Gothamist
A non-profit newsroom, powered by WNYC.
Gothamist
Listen Live
Arts & Entertainment
The MTA Is Now Turning Subway Announcements Into Ads, Starting With Awkwafina
By
Jen Carlson
Published Jan 16, 2020
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
Never miss a story
Email address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .
Annie Todd / Gothamist
By
Jen Carlson
Published Jan 16, 2020
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
We rely on your support to make local news available to all
Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2026. Donate today
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
This morning the MTA rolled out a new voice of the subway system: Awkwafina. The Queens native, who we've been following since her break-out hit "My Vag," has a new show coming out called Nora From Queens, and the announcements are part of an ad buy from Comedy Central to promote the show. So now through January 22nd, she'll be the voice of the Flushing 7 line.
It's the first such ad buy of its kind in the NYC subway system. An MTA spokesperson would not say how much revenue it generated.
The announcements (they really should have let her have 100% creative control over these) range from your standard "next stop" alerts to subway etiquette call-outs ("Hey fellas, stop manspreading") to shade-throwing (“This is Hudson Yards-34th St. Hope you like weird architecture!”). Others include: "Please remember: poles are for hands only!," "Next stop is in Manhattan, hope you brought money!," "This is 69th St., which is definitely, definitely not funny in any way," and, by far the best one: "This is Times Square-42nd Street, where New Yorkers go to relax." You can hear most of the announcements in this video:
Awkwafina just won a Golden Globe (for The Farewell), but becoming a subway announcer is like winning an Oscar in NYC — so few have been granted the privilege of letting straphangers know forskhhxthwhalzlyzzz... The longtime voice of the system was Bloomberg News reporter Charlie Pellett, and in 2018, the MTA's Velina Mitchell was chosen as the new voice to be piped through train cars' garbled speakers.
As for Awkwafina's short stint, the Comedy Central press release calls the announcements part of a "pilot program" featuring celebrity announcers. Sarah Meyer, Chief Customer Officer at MTA New York City Transit, further explained, "We are exploring new and different ways to generate much needed revenue, while also surprising and delighting customers. Our focus will always be to run the trains safely and on time, and if a well-known voice can bring attention to in-car messaging, we are all for it."
As for the reception, there's been a nice New Yorker range of reactions taking us from appreciation to annoyed to critical. Derek Li, a 45 year-old Fresh Meadows resident, told Gothamist, “It sounds really uplifting. I like that voice. Anything that can help people get in a happy mood, I’m all for it."
Some 7 train riders, like 25-year-old Baruch Zamora, have been following Awkafina since she burst out on the YouTube scene. “I feel like as a New Yorker, 'oh that’s my neighbor' like I know her,” the Jackson Heights native said.
But consider this, if companies are shelling out money for audio ads on the train, maybe the speakers will be better maintained so you can hear regular announcements, like the ones telling you why you've been stopped in a tunnel for 25 minutes so you can decide when to start clawing yourself out of the train car.
Additional reporting from Annie Todd.
Tagged
we the commuters
awkwafina
MTA
subway
subway announcements
Jen Carlson
Jen Carlson is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
Read more
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
MORE arts-entertainment
'The Real Housewives of New York City' is back, and so is Carole Radziwill
Nearly a decade after leaving 'Real Housewives of New York City,' Carole Radziwill is back as the grounding force for the second cast reboot for the long-running reality franchise.
By
Eddie Mouradian
Published Sep 8, 2026 at 2:00 p.m. ET
A lost archive of NYC 9/11 street art memorials comes back online
After the attacks, the group Tape Art created 490 silhouettes across the city.
By
Hannah Frishberg
Arts & Entertainment
A lost archive of NYC 9/11 street art memorials comes back online
After the attacks, the group Tape Art created 490 silhouettes across the city.
By
Hannah Frishberg
Some untold 9/11 stories are the strangest ones. They come to light in a new documentary.
By
Stephen Nessen
Women gather at Gloria Steinem’s Upper East Side home to lay flowers, pay respects
By
Catalina Gonella
Here’s what NYC's median rent of $4,200 gets you in each borough
By
David Brand
and
James Ramsay
Never miss a story
Catch up on the most important headlines with a roundup of essential NYC stories, delivered to your inbox daily.
Sign upEmail address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .