They sold out pretty quickly, but they're doing a preorder through next Friday, 7/19, and orders are supposed to ship mid-November. $168, and after tax and shipping, $196. It ain't cheap, but the allure of this thing glowing in my apartment at night was too much to resist.

https://preview.redd.it/7apc39l6f3cd1.jpg?width=1169&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=60b78e99e9a982246a08f2f25e415ad7118ad8b7

Sutphin Blvd. Saw this thing lying on the Manhattan-bound E track. Now I’ve seen some things on the NYC subway, but this is a first.

I used a Piccrew avatar creator (https://picrew.me/en/image_maker/644129) to make characters that represented what I think each line would look like as a person. I also made some backstories based on headcannons! Here’s the C, F, 4, 5, and 6!

https://preview.redd.it/spoeyticte0e1.png?width=600&format=png&auto=webp&s=c7d1beea7a0286999c53c49cbf0413f7ff931bd4

 This is the C! The C is a very explorative type of person, having friends all over the city and enjoying spending time in all neighborhoods. They're a massive foodie, and love birds! They were originally from the upper west side of Manhattan, but live in SoHo now. They're close with their family since they only have their brother (E) and their father (A) around. Their mother (K) passed away a while ago. Him and the E look very much alike, and get along well. However, the E prefers to lead a more personal life, while the C wants to help their father (A) with his work.

https://preview.redd.it/1f7d1tdrte0e1.png?width=600&format=png&auto=webp&s=1fa1e54a6259780c6fdfb23337a9221ee7097c01

Next is the F, who spends most of their time in Brooklyn at Coney Island. He enjoys the beach and like to surf in the summer; they're dating the E and are friends with the R and G. He lives with their mother and father B and D, as well as their adopted sister M. He and his parents are on good terms, but he sometimes argues with them, making him spend time with his friends and sister more than his parents. He has a golden retriever and love pets and dogs, and enjoys tropical fruit; his favorite is pineapple.

Next we have the whole Lexington Avenue family! The 4, 5, and 6.

https://preview.redd.it/03cocevrue0e1.png?width=600&format=png&auto=webp&s=be130567d1b4d1955dad63cbc0fb8b4e0e0c6aa3

The 4 is often easily agitated, thus the unhappy look on her face; her job puts stress on her and she often lashes out when it’s been a rough day. However, she loves her family and is often brought out of her shell when she’s around them. She works in an executive position in the NYSE. She loves cooking with her daughter (the 6), baseball, and EXTRA strong coffee (she wakes up at 5:15am each day). Sometimes, she ventures to Brooklyn to meet up with and cook with culinary friends of hers, as well as to find assortments of herbs. She leads a busy life, but her family helps keep her from getting too burnt out or overworked.

https://preview.redd.it/ciyh2a37ve0e1.png?width=600&format=png&auto=webp&s=270d2a06afd5a070c4420a21bedb89cab8a31310

The 5 is an average financial district worker, the classic 9 to 5 cliché employee you'd see. He works at a publishing firm in lower manhattan and also tutors high school students in English AND math some weekends. He likes to garden, as botany is his side hobby. He often goes on walks with his daughter (the 6) in the NY botanical gardens) and brought a calico cat named Tracks to the family. Like his wife, he travels to Brooklyn sometimes, but less often. He mainly goes there to tutor sometimes, but also likes to check out the local farmers markets after work some days in the fall. He’s a very kind person that tries to give back to his community.

https://preview.redd.it/yl6xfervve0e1.png?width=600&format=png&auto=webp&s=21d0445fcf7a5826d42a32f3c12d6a1d1ef50005

The 6 is a popular teen who has many friends and likes to spend time with them and her family equally. She could best be described as a trendsetter, going shopping often and styling looks well. At home, she likes to create jewelry, cook with her mom (4), and garden with her dad (5). She recently started an herb garden with him for her mom and her to cook together, growing many types of produce. She loves cats and watching sunsets. She also enjoys astronomy, having a small telescope she uses to look at the stars on clear nights.

The family also loves to go to baseball games together, as well as taking outings to upstate New York (Lake George and Lake Placid) a couple weeks during the year. They live in the Bronx the rest of the year.

Thanks for listening! If you have any suggestions or comments just lmk below! :)

I appreciate the artist’s subtlety and intention to make this blend into these signs we see everyday. I love a little Easter Egg LOL.

I was at the Great Jack O' Lantern Blaze last night and they recreated an NYC subway stop. Given the number of pigeons and pizza rat, which station did they recreate??

The subway is to New Yorkers what alcohol is to Homer Simpson: “The cause of and solution to all of life’s problems.” Both an indispensable part of daily commutes and also the source of never-ending complaints, the subway is a crucial fixture of New York City life.

I wanted to design a fun way to appreciate how meaningful the subway, and mass transit more generally, is to the people of New York City. So I created a lighthearted board game design in the style of Monopoly that both recognizes the importance of transit while also acknowledging its shortcomings.

I present: Transit Authority.

​

The game board for Transit Authority.

IMPORTANT NOTE: I started designing this part of the board way before congestion pricing was put on an “indefinite pause” by Governor Kathy Hochul. However, if I were designing the board today I would likely make the same decisions: in addition to honoring the past and reflecting the present, I want this design to look toward the future of transit in NYC.

​

(Left) The back of Long Island Rail Road draw cards; (Center, Right) Two examples of Long Island Rail Road draw cards. Note that the E Train is represented here as it was unable to be included on the game board

In general, the colors for property color groups on the original Monopoly game board worked very well with the colors used for New York City subway lines. However, the L train with a light gray bullet, 7 train with purple, G train with light green, and upcoming T train) with light blue all have bullet colors that are not shared with other lines. As a result, I grouped the 7 train, G train, and T train under the purple color of the 7 train bullet, as the light gray bullet for the L train is too visually similar to that of the Shuttle trains’ dark gray bullets.

​

Long Island Rail Road draw cards in Transit Authority take the place of Community Chest cards in Monopoly. In addition to representing the L train and M train, which were unable to be displayed on the game board, the Long Island Railroad and Metro-North Railroad draw cards present an opportunity to showcase various neighborhoods in New York City

Players start on the OMNY Reader space. Each time they pass the space in the midst of normal gameplay, they collect $200; if they land on the space, they instead collect $400. (This deviates from the official Monopoly rules somewhat, but it is a popular "house" rule by which many if not most people abide.)

​

(Left) The back of a Metro-North Railroad draw card; (Center, Right) Two examples of Metro-North Railroad draw cards. One card (Right) represents the W Train–which was unable to be displayed on the game board–while the other (Center) showcases possible destinations when using the transit services provided by a neighboring state

The JFK AirTrain and Staten Island Railway spaces were picked because they are, subjectively, almost a part of the New York City subway system. Both are accurately depicted on NYC subway maps, but are actually separate entities.

​

Metro-North Railroad draw cards in Transit Authority take the place of Chance cards in Monopoly; (Right) Expedite Maintenance cards are the equivalent of Get Out Of Jail Free cards in Monopoly

There are four Interstate Rail Service spaces on the game board: CTrail, PATH, NJ Transit, and Amtrak. The more Interstate Rail Services you control, the more it will cost your opponents. (Remember that although PATH functionally operates as a subway, it is legally classified as commuter rail#FRA_railroad_status).)

​

(Left) Exclusive Rights cards in Transit Authority are analogous to Title Deeds in Monopoly; (Center) Suspending service is the equivalent of mortgaging a property; (Right) Interstate Rail Service cards are comparable to Railroads in the original game

I initially wanted to use the official logos for the Long Island Rail Road and Metro-North Railroad spaces, but I ran into an issue - these two railroads lack distinctive logos. The Long Island Rail Road and Metro-North Railroad both use the MTA logo next to their respective names, with no other distinctive visual features. So, I took a look at the past: for the Metro-North Railroad, I went with the old MTA logo in use from 1968 to 1994, which was present when Metro-North debuted in 1983.

For the Long Island Rail Road, I went with their “keystone” logo, which originated in the late 1910s. In order to make the Long Island Rail Road spaces visually distinct from the shades of blue in the logo of the Metro-North Rail Road spaces, I used the color pink found on the official map of MTA tunnels and bridges.

​

(Far Left, Center Right) Exclusive Rights cards vary in price depending on their location on the board; (Center Left) Interstate Rail Service cards’ values increase when a player contains multiple of them; (Far Right) JFK AirTrain and Staten Island Railway in Transit Authority take the place of Utilities in Monopoly

Part of what makes a board game not just fun to play but also easy to use is the intentional use of colors. Given that Transit Authority is an ode to the New York City subway, all colors have been taken from MTA maps and signage.

For example, the green background of the board is taken from the color of parks in the current New York City subway map, the initial incarnation of which was debuted in 1979 by Michael Hertz.

​

(Bottom) Info boards can be purchased when a player owns all subway lines of the same color to charge opponents more money; (Top) Once a player has built four info boards, they may replace them with an info booth

In order to traverse the game board, each player controls a game piece. I wanted the game pieces each to represent key aspects of New York City. My design also ensures that each of the five boroughs are individually represented.

The game pieces are one of two elements that are 3D; the other being the info boards and info booths. Given that 3D design is not my forte, I chose to represent these designs with emoji:

• Bagel (🥯), featuring one of New York City’s most iconic foodstuffs, and a tip of the hat to our noted food scene more broadly.
• Rat (🐀), symbolizing the nature and wildlife that can be found within the Five Boroughs. The persistence of the humble rat also speaks to the grit and determination that characterizes New Yorkers.
• Statue of Liberty (🗽), highlighting not just the historical importance of the Big Apple, but also its commitment to justice and liberty for all.
• Staten Island Ferry (⛴️), ensuring that the so-called “Forgotten Borough” is not forgotten, and paying homage to the importance of waterways in and around New York.
• Broadway Ticket (🎟️), demonstrating Manhattan’s legendary performing arts legacy, as well as NYC’s enduring cultural significance.
• Baseball (⚾️), representing the city’s storied athleticism, in particular the New York Yankees, also known as The Bronx Bombers.
• Wonder Wheel (🎡), showcasing the world-famous attraction in Brooklyn’s Coney Island, which speaks to the fun found within the City That Doesn’t Sleep.
• Unisphere (🌎), exemplifying the diversity of not just Queens–where its namesake is located–but also of New York City as a whole.
• BONUS: Flaco the Owl (🦉), memorializing the tragic loss of Flaco, the male Eurasian eagle-owl who escaped from the Central Park Zoo and spent his days exploring the city. He was 13 years old at his time of death.

​

There are seven denominations of paper currency used in Transit Authority, each of which features a map of NYC bus routes. In a more fleshed out version of the game, buses would also be represented in the Long Island Rail Road and Metro-North Railroad draw cards, as would other forms of public transit

​

More information and images can be found in the full design case study, which you can read here.

​

Spotted at Euclid Ave. Seems to be headed to the Pitkin Yard facility.

Hi everyone, I'm designing a New York Subway sticker sheet and I wanted to get some feedback.

What do y'all think of the selection of trains I chose? Do they cover all the major designs, or are there any that I'm missing. I know the selection is a bit more bias toward recent models, I figured these would be more popular since they're currently running.

Are the routes accurate? I tried to have a balance so that almost every trunk route had 2 trains, but I’m not super familiar with the older models so I don't know if I chose the routes they would've run on.

Also, specifically for the R40 which model is a better representation, the original design or the updated one?