Farewell to the MetroCard
As the New York staple reaches the end of its line, we’re taking a look back on its history of iconic collaborations.
As 2025 comes to a close, New York preps its part with an icon — the flimsy, yellow thing that has connected it’s residents across neighborhoods, class and creeds for three decades. Long live the MetroCard.
Last year, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) announced that it would cease sales of physical card to fully transition into the digital, tap-and-pay system. Like all big, city-wide changes, the death of the MetroCard has come with its fair share of emotions: a healthy helping of nostalgia and a grief strong enough to inspire a funeral.
As old as the subway itself is its artistic heritage, and the same can be said for the MetroCard. Since its initial rollout in 1994, the card has served as a canvas for over 400 special edition collaborations, not only celebrating the city, but the people, places and culture that define it.
Mta
Mta
Mta
Mta
Mta
Mta
Mta
Music made ’90s New York and the MTA was fast to reflect it. Following its inaugural edition, which saw four cinematic images of city landmarks, jazz and soul artist Anita Baker became one of the first to grace the card, promoting her 1995 album Rhythm of Love. Rap duo Gang Starr followed suit for Moment of Truth (1998,) arriving at the tail end of hip-hop’s golden age.
Other noteworthy music collaborations include Spotify’s David Bowie run in 2018, coinciding with the late English luminary’s retrospective at the Brooklyn Museum. That same year, the cover art for Paul McCartney‘s Egypt Station also made an appearance. More recent cards featured hometown heroes include Pop Smoke, Ice Spice and the Notorious B.I.G., whose 2022 card still fetches for thousands.
Sports history has also held a notable grasp on the card, including the New York Rangers’ 1994 Stanley Cup win and the 1997 and 2000 Sports Series which brought Mets and Yankees fans together in a rare moment of unity. Another 1997 edition honored Jackie Robinson, who broke the MLB color line while playing for the Brooklyn Dodgers, while other cards commemorated major events at home, like the US Open and the 2015 NBA All-Star Game.
Mta
Mta
Mta
Mta
Mta
Mta
Mta
Mta
Mta
From Radio City, the Bronx Zoo and the New York public library, the MetroCard was long a platform to promote the city’s cultural institutions and civic initiatives. One memorable card was issued in 2013, a year after Superstorm Sandy hit the city’s coastal communities, and highlighted six areas to “see the comeback” from storm recovery efforts.
Throughout the years, HBO, ABC, Hulu and Showtime all boosted their programs underground, with cards fronting the stars of Game of Thrones (2018), Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (2024), Desus & Mero (2019) and a two-year order for the first couple seasons of Wu-Tang: An American Saga.
The hunt for special edition MetroCards made headlines in 2017 when Supreme dropped their own run of cards, which left stations overrun by thousands of fans hoping to get their hands on rare, branded relics. Later that year, Barbara Kruger, whom the skate label rips its logo from, released her own red and white-lettered edition to celebrate her Performa presentation.
Before going completely digital, the MTA fittingly tapped Instagram to bow out the collaborative cards. Launched last year, the final three commemorative MetroCards starred New York Nico, Overheard New York and Kareem Rahma of Subway Takes — content creators who brought the city’s eccentric subway characters into the wider cultural consciousness.
Swiping a subway card is a feeling that many of us never thought we’d miss, and in many ways, feels out-of-date in 2025. Yet as the MetroCard becomes a thing of the past, its history tells a story of the simple objects that connect millions and the daily rituals that, together, quietly make a city.
