Novelty MetroCards aren't new—when the MTA began issuing limited-edition Supreme-branded MetroCards in 2017, it set off a frenzy to find them throughout random stations, and led to a hot resale market (for a MetroCard…that just functions as a MetroCard). While fashion is forever, the MetroCard is not. As OMNY takes over more shares of riders' trips, the MetroCard is set to finally be phased out sometime in the future (a 2024 expiration date has been put off by the MTA indefinitely, as OMNY continues its troubled rollout).
Still, with MetroCard machines breaking down left and right, and with the MTA having an incentive to encourage people to shift to OMNY anyway, the time of the MetroCard, and special MetroCard promotions, is running out.
Which makes the MetroCards commemorating the 50th Anniversary of Hip-Hop, rolled out over the last two weeks, that much more poignant (if we're going to get sentimental over things like MetroCards, which at this site, we most certainly will). Each limited-edition MetroCard featuring a rapper was rolled out at stations near where that artist is from.
Notice a standout?
Oh yes, Killa Cam, Harlem's own, dressed in the pink mink coat he rolled up to Fashion Week in 2002. And the pink flip phone?
Is there a NYC-based rapper who better exemplifies the height of the MetroCard era, the run from the late 1990s through the mid-aughts, than Cam'ron, who could effortlessly weave in Pataki references, 9/11, and tearing through the city on dirt bikes?
At the 125th (or just 25th, if we're talking Harlem's Cam'ron) Street train station on Tuesday evening, Hell Gate had to make sure we got a piece of history. All of the machines were flashing the tell-tale "Single Rides Only" of a machine without plastic MetroCards…totally cashed...except one.
We pocketed two as other commuters sighed in frustration while navigating the rapidly obsolete and now sold-out machines. During a month of nostalgia for Hip-Hop, time to swipe back in time—and, according to the card's expiration date, continue doing so at least until 2025.
