New Yorkers snap up discarded subway signs, seats at annual sale

NEW YORK – New York’s subway is known for being dirty, noisy and sometimes flooded, but that does not stop people from flocking to grab a seat, sign or other memorabilia at a unique annual auction.In south Brooklyn, shoppers hoping to get a slice of the city’s transit service waited for hours to trawl through an open-air market organised by city authorities.Each person gets a maximum of 45 minutes to search, allowing others to enter after them.Nori Juba, 61, found what he was looking for: a large sign bearing the name of Grand Central station, along with the numbers of the subway lines he takes every day.The train system is “old and creaky and it’s outdated”, he said.“But that’s what makes it interesting. And this piece of metal is dirty. It smells like a subway station, but there’s something about it that makes it real New York, one of a kind in the world.”Each person gets a maximum of 45 minutes to search through the memorabilia. PHOTO: AFPThe prices are not cheap: A medium-sized sign costs around US$500 (S$640), while larger ones can run past US$1,000.The orange plastic seats from the New York subway go for around US$900 each.Celebrities are sometimes spotted at the market and in October, New York resident and film-maker Spike Lee was stopping for pictures with fellow shoppers.He proudly showed off the metal sign he just bought, marked “Penn Station”, the subway stop for Madison Square Garden – where his beloved Knicks basketball team plays.“I don’t take the subway anymore to the big games,” he said, but recalled riding the train regularly while growing up, adding that he always paid his fare.“I never jumped the turnstile either. Let the record state!” he joked.Film-maker Spike Lee bought a sign marked “Penn Station”, the subway stop for Madison Square Garden, where the Knicks basketball team plays. PHOTO: AFP‘A piece of New York’New York’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority has always resold its signs to collectors but more recently opened up sales to the public, said Paul Dvoskin, the director in charge of the programme.“Five years ago, an idea was born to hold a garage sale of sorts, and to let people come in and purchase these items,” he said.“We called it a grab-and-go then, and it ended up being significantly more popular than we ever thought it would be.”Officials do not disclose how much the two-day sale brings in, but it draws around 4,000 people each year.The plastic seats, sold only since 2025, are the most popular items.The two-day sale draws around 4,000 people each year. PHOTO: AFPSo are the MetroCards, the small yellow magnetic cards emblematic of the city, which have recently been retired from use – they sell for US$6.With a budget of US$70, Trinyce and Ijeoma, two women in their 20s, said they were trying to find something to decorate their apartment.“I’d like a piece of New York to represent my living space, like as a representation of me,” Ijeoma said. AFP