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New York Subways Are Trash But These David Bowie Metrocards Are Good

The MTA has printed 250,000 metrocards with David Bowie’s face on them, the first positive action associated with New York subways in a very long time.

New York Subways Are Trash But These David Bowie Metrocards Are Good

BY Joe Berkowitz1 minute read

What: David Bowie metrocards.

Who: The MTA and Spotify.

Why we care: This post you are currently reading would have been online 25 minutes earlier if not for subway delays. As Cynthia Nixon has been saying a lot lately, New York subways are trash right now. (Paraphrasing.) But all the forced tardiness is briefly forgiven with the introduction of David Bowie metrocards. It’s just one part of Spotify’s sweeping promotional effort for the David Bowie Is exhibit at the Brooklyn Museum, dubbed the David Bowie Subway Takeover. The streaming service has transformed Manhattan’s Broadway-Lafayette subway stop, right near where Bowie used to live in Soho, into a living tribute to the dearly departed Thin White Duke. Fans will find huge images of Bowie-inspired art festooned all over the walls, featuring both fan-generated pieces and a preview of some of the exhibition’s images. The cards, which are available at the Broadway-Lafayette stop exclusively, come in five different designs, each displaying a different Bowie persona (Ziggy Stardust, Aladdin Sane, etc.) The MTA took time away from its busy being-terrible schedule to print 250,000 of them.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BhqMp8Blb21/?utm_source=ig_embed

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The David Bowie Is exhibit runs through July 15, by which time the metrocards bearing the artist’s face will only exist as overpriced eBay biddables.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Joe Berkowitz is an opinion columnist at Fast Company. His latest book, American Cheese: An Indulgent Odyssey Through the Artisan Cheese World, is available from Harper Perennial. More


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