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Subway
Centennial Contest
The New York City subways will be 100 years old
in October 2004. The NYPIRG Straphangers Campaign and the Tri State
Transportation Campaign asked riders in the "Subway Centennial Contest," "How
should New York celebrate?" We picked the 10 best entries and have
posted them below. We have also forwarded them on to the MTA for consideration.
Winners were given a free seven-day MetroCard. The MTA is currently
considering a variety of events, ranging from re-enacting the first
subway ride to running old cars in service to a party in City Hall Park.
Winning
Suggestions
- Celebrate by making your station shine!
Entry text: "Celebrate by making your station shine! Anyone participating
in the "make the station shine" would get unlimited ride 7-day
metrocards. Straphangers and MTA should manage this day together,
MTA should provide removal of garbage and possibly provide
supplies. This will demonstrate to people and MTA that it's
indeed possible to keep our stations clean."
- Open City Hall station as a museum
Entry text: "Open up the City Hall station as a new art museum, with
commissioned works from New York artists."
- Issue a commemorative postage stamp.
Entry text: "Is it too late for
a postage stamp? MTA can arrange with USPS for a commemorative cancellation.
Information on how to make this happen is in Post Office Publication
230. Take a look @ http://www.usps.com/cpim/ftp/hand/po230.htm"
- Place anniversary logos on cars or sell naming
rights
Entry text: "Let the
public submit historical figures and events and New York
places to be put on subway cars [or place anniversary logo
on cars]. The MTA could sell "naming
rights" to cover the costs (and maybe raise some revenue.) Examples
of the kind of name I have in mind is "The Spirit of
Jackie Robinson" or "The Wonder
Wheel.""
- Break Ground on the Second Avenue subway! Entry
text: "The best celebration
would be to start work on a new line or completion of
the Second Avenue line. If
we cherish our system, we can prove it by bringing the
gift of expansion."
- Issue a coffee table book of subway maps and how
they've changed over the years
Entry text: "I always wanted a coffee
table book that would show the changes in the subway
maps over the years, changes from map to map (closures,
additions, etc) and pictures and text explaining the
changes."
- Issue
special edition "Subway M&M's" corresponding
to the correct subway color and line number or
letter.
Entry text: "I think the M & M's
company should create subway M & M's corresponding with the correct
subway line color. Even though it really only pertains to the
Five boroughs, I think people would buy bags... I would!"
- Install
plaques in subway stations giving that station's history.
Entry
text: "New
York should celebrate the 100th birthday of its subway by installing plaques
giving the year of each station's opening. Riders would talk about the
subway more, for example, by comparing the opening dates of their home or work
stations. The plaques should be permanent at the oldest stations, but perhaps
just a temporary sign elsewhere during the birthday celebration. "Younger" stations
might earn permanent plaques as they turn 100."
- Have transit employees wear buttons saying, "The New York
City Subway is 100 and I'm proud of it!"
Entry text: "We should celebrate by having every employee
who works for the New York City subway wear a button labeled "New York City subway
is 100 years old today and I am proud of it" and all students with transit
passes should be given literature on the history of New York City subway
system."
- Create an educational program in schools emphasizing
the importance of the subway system.
Entry text: "I believe an aggressive educational
program in our schools involving the Transit Museum explaining the importance
of the subway system would be appropriate."
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