2026 greetings, my lovely bitches! My personal recollection of New Year’s Eve is a bit fuzzy; not for the usual fun reasons, but because I was one of the New Yorkers felled by the record-breaking flu going around. (Turns out it is important to let experts determine which strain should be targeted for the annual flu shot, hindsight is 2024.) Anyway, avoid it at all costs! I won’t get graphic with the symptoms but they were awful, and it feels like I’m still only just returning to my typical moderately-functioning self. But even if my sense of time hadn’t been hazy recently, I’d know we crossed into 2026, thanks to the Metropolitan Transit Authority. Last year MTA announced their signature blue-and-golden-yellow MetroCards would be discontinued with the close of 2025. Their replacement? A black-and-white OMNY card (physical or by phone app) that you scan for entry instead of swiping. The MetroCard itself replaced tokens 30 years ago, so I guess it’s just evolution of the tickets. That didn’t stop bereft citizens from gathering in Washington Square Park for a funeral:
To anyone who happened upon a funeral in Washington Square Park in Manhattan on Tuesday afternoon and wondered who was being honored, the clue was in the outfits: at least one person was displaying the deceased on her mourning hat.
It was a funeral for the MetroCard, which is being sold in New York for the last time on Wednesday, Dec. 31.
The ceremony, held in frigid weather, attracted a crowd of a few dozen. There were not a lot of tears, though occasionally, someone called out “swipe, swipe,” prompting the crowd to respond with a somber: “swipe, swipe,” according to footage from the ceremony broadcast by CBS New York.
Ashes, made of an unknown substance, were tossed from a blue urn into the air. A cake decorated with bright yellow frosting and elegant swoops of icing, was presented. And a framed photo of the deceased — perhaps controversially, for some New Yorkers, wearing a Mets baseball cap — was displayed.
The MetroCard is being replaced with OMNY, a tap-and-go payment system, which is already used for 94 percent of subway trips.
Kaicey Rahn, a funeral guest, refused to comment on OMNY in an interview with NY1, but remembered the MetroCard for always being there late at night when people are trying to get around the city.
“Who do we call?” Ms. Rahn said. “We call the MetroCard. And now we’ll be reminded of his absence every time we go on the train.”
The MetroCard first arrived in 1994, replacing tokens. It will still be accepted in 2026, but it is not known for how long, and riders will not be able to refill them.
The funeral on Tuesday was organized on social media and was one of a number of actions this year that memorialized the MetroCard. There have also been commemorative MetroCard cookies and bubble tea, museum exhibits and social media challenges.
At the MetroCard funeral, the crowd said goodbye to the card after three decades of service with a rendition of “This Little Light of Mine,” swapping the word “light” for “card.”
There was CAKE?? Thank goodness I was unaware of the cake presence prior to the service, because I would have been sorely tempted to rouse my coughing, aching carcass downtown for what looks like delicious buttercream frosting. (Kidding, of course! I would never knowingly harm public safety, I’m not the Health Secretary.) In all sincerity, this is a genuine NYC feel-good story. I think the only thing I love more than the fact that New Yorkers organized a funeral for our subway/bus card, is the fact that they held it before the card was actually out of commission. Seriously, why Tuesday the 30th?! I can only presume it was deemed more convenient to schedule it the day before NYE festivities got underway, making it yet another quintessentially New York facet to this story. Full disclosure: I’ve been using the OMNY card for months already. The switch was hastened along by my regular stations removing the MetroCard machines altogether, otherwise I would have stuck it out til the bitter end. I’m still opting to use the physical OMNY card instead of using my phone. I don’t know why that matters, but it makes me feel like I’m taking a stand in indignation so I’m sticking with it!
In loving memory of MetroCard 1994-2025. Gone but never forgotten, and hopefully enjoying an afterlife as a work of art.
Subway riders hold funeral for New York City’s iconic MetroCard as the cards will no longer be sold or reloaded starting 2026. pic.twitter.com/RqKnNS7q13
— Pop Crave (@PopCrave) December 31, 2025
Aww I haven’t been to NYC in over a decade now but I still have a card in my travel souvenirs from when I used to go 1-2 times a year for work and always refused to stay down where all the offices were.
I love when people come together for something like this.
More low stakes news stories for 2026!
Omni card is easy to use and more durable than metro card
Oh, finally, NYC is catching up with the rest of the world. Always funny to see examples of how North America is a solid 5-10 years behind East Asia.
The North American city I live was still cash only on public transit until last year. Coming here was like going back in time a solid decade.
Love New Yorkers!