anybody. You don't want to ask for a transfer to get on the bus. And that was another thing that kind of harkened this arrival of another fare payment system was to try to lower or eliminate barriers to entry for people listeners.

[Alison Stewart]

Help us send off the Metro card. Call or text us now at 212-433-96921 with your Metro card memories. That's 2124-3396-9221-2433. W, N, Y, C. Did you make art in the form of your Metro card? Wait on long lines to collect the special collection cards like the supreme branded cards or David Bowie ones. Let us know your Metro card memories. 2124-3396-9221-2433. WNYC. You can post a picture on Instagram of you and your Metro card and tag us. Olive. We promise to retag it. I have a good Metro card story. When they first came out at the Halloween parade, there were two women dressed as Metro cards, and they ran up to everybody. They went, swipe, swipe again, up and down the entire parade route. When you think about what it was like, the early days of the Metro card, what were the challenges that people faced?

[Jodi Shapiro]

Well, one of the things that I like to point out to people is that at the time, swipe card technology was not very widely used in the United States. If you had experience with a swipe card, it was Usually because you worked in a place that had some kind of high security area, a vault, something like that. Credit cards were not really swipe cards at that point. I mean, they were some of, you know, but it was just beginning to be the credit card technology also, you know, so the MTA and New York City Transit decided that when they introduced this fare card that they would have to educate the public not only about the features of the card, but how to acclimate people to using a swipe card. And it seems like kind of a nothing thing to us today because we're so used to it, but it was a huge challenge to change the minds of millions of people who use your system who are used to paying with a token. I mean, I was there and I can't even remember how hard of a change it was, you know, and I was older when it, you know, I had already finished with school and everything, so I was just like a normal working stiff, you know, it's like, oh, now I have to swipe. Okay, and what do I do with that?

[Alison Stewart]

I remember going to work. Like, I don't understand.

[Jodi Shapiro]

And everyone had their own trick for showing, you know, the right speed and how to hold the card. And there were lots of ads that the MTA made for subway cars and for buses and stations to kind of show people you have to swipe all the way through and wait for the beep and the go and things and ads that showed you what to expect, like how to check your balance, because that was something that no one ever had to do before, because a token cost whatever a ride was that time. It had no fluid value. You didn't have to look and see if your token was valid because you just bought it or you had bought them. And so that's another mindset that you've got to teach millions of people. Not only do you have to learn how to swipe, you have to learn how to check the balance on your car to make sure you have enough money to ride the subway. And, you know, that's just a huge shift in thinking. And I think that they did a pretty great job making. Making that mindset happen.

[Alison Stewart]

Take a couple of calls. Camillo, I hope I'm saying it right. He's calling in from Glendale, Queens. Hey, how are you?

[Caller/Listener]

I love you guys. And I love that you have a send off to the Metro card, because when I heard it yesterday, my heart was heavy. And my heart is still heavy at this moment right now as a New Yorker. And the Metro card served so much purpose in my Life. It helped me transition from the underground to above ground. I was able to get a car, get insurance because of the Metro card. I was able to save money. And I just remember it when it became unlimited, when you can get the unlimited Metro card and probably the in as a New Yorker, the only. The one thing you never wanted to do was lose your wallet or keys and your monthly Metro card because it was a nightmare.

[Alison Stewart]

Yeah. Camilla, thank you so much for calling in. Let's go to Peter in Jackson Heights. Hey, Peter, thanks for making the time to call, all of it.

[Caller/Listener]

Hi, thanks. I'm just calling in because I remembered in the first year or two, there was a. And initially, you know, there were friends of mine who had dented their cards. And it became a big problem because if you dented it in the right place, little bend in it, it would pass and give you free rides. And so for a few months, people were learning this and MTA had to do a big. I don't know, they had to do a big fix of some kind to repair that. But it was a big deal for a little while.

[Alison Stewart]

Peter, thanks for your call. We are talking about the end of the MetroCard. A farewell to the MetroCard. There's an exhibit at the New York Transit Museum. My guest is Jodi Shapiro. She's a curator at the museum. Give us a call at 2124-3396-9221-2433. WNYC with your Metro card memories. How long and what kind of technology had we put in place for those cards to work?

[Jodi Shapiro]

So the first thing was the reintroduction of electric turnstiles, which had been present in the system in the. In the early part of the 1900s, 1910, 1920. And they had been removed by the 90s. And so they had to put new ones back in because this technology runs on electricity. So that meant a new turnstile had to be designed. They had to reconfigure fair control areas to put these turnstiles in. The turnstiles had to be connected to a power source and then connected into the booth so that they could, you know, the data that gets collected by turnstiles would go back into the booth and into the central computer system. And then there is the whole MetroCard computer system, you know, the mainframe system that is, you know, wherever revenue had it at that time. And it all had to be connected by fiber optic or. Or cat cable, whatever they used, because I'm actually not sure. And there had to be software designed to process all of the transactions that MetroCard was going to make. So each individual turnstile had to report back to the central computer. So this is a huge technological undertaking. And that's part of the reason why the idea for having a mag stripe fare card, it was first floated in city council in 1979 by Carol Bellamy, and it wasn't a mag stripe, it was just a replacement for the token. And then Richard Ravitch In 1983, he was the chairman of the MTA. He was the person who pushed for a mag stripe card because San Francisco already had one, Paris had one. I was gonna ask. And it was just, you know, these are cosmopolitan cities that people like to visit. New York is supposed to be the most cosmopolitan, modern city in the world. We need to have modern fare payment. So that's why there's a 10 year gap between the decision to have a mag stripe card and the actual implementation of the first turnstiles that can accept it. Because all of this technological infrastructure has to be designed, built, connected, tested, and then finally unleashed on the public.

[Alison Stewart]

How long did it take?

[Jodi Shapiro]

And it took almost all of those 10 years to do all of that. There were, there were some pilot programs, like with any fare payment system. Same thing with Omni. There was a pilot program, I got to be a part of the Omni pilot because I begged for it. I was just like, please let me try, because I didn't get to do that with MetroCard. So they, they gave Metro cards to people, several sets of people, and told them how to use it, and they had to give their feedback. And the funny thing is that the people who participated in this program got a like, like 15 free tokens or something like that, or 15 weeks of free tokens. So it's kind of like hedging their bets a little bit like. But it's also because they rolled out the turnstiles in small phases. So the first two turnstiles that accepted Metro cards were at Wall street on the 4 and 5, which is a former IRT service. So that's all the numbered lines are former IRT. And the other station was Whitehall street, which is the N and the W. Now I think it's the N and the W. I should know. But there's so much to remember. And that is a former BMT service. So most of the lettered lines are BMT and the others are ind. So because our system was three separate systems that were built in competition with one another. So if you did not work or live near Whitehall street or Wall street, why would you need a Metro card. And so that's also one of the reasons why it was a slow adoption throughout the city, because as more stations got these turnstiles and they're called afc, which is Automatic Fare Collection, they're still in the system today. And if you look really closely, you can still see that they have a token slot that's covered up. They have the MetroCard Swiper, and they have an Omni validator on them now. So these are turnstiles that have lasted for more than 30 years, and they're still being used with few modifications. You know, they had to change some things over the years, not just cosmetic things, but the way that they work. But that's also part of our transit story. And the fareboxes and the buses were also had to be changed to accept Metro cards being dipped into them.

[Alison Stewart]

I've got a funny story of why you want a metrocard. This text says, as a younger single man, I was on vacation in Florida, St. Pete's I started talking to a woman on the beach and went to buy us drinks when she saw my Metro card in my wallet. She told me that at least I showed I wasn't lying about being a New Yorker. So the card gave me some bona fides.

[Jodi Shapiro]

Oh, wow. Instant clout. That's pretty great.

[Alison Stewart]

Let's talk to Nene in Flatiron. Hi, Nini, thanks for calling, all of it.

[Caller/Listener]

Hi, Alison, thank you.

[Jodi Shapiro]

Yes, I want to say now that.

[Caller/Listener]

I've gone to the Omni card, I.

Have great nostalgia for the Metro card, primarily because with Omni, I can't tell.

[Alison Stewart]

Whether a transfer has been used and I don't get to read my balance.

[Caller/Listener]

So I have no idea where I am. And this is not nice. I don't like it.

[Alison Stewart]

Well, good luck with the new. With the new system for you. Jed calling in from New York City. Hey, Jed, thanks for calling, all of it.

[Caller/Listener]

Yes, hi. So to pick up where the other call just left off, you could never tell what was on your Metro card. I mean, I used to buy a weekly and I had to try to try to keep track of how many times I had used it or actually, I wasn't buying a weekly. I was buying like a number, like 10, like a 10, a 10 use or something like that. And then they used to give you a discount also, or they used to give you some extra money and you would always have a card with $2. I mean, not enough money to get another ride, but they always had $2 on it. And maybe you could go to the. To the window and ask them to transfer them to it, all to one card. But that barely worked. And then, of course, you always in a hurry, and you and the card wouldn't work because you hadn't kept track of how many rides that you had.

[Alison Stewart]

It took me the longest time to figure out how to balance the card.

[Jodi Shapiro]

Oh, God. Yeah. The Metro card math. I know, and I remember that there was. There used to be a website where you could. You could figure out, like, how much money you had to put on the card to get an even number of money so that you got, you know, exactly 10 rides or 15 or however many. And then every time, you know, every time there was a change, you know, the. When the discount changed or the fare changed or something like that, you'd have to start doing the math all over again, which is, you know, I would rather not spend my time doing that, so. And I'm sure most New Yorkers wouldn't want to either.

[Alison Stewart]

I'm speaking with Jodi Shapiro, curator at the New York Transit Museum. We are saying farewell to the MetroCard. That's the name of their exhibit. We'll have more after a quick break. This is all of it. You're listening to all of it on wnyc. I'm Alison Steward. My guest is Jodi Shapiro. She's a curator at the New York Transit Museum. We're talking about the farewell to the Metro card. It's on its last days, the last day to buy a refill a Metro card is tomorrow, the last day of this year. We're asking you to call in and tell us your favorite thing about the Metro card, your favorite story about the Metro card, something you can tell us. Our number is 212-433-969-2212-4338. WNYC. We got a text, Jody, that says, hi. I worked at the MTA in the 90s as part of the Metro card transition team. Tokens were, in fact, a problem. They were heavy, and transporting them were cumbersome and complicated. Also, sometimes slugs could easily be used to gain entry. Metro cards are light and they don't have to be retrieved from the turnstiles. People had a hard time giving up their tokens.

[Jodi Shapiro]

Oh, yeah.

[Alison Stewart]

You know, people use them to barter in stores if somebody needed money. He said, well, I got two Metro tokens. Can you give me however much in dollars back? At one point, there was this idea that there would be a MetroCard mascot to get people on board.

[Jodi Shapiro]

Oh, yes.

[Alison Stewart]

What happened to him?

[Jodi Shapiro]

Cardvark. I love the Cardvark. We love the Cardvark at New York, the New York Transit Museum. Cardvar. So, as part of this education program for New Yorkers to teach them how to get acclimated to a new fare payment system, the MTA had taken proposals from marketing agencies on how to try to market the card in different ways. And one of these agencies proposed a mascot that was a lovable but technologically advanced creature that would teach New Yorkers how to use MetroCard and be an ambassador. And that was Cardvark. Cardvark is, as you would expect, an aardvark. He is orange. He is wearing an MTA uniform, and he's got a swiper on his arm to teach people how to swipe. And he was just a concept. It never happened. They never did all the things that they had planned to do with Kardvark, including making aardvark suit and having someone be in the suit and go to transit hubs like Times Square, like Grand Central, like Union Square, and just meet the public and get them on board with MetroCard. He's ridiculous. I do. He's ridiculous. I love him. And when we talked about doing this exhibit at the museum, I said, so we're gonna have Cardvark, right? And everybody was like, yes, of course we're gonna have Cardvark. So, you know, he's there, you can meet him as a standee, take your picture with him, and learn a little bit about what could have been.

[Alison Stewart]

Now, the original cards were blue.

[Jodi Shapiro]

Yes. And that was by design. Okay. No pun intended. When Metro Card was first conceived of, it was supposed to be a card that would allow discounts at one point, would allow certain. Certain number of transfers, more than just one, offered discounts and. And such, and have unlimited rides. And it was also intended at some point to be a card that you could do other things with besides pay for your transit fare, like be a calling card, which is. That's way. Like, I don't know anybody who really remembers what calling cards were. You know, you and I are about the same age, so I'm sure you do. And. And also use it to pay for other goods and services. And so that wasn't going to happen right away, but it was the plan, and it didn't happen. At least with the calling cards and the paying for other services. The partners that the MTA wanted to partner with, they couldn't make things work the way that they wanted to. So those ideas were kind of put to the side. But discounts and unlimited rides were always part of the plan, yeah, it only came in 1997 because that was when there was a technological advance to encode the magnetic strip in a different way to make that happen. And then once that happened, unlimited rides started, started being introduced in July 4th of 1997. July 4th was the day for the seven day and the 30 day unlimited discounts followed shortly after, which is what the gentleman was talking about before, like trying to figure out how much money to put on your card because you would get a discount if you did a pay per ride card. And so now were these the Metro Gold cards? Yeah, Metro Card Gold. Sorry, I thought I said that. So the card, the appearance changed to indicate the change to the magnetic stripping coating. And it's much, much more flexible means of paying for it, using it. And this was also the advent of multiple transfers with one swipe. So that effectively ended the two fare zone that existed in many parts of New York where people would have to take a bus, a bus to a train, or a bus to a train to a bus. You couldn't do that with blue. You could only get one free transfer and then you'd have to pay a second fare. This was something that happened with tokens also. It was, it was a issue that faced New Yorkers since the inception of our transit system. And MetroCard Gold basically eliminated it. There are still a couple of two fair zones that were left and I think by now they have all been eliminated, but some of them didn't get eliminated until like two, three years ago.

[Alison Stewart]

So let's listen to an ad for the MetroCard Gold that came out in 1997. And listen carefully for this voice.

[Caller/Listener]

Something new has come to New York. MetroCard Gold. You can use it to pay your fare at all subway stations and on all buses and also to transfer from subways to buses and from buses to subways. Free. That's right, free. We thought you'd like to hear that. MetroCard Gold, the beginning of a whole new transit system, MTA going your way.

[Alison Stewart]

I'm not going to say who that is. If somebody wants to call in and say who that is, do that at 212-433-9692. We'll tell you people at the end if we don't get any, any callers on that one. Let's talk to Marissa in Brooklyn. Hey, Marissa.

[Caller/Listener]

Hi.

Thanks for taking the call.

[Alison Stewart]

What's your memory of the MetroCard?

[Caller/Listener]

Well, I'm just about as old as the Metro card, a little bit older, so it's been my entire life. But when I first Moved into the city alone right after college, my first ever job. I was working in a restaurant, as many of us do, and I was dead broke. I think. I had been gifted a monthly Metro card by my dad, and I was, I guess, pickpocketed in the staff lockers at the restaurant. And whoever pickpocketed me stole my monthly Metro card. And I was so bummed. I mean, you know, getting your cash stolen is one thing, but the monthly Metro card really felt like a huge hit because it was just like the sense of being able to be free to move around the city. And I think that's. I've always felt that way about the Metro card, even when it's been. Maybe I didn't need it or it was kind of tough to afford. Having the monthly Metro card and being able to just go wherever was such a huge. Just like a huge sense of freedom in New York. So I'll definitely miss that about Omni. You know, eliminating the monthly option with Omni, aside from being more expensive, just that that sense of freedom was. Has been such a big bonus for me.

[Alison Stewart]

Marissa, thanks for the call. This text says Kate Spade made a card holder change purse in the design of a Metro card.

[Jodi Shapiro]

She did, yeah.

[Alison Stewart]

It's a lovely nod to the Metro card and such a quintessential New York City piece. I get compliments on it all the time. Steve. He makes art out of Metro cards. This one says one of my favorite memories of the Metro card was getting my green and white Metro card in the first grade.

[Jodi Shapiro]

Oh, man.

[Alison Stewart]

Will they be getting Omni passes? I think they.

[Jodi Shapiro]

They do, yeah.

[Alison Stewart]

Yeah. Let's talk to George in Franklin Lakes. Hey, George. Thanks for calling. All of it.

[Caller/Listener]

Hi, good afternoon. I remember that sometime in the past, you had conducted hackathons for the Metro.

Card to see if the security could be broken.

Was the Metro card ever successfully hacked?

[Jodi Shapiro]

I am honestly not sure about that. And even if I was, I don't think my boss would like me to say if it was or not.

[Alison Stewart]

Let's talk to Tom from Brooklyn. Hey, Tom, thanks for calling, all of it. Tom, are you there? No, Tony. Hey, Tony, I'm sorry. My.

[Jodi Shapiro]

My bad.

[Caller/Listener]

Yes, Tony from Brooklyn. Thank you for calling. I'm a retired transportation planner and urban rail historian. I used to work for the TA on J Street in the early 80s. And from the management point of view, the MetroCard was a very good addition to analyzing rider, especially as it evolved into the easy pay, where you could actually track transfers from subway to bus and bus to subway origin, destination. Data. So that's something that a lot of folks may not realize when an authority like the MTA needs to understand ridership data. So it's very interesting. Now we have Omni.

[Jodi Shapiro]

All right, thanks for calling. Can I address what he said? That's actually one of the things. One of the benefits of MetroCard is that because of these turnstiles that had to be electrified and connected to the computer mainframe is that now, and this is public, publicly accessible data. New York City has a data portal. You can see turnstile turns from any turnstile in the system if you know how to parse the data out. And that data is. Is analyzed very heavily by the MTA to find out which stations are the most crowded, at what times, which particular rank of turnstiles are used the most. I, you know, I'm a nerd. I look at this data sometimes for our exhibits, and that's, you know, it's all. On the surface, it's a way to pay for your fare. But deeper down, it is a way for the MTA to improve service. And so, you know, that's also another technological leap that was made possible by the implementation of this fare payment system.

[Alison Stewart]

We got a great test. I used to mail Metro cards to my European friends who loved visiting New York City. To a person, they thank me. Let's play our clip one more time. Introducing the Metro Gold. In 1997, Something New has come to.

[Caller/Listener]

New York Metro card Gold. You can use it to pay your fare at all subway stations and on all buses.

[Alison Stewart]

All right, so one person transferred subways to. Said it was Christopher Walken. We got many texts, correct? We got one call. Nicole, who is it on that advertisement?

[Caller/Listener]

It is Mandy Patinket.

[Alison Stewart]

There you go, Mandy Patinket. Thanks for calling in, Nicole. You know, in the exhibit, you write that or it is written that the token still remains a big part of New York City history. Do you think the Metro card remain iconic like that?

[Jodi Shapiro]

I think it will. You know, when we first started developing this exhibit, you know, because we knew that the Metro card was going to go away, I didn't think that people would hold onto it as dearly as they are. So I was surprised. It's different from a token. I don't know yet if it will be as instantly recognizable as a token. You know, whenever you see. Whenever you go anywhere, if you see a subway token, you think New York. If you see the root indicator, which is a bullet, like, you know, the E, the F, whatever, you see that it's New York. I feel that in time, the Metro card will be that way also. You know, I know at least New Yorkers feel that it's on the same level as a token or a subway bullet. Come on, let's run it. What am I holding? I saw the picture of it earlier, and I was just like, I hope she brings it, because it's super cool. You can't really see what I'm looking at, but Alex has done a cross stitch of a MetroCard Gold, and it looks really, really cool. And, yeah, you know, it's just seeing how it inspires people to create, how it kind of solidifies the love that New Yorkers have for their transit system. And that's one of the things through my years at the New York Transit Museum that I have learned above all else is that New Yorkers are very, very emotionally wrapped up in our transit system. And I. For a couple of years, I was like, gee, you know, like, I wonder why. Like, I grew up here. I know why I love the subway and I love the bus, but why does everybody else love it? And now I have learned through my work at the. At the museum that I think this is my hypothesis. I don't. It's not scientifically proven. I believe that people feel so emotionally into our system because our city would not be what it is.

[Alison Stewart]

Yeah.

[Jodi Shapiro]

If the system was not built the way it was. Other transit systems connect A to B. Neighborhoods that were already established. You know, a neighborhood where people live to a neighborhood where people work. New York, everybody was concentrated mostly in lower Manhattan, and our transportation system was built to bring people out of that. Especially the subway was built specifically to move people from Lower Manhattan to Queens to the Bronx to other parts of Brooklyn. So I think whether New Yorkers realize it or not, maybe that's why they love our system so much and all of the things that symbolize that system to them.

[Alison Stewart]

Jodi Shapiro, she's a curator at the New York Transit Museum. The exhibit is called Farewell MetroCard. Thank you so much for joining us.

[Jodi Shapiro]

Thanks for having me back.

[Alison Stewart]

If you'd like to see my needlepoint, go to all of itnyc on our Instagram. And do we have time for this caller? There's one last caller. Okay, caller, you get to finish us out.

[Caller/Listener]

Okay?

[Jodi Shapiro]

Okay.

[Caller/Listener]

Hi, yeah, this is Leo. So I'm the saxophone player on camera in that commercial with George Pataki.

[Jodi Shapiro]

Oh, that's awesome.

[Caller/Listener]

And I'm in my car, but I don't know if that's. You know, the. The other caller said that was Mandy Patinkin, but I don't think so. I think it's George Pataki because he talks at the beginning of the commercial on camera.

[Alison Stewart]

You know what, you know what? Actually there were actually two commercials. One with George Pataki and one with Mandy Patinkin. So you are correct. Hey Leo, thanks for calling in Jodi.

[Jodi Shapiro]

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[Caller/Listener]

The McDonald's snack wrap is back. You brought it back. Ranch snack wrap. Spicy snack wrap. You broke the Internet for a snack. Snack wrap is back.