A brand-new Hell Gate Podcast will be dropping later today! You won't want to miss it. Listen here or wherever you get your podcasts, or watch us on our YouTube channel.
At around 5:30 p.m. Thursday evening, in the muggy humidity of the Second Avenue F train platform, a fresh-faced Lower East Side resident named Ella faced a familiar subway problem: she really needed something to drink. This time, she was in luck—Second Avenue is one of the first few subway stations the MTA has fitted with a giant, three-tier vending machine just beyond the turnstiles, a program announced late last week in which empty retail storefronts in 26 stations across the city will be replaced by new, Coke-branded machines that accept credit cards only.
This particular vending machine presented an array of options, from Coca-Cola soda products—Diet Dr. Pepper, Coke Zero, Dasani water ($2.75) and the like—to other drinks and snacks one finds in the average bodega, including Core Power protein shakes, bottles of Dunkin' Iced Coffee, and baby bags of Cheetos and Pop Tarts. After Ella punched in the number of her beverage and swiped her card for $3.50, a robotic yet surprisingly smooth arm inside the machine glided up to grab the Diet Coke she'd chosen and dispensed it through a revolving door that resembled a PureGym pod for plastic soda bottles.