The New York City subway system is like a maze, filled with history and cool stories. Aside from merely moving millions of people around the city, the subway has some secrets that even regular riders might not know about. The story of the subway is as complicated as the city it’s in. Hey, let’s check out some random lesser-known facts about this iconic transit system.
1. A Bright Idea: The Lightbulb Hack
Next time you glance at a subway lightbulb, know this: it’s not your average bulb. NYC subway lightbulbs have left-handed screws. Why the twist? To stop people from pilfering them for home use. It’s a clever, practical solution to an unexpected problem—and a reminder that even the smallest details in NYC’s subway are carefully thought out.
2. The “Token Suckers” Scandal
Before the advent of MetroCards, subway riders used tokens, and with tokens came scammers. These so-called “token suckers” would jam token slots with paper and then use their mouths to extract the tokens. To combat this bizarre theft, subway attendants sprinkled chili powder into the slots, making token-sucking a very spicy mistake.
3. Subway Cars Turned into Ocean Homes
In 2008, New York City Transit made headlines by sinking 2,500 retired subway cars along the eastern seaboard to create artificial reefs. This was a one-time initiative designed to support marine life by providing new habitats for fish and other sea creatures. While the project received praise for its environmental impact, it wasn’t repeated on a large scale, making it a unique chapter in the city’s history of recycling and repurposing old infrastructure.
4. Blown Out of the East River and Back to Work
In 1916, construction worker Marshall Mabey, a “sandhog” digging subway tunnels, was blown out of the East River. Pressurized air, used to prevent tunnel collapses, shot Mabey through the riverbed and into the air, nearly 20 feet above the water. Amazingly, he survived, but two of his coworkers didn’t. Stories suggest Mabey might have returned to work soon after—proof of the grit and determination required in those early days of subway construction.
5. The City’s Secret Vent Buildings
New York City has buildings that aren’t buildings at all. Scattered throughout the city, these structures look like ordinary brownstones or industrial facades but serve as ventilation points for the subway system. These fake buildings are a perfect blend of form and function, hiding vital infrastructure in plain sight.
6. The War on Graffiti: NYC’s Clean Car Program
Graffiti once dominated the NYC subway, with artists competing to have their work seen across the city. But in 1984, the Clean Car Program (CCP) turned the tide. Any tagged subway car was cleaned within two hours or removed from service entirely—even during rush hour. This quick response stripped graffiti artists of their audience and slowly ended a subculture that had thrived for decades. The last graffiti-covered car was removed in 1989, marking the end of an era.
7. A Teen Conductor’s Wild Ride
In 1993, a 16-year-old Brooklyn teen fulfilled a dream most of us wouldn’t dare: he became a subway conductor—for three hours. Pretending to be an MTA employee, the teen managed to drive a train along the A line before being caught. While his stunt didn’t end in disaster, it left many wondering how such a thing was even possible.
8. The Subway Settlement That Defied Logic
In 1977, a man tried to end his life by jumping in front of a subway train. He survived with injuries and, in a twist of fate, received a $650,000 settlement because the subway operator “didn’t stop fast enough.” If that wasn’t bizarre enough, during the settlement negotiations in 1982, he attempted suicide the same way again—but survived uninjured this time. It’s a tragic, ironic tale that underscores the complex intersection of human struggles and legal systems.
The NYC subway isn’t just a way to get around—it’s a microcosm of human ingenuity, resilience, and eccentricity. Have you ever noticed the quirks of this underground world?
I really enjoyed this article. I used to ride the subway and didn’t know these things. Keep up the good work.
Me too. I used to ride the subway in the early ’60s ’til I married an Army soldier and moved to Germany for a couple of years. I worked in NYC and so glad I had that experience.
For #7, the young man became a train operator, or “motorman,” not a conductor.
And sinked isn’t a word.
Indeed! Doesn’t anyone think about proofing their headline(s)…??
During one of the transit strikes a number of years ago, the subways shut down for weeks. I met a transit cop when we were walking home over the bridge and we had a fascinating conversation. He said he’d busted a guy that day who thought he was clever, walking to work on the tracks, avoiding the crowds. He didn’t know that they were running trains at high speed periodically to keep the tracks from rusting and exercise other equipment that could freeze up. He could easily have been killed because the trains ran at unusual speed because of the almost non-existent traffic. Also, we talked about jumpers. He said it happens all the time. And it’s extremely hard on the drivers. People are accustomed to seeing trains from the platform; From down on the tracks you see their full height and it’s not what they expected, looming over them. They panic and change their minds, but always too late, because you don’t see that angle until the train is almost upon you.
London also has secret vent buildings.
Great stuff . Thank you
But where is the mystery subway station? The one no one ever sees?