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Memorabilia collectors can put the city’s junk in their trunks.
Like the legendary Pizza Rat, dancing performers seeking spare change and pesky turnstile fare-jumpers stealing free rides, MetroCard machines are indelible fixtures of the New York City subway system.
Now, those clunky contraptions, some weighing over 1,000 pounds, can be an indelible fixture in your living room as the New York City Transit is auctioning off decommissioned MetroCard Vending Machines (MVM) and MetroCard Express Machines (MEM) to the highest bidders through August 19.
The auction marks the first time everyday individuals will be able to own the steel dispensers, which sold prepaid fare cards to commuters for nearly three decades. It’s a worthwhile, potentially effortful task as those now-defunct MetroCards — flimsy pieces of plastic — have been hawked online for $3,500.
“First installed in 1999, the colorful metal MVM and MEM are familiar to the millions of riders who take the subway each day,” the MTA said in a statement. “There are a limited number of machines available through this auction, so we encourage anyone interested in owning a piece of transit history to…submit a bid soon.”
While some Gothamites are giddy to get their hands on the historic hardware — relics rendered obsolete since the MTA retired the MetroCard in 2025 and introduced OMNY as its replacement — a certain faction of cynics views the sale as nothing more than a blatant money-grab, accusing the authority of “scamming” nostalgic New Yorkers.
With minimum offers set at $1,500 per unit, Big Apple buffs are invited to propose the best and final prices they’re willing to pay for one or more of the machines, each being sold “as-is” and “where-is” in non-operational condition, per the officials.
The MVM, which debuted on January 25, 1999, allowed riders to purchase or reload MetroCards using cash, credit, and debit cards. The structure stands at 80 inches long, 42 inches wide, and 36 inches deep, and weighs approximately 1,050 pounds.
Its counterpart, the MEM — a sleeker, faster option for straphangers, offering only credit and debit card transactions — is 21 inches long, 14 inches wide, and 42 inches high, and weighs approximately 210 pounds.
All electronic and payment processing components have been removed from the machines prior to the sale.
Antique aficionados offering top dollar for the collectibles will receive an email notification from the MTA once their bid is accepted, when the auction concludes in late August.
Winners must be prepared to pay in full on the day they’re notified, and confirm an arrangement for pickup within 10 days of purchase. The lucky NYC lovers will be solely responsible for loading and transporting their hefty hauls as the MTA “will not provide any loading assistance or loading equipment.”
“The pickup location will be provided after payment has been received,” noted the authorities. “A limited quantity of machines is available for pickup in Brooklyn. The remaining machines must be picked up in Queens.”
Turning the boroughs’ trash into costly treasure, however, doesn’t appeal to critics who allege that the MTA is merely playing on the emotions of locals in hopes of a major payday.
“Ahh yes, buy the machine that used to TAKE OUR MONEY!….,” a skeptic spat in a sarcastic tweet beneath the MTA’s auction announcement.
“Is this what the MTA needs to do to raise funding? Pathetic,” another chimed, prompting a separate naysayer to mockingly write, “‘We are auctioning off our garbage.’”
“Now why would anyone want these pissy, rat s- -t infested machines anywhere in a ‘collection,’” asked an outraged X user. “Clean it up and add them to the Transit Museum. Stop scamming.”
Less miffed commenters reacted to the auction with levity, joking, “My wife would divorce me on the spot,” and, “Will these include the rats and human piss scents?.”
But wistful saps simply want that old thing back.
“How about we just bring back the MetroCard!,” pleaded a passenger.
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