The New York Transit Museum gives the beloved MetroCard a proper send-off with its FAREwell, MetroCard exhibit, which tells the story of the iconic fare card that reshaped daily life for millions of New Yorkers.
As the Metropolitan Transportation Authority switches transit riders to the OMNY system this year, the compact exhibit educates visitors about the history of the MetroCard, from its first inception in 1994 to its role in advertising events and safety procedures. With the same bright blue and yellow coloring, the exhibit is a testament to the distinguished payment method that will disappear by the end of the year.
“I think [the MetroCard’s] ubiquity is something that makes it iconic,” said Jodi Shapiro, the exhibit’s curator. “It’s one of those things where you use it every day, and it becomes a part of your life.”
The museum receives thousands of MetroCards directly from the MTA’s revenue department. Shapiro picked the most colorful and memorable for the send-off, including a card commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge in 2014 and one depicting Brooklyn-born rapper Notorious B.I.G.
Some cards are rare, while others were widely distributed. Aside from their aesthetic value, the MetroCard represents a cultural shift in New York City, Shapiro said.
“One of the brilliant things about MetroCards is that, when it was introduced, it was a technology not a lot of people were familiar with,” said Shapiro. “The MTA and New York City Transit taught millions of people how to use something they had never used before.”
After three decades, residents have become attached.
“New Yorkers are very reluctant to give up things that work,” said Shapiro. “But they have that kind of resilience to accept new technology, but they’re still going to love the old technology as long as they can.”
One a recent weekday, a small group of young children clustered around a cardboard cutout of Cardvaark, an aardvark and rejected mascot of the MTA. They admired his long nose as parents poke fun at his nondescript “high-tech” bracelet. The 90s creature was once billed as a way to sell MetroCards; now, he greets patrons as they say their final goodbyes.
“F*** OMNY,” called one teenage patron as he passed through. “Give me my MetroCard!”
The museum expects the exhibit to run at least through the spring.
