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Hundreds of Mets fans traveled to the team’s home opener Thursday in a way they haven’t since Mike Piazza was behind the plate — on a Redbird.
The eight-car subway train, part of the vintage fleet maintained by the New York Transit Museum, made express stops from 34th St.–Hudson Yard to Mets–Willets Point Thursday morning in honor of the Metropolitans’ first game of the season — facing off against the Pittsburgh Pirates at Citi Field.
Fans decked out in orange and blue stood four deep along the platform edge at Hudson Yards Thursday, waiting to board the classic subway — which sported a period-correct destination roll sign for “Willets Pt.–Shea Stadium.”
The iconic Redbird — a name that applies to a paint scheme that’s adorned multiple classes of subway cars — began as an anti-graffiti effort in 1984. Painted “Tuscan red” to draw transit cops’ attention — as well as to signal to would-be taggers that the train was being watched — Redbirds eventually operated on multiple lines, both lettered and numbered. If the trains were hit with new graffiti, it was easy to cover it with a fresh layer of red paint.
But the first and last runs of the Redbirds in the subway system were both on the No. 7 line, leading first to Shea and then to Citi Field — indelibly linking the red trains to the blue and orange team.
The last Redbird in official passenger service was retired in 2003.
“The subway has carried fans to the ballpark for decades, and that journey is part of the Opening Day excitement,” museum spokeswoman Chelsea Newburg said in a statement. “Our Nostalgia Rides honor that tradition and show how New York’s greatest institutions, from baseball to public transit, continue to bring people together.”
Not to be outdone, Yankee Stadium will be served by two vintage subways when the Bronx Bombers have their home opener next month. Fans of the Pinstripes can get to the house next to the one that Ruth built via a ride on a World War I-era “Lo-V” train, or a six-car train of Redbirds, both running nonstop from Grand Central.
Continue reading...
The eight-car subway train, part of the vintage fleet maintained by the New York Transit Museum, made express stops from 34th St.–Hudson Yard to Mets–Willets Point Thursday morning in honor of the Metropolitans’ first game of the season — facing off against the Pittsburgh Pirates at Citi Field.
Fans decked out in orange and blue stood four deep along the platform edge at Hudson Yards Thursday, waiting to board the classic subway — which sported a period-correct destination roll sign for “Willets Pt.–Shea Stadium.”
The iconic Redbird — a name that applies to a paint scheme that’s adorned multiple classes of subway cars — began as an anti-graffiti effort in 1984. Painted “Tuscan red” to draw transit cops’ attention — as well as to signal to would-be taggers that the train was being watched — Redbirds eventually operated on multiple lines, both lettered and numbered. If the trains were hit with new graffiti, it was easy to cover it with a fresh layer of red paint.
But the first and last runs of the Redbirds in the subway system were both on the No. 7 line, leading first to Shea and then to Citi Field — indelibly linking the red trains to the blue and orange team.
The last Redbird in official passenger service was retired in 2003.
“The subway has carried fans to the ballpark for decades, and that journey is part of the Opening Day excitement,” museum spokeswoman Chelsea Newburg said in a statement. “Our Nostalgia Rides honor that tradition and show how New York’s greatest institutions, from baseball to public transit, continue to bring people together.”
Not to be outdone, Yankee Stadium will be served by two vintage subways when the Bronx Bombers have their home opener next month. Fans of the Pinstripes can get to the house next to the one that Ruth built via a ride on a World War I-era “Lo-V” train, or a six-car train of Redbirds, both running nonstop from Grand Central.
Continue reading...
