Subway tokens - Bernie has been gone from NYC too long.

[MineralMan]

I remember subway tokens from frequent visits to NYC over the years. I still have a couple that were left over. They were used right up to May of 2003, but were replaced by the Metrocard forever that year. I liked subway tokens. I liked using them when I was in the city. They were part of the experience, really.

I've ridden the full length of every subway line over the years. Some of them, I rode just to be able to say I did. The subway let me explore NYC thoroughly. I'd get on the train and get off at some random stop and walk up to see what was there. I'd wander around a bit, then go back down and get back on the train again.

I used to carry a subway map with me on trips to NYC, so I'd know where I was and where I was going. About the time the Metrocard became the only way to ride, I no longer needed that map. I started buying a one-week card on every visit, even if I was only going to be there a couple of days. On my last ride of that trip, I'd hand the card to someone on whatever train I was on, so someone would be able to use it up. When I'd do that, I'd always get a surprised look, a smile and a thank you.

Anyhow, Bernie hasn't lived in NYC for quite a long time. When he mentioned subway tokens in an interview, he revealed that he was not longer a New Yorker for sure. He was born there. He grew up there, but he's not a New Yorker any longer. He still has the accent, but doesn't know that the subway token has been gone for almost 13 years, now. Now, he's a Vermonter who is running for the Democratic Nomination in New York. If he's going to ride the train, though, he's going to have to get a Metrocard.

http://www.gothamgazette.com/index.php/transportation/1799-nyc-subway-token-1953-2003

[GreatGazoo]

1. Token-gate ?

MetroCard = token. So what.

If this is all Hillary has then she is in worse trouble than we thought.

Bring on Trump!

[MineralMan]

5. Hillary didn't say it. I did.

I don't speak for Hillary Clinton. I just found it interesting, but don't care whether Bernie is a New Yorker or not. New Yorkers, though, know that there are no more subway tokens. Some mourn the passage of that icon of the city. Most just shrug and use their Metrocard. It doesn't matter that Bernie didn't know that the token was gone, really. It's just an interesting artifact of the primary season.

There's no -gate involved. It's just an interesting detail.

[GreatGazoo]

13. I miss tokens. We used to use them like any other money like to split a dinner bill or play poker or

tip a bartender.

I was in NYC last month and my Metrocard had expired. Now you pay $1 deposit on the plastic card itself and the ride is $2.74 or something odd like that.

I still think the token thing is insignificant but yes, a VERY interesting primary season to be sure.

[MineralMan]

16. Of course it's insignificant. Just interesting.

Nobody cares. It's just an interesting thing to think about.

There's an active market for old NYC tokens on eBay. Cool. Maybe I'll hunt down my leftover ones and sell them.

[GreatGazoo]

21. they are going for less than the present cost of a subway fare

kind of a neat collection here:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/COMPLETE-SET-OF-6-NYC-SUBWAY-TOKENS-/301914242738?hash=item464b7dbeb2:g:yZcAAOxy7nNTWVBQ

I like the Y-cuts, probably have a bulleye or two somewhere.

[CoffeeCat]

33. LOL!! Token-gate!

Quick! Someone call a special prosecutor!

You know what? I didn't even know that the NY subway system EVER used tokens. I'm not familiar with the NY subway system. Obviously, Bernie Sanders is. He may not be up-to-speed, because he's been working hard in DC for many years--but his roots are definitely in Brooklyn and in the state of New York.

It's where he was born and raised. No one can ever take away your hometown.

"Brooklyn" is part of who Bernie is, and I love that about him. He still has the accent!

[ibegurpard]

2. you're really going to double down on this lame shit?

[Nanjeanne]

3. I laughed when he said that. And laughed harder when he said he'd jump the turnstiles. Love him.

[MineralMan]

7. So did I. And I pictured a young Bernie Sanders

jumping the turnstiles. I'm betting he did jump them, too, back in the day.

[NWCorona]

4. If this is all team Hillary has then it's over

[Bonobo]

6. MM, if you think he's not a NY'er anymore, you really don't understand what it means to be a NY'er.

Stick to Minnesota. Ufta.

[MineralMan]

8. I'm not really a Minnesotan. I'm a transplant here from

California. I'm not a New Yorker, either. I lived in New York for almost a year. Syracuse, actually. I've been in NYC dozens of times during my life. I love the place, but I'm not a New Yorker.

[Bonobo]

22. Being a NY'er is a little like being a Jew.

I'm both.

No matter where I go, people can identify me.

[Madam Mossfern]

23. If you're born and grow up in NY

you're forever a New Yorker. As I often tell people who are amazed at my attitude in these genteel burbs - "You can take the girl out of Brooklyn, but you can't take the Brooklyn out of the girl."

[Bonobo]

29. You got that right. nt

[TheBlackAdder]

9. Just like Obama's "57 States" attacks, arguing "Buy a MetroCard, Load it & Swipe it" instead.

.


I take the Path & have a MetroCard.

I still refer in conversational language to them as tokens.




This is a really weak and feeble line of attack.

People know what is being expressed, but it's like the Obama 57 States argument the GOP use -- No different!



.

[whatchamacallit]

10. What a fucking joke

So it's not being born in, growing up in, or being culturally shaped by the city that makes you a New Yorker, it's knowing they stopped using subway tokens 13 years ago.

[MineralMan]

12. Yes, I can see that you're laughing at it.

[whatchamacallit]

18. Speaking of being out of touch

Maybe you should brush up on common colloquialisms

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=a%20huge%20fucking%20joke

[jberryhill]

11. ...and Joe Biden doesn't know Wilmington, Delaware either

Can you provide the link to your post criticizing Joe Biden's reference to a long-non-existent restaurant on Union Street in Wilmington, or did that just not excite you the same way?

At the time, Katie's Restaurant had been closed for 15 years.

http://www.delawareonline.com/story/news/local/2014/10/12/katies-subject-biden-gaffe-razed/17172745/

News Journal feature writer Ryan Cormier blogged the next day that the Katie's mention caught him and food writer Patricia Talorico off guard. He said she checked "and realized Biden was referring to the long-closed Katie's Italian restaurant," two blocks from Union at Sixth and Scott streets.

And he LIVES in Wilmington.

So, where was your post?

[MineralMan]

14. Never heard of that quote, nor have I ever been

in Wilmington, DE. I've driven through Delaware, but do not believe I've ever set foot in the state. So, why would I have commented on that?

[Bluenorthwest]

26. Have you heard this quote?

"It may be hard for your viewers to remember how difficult it was for people to talk about HIV/AIDS back in the 1980s and because of both president and Mrs. Reagan — in particular Mrs. Reagan — we started a national conversation, when before nobody would talk about it, nobody wanted to do anything about it, and that too is something I really appreciate with her very effective low-key advocacy. It penetrated the public conscience and people began to say, hey, we have to do something about this too." Hillary Clinton. March 2016. All lies, all the time.

Her DU supporters defended that then excused it. But subway tokens get numerous OP's.

[djean111]

30. Because, even though you are not a New Yorker, you are professing to speak for

New Yorkers.

I think the token thing would just be endearing. I grew up in Philly, have not been there for 20 years, but when I talk to friends from there, or visit - I am immediately tagged as a girl from South Philly, and embraced. When I talk about the Chester Ferry, they just say oh, wow, I remember that! Not - how can you call yourself a Philly girl and not know that is no longer there!

So I think your enthusiastic advice/criticism/whatever is a bit misplaced, especially if you are not a New Yorker.

[jberryhill]

39. And your last ride on the NYC subway was when?

[MineralMan]

40. 2004. I haven't traveled much recently.

I no longer work in the field that took me to NY on a regular basis.

[WhaTHellsgoingonhere]

15. Hillary vs the coffee maker

[Bluenorthwest]

17. Good lord it is sad to see this. Your candidate claimed Reagan was the great leader on AIDS while

LGBT did nothing. Of course the fact is that the AIDS activism that spread over the entire world was born in New York City and carried out by New Yorkers, not by the Reagans. How Hillary or anyone else could believe that Reagan was a hero and not a villain of that time is beyond comprehension. So out of touch with very important facts, ignorant of the history of her own lifetime, of the country and of the City of New York.
What your side sees as important is pitiful. What your side dismisses as unimportant, that's terrifying.

[Avalux]

19. IT WAS A JOKE. n/t

[baldguy]

20. Man of the people...

Like Poppy Bush being surprised at the "new technology" of scanners at a store check-out - after they'd been a common sight to Americans for more than a decade.

[riderinthestorm]

24. I still call CDs "albums" and I watch "video " even though its a DVD

And FWIW, I still call my Chicago metro pass "my token".

I think this is a really silly line of attack.

[TheBlackAdder]

36. Everyone knows what he meant, it's a stupid variant of the RW "Obama Said 57 States" attack!

[Bluenorthwest]

25. Camp Clinton cares about tokens, not about truth:

[leftynyc]

34. Does the writer of the OP

work for SOS Clinton? I wasn't aware of that. Or does every thing you want to piss and moan about automatically come from the "Clinton campaign"?

[merrily]

27. Please, Louise. Hillary probably never used a NY subway token OR card once in her entire life.

What does this prove?

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

28. Some people say he leaves the toilet seat up, too.

Could this possibly get more petty?

[gordyfl]

31. I Remember Taking the Subway

They had turnstiles that were designed for one person at a time. We'd buy one token and squeeze two people into the turnstile.

[Nedsdag]

32. And this is news because.......

[SMC22307]

35. "not [ sic ] longer a New Yorker for sure."

He was born in Brooklyn and lived in the city for over twenty years... he's a New Yorker to his core. And I imagine if he were plopped down many places around the world, people would get that, just from his speech and mannerisms. Just like you can tell Pittsburghers, Baltimoreans, Bostonians, Wisconsinites, Michiganders, etc. Or at least I can.

You don't *lose* being a New Yorker. But do go with this nonsense, Camp Weathervane, if you think it's going to decide the upcoming primary. Seriously, RUN with it.

[AgingAmerican]

37. The ridiculously thin world of Hillary support

[longship]

38. The subway claim is a damned silly argument.

What does a candidate stand to gain with this argument? I suspect nothing substantial.

Certainly there is no substance to it.

For Christ sakes, the last time I was in NYC, the Staten Island Ferry was $0.25 both ways (one only paid to get off Manhattan Island).

Does that make me a bad candidate?

This is a silly, meaningless argument.

[marmar]

41. Well maybe he can carpetbag and run for California senator after leaving the White House.

[Vinca]

42. Is not being in NYC for a long time some kind of crime?

[MineralMan]

43. Not as far as I'm aware, it's not.

Did I say that it was? I just thought it was interesting. Insignificant, but interesting.

[TheSarcastinator]

46. but apparently not "insignificant" enough

I mean, if you really thought it was "insignificant", why bother to post it at all?

Wait, wait, I know!!!

[TheSarcastinator]

44. keep flogging that horse, you brilliant political strategists!

Ah, good stuff. Thanks for the laugh.

[MineralMan]

45. I thought it was funny, too.

That's why I posted. Glad I made you laugh.

[TheSarcastinator]

47. riiiiight

That's why you posted it.

[HumanityExperiment]

48. wow.. an OP concerning NY ties...

How about these ties?

http://www.motherjones.com/environment/2014/09/hillary-clinton-fracking-shale-state-department-chevron

https://theintercept.com/2016/03/09/hillary-clinton-wants-to-regulate-fracking-but-still-accepts-a-lot-of-fracking-money/

HRC is in the pocket of fossil fuel special interests

with NY in the cross hairs... HRC will have a tough time...

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/18/nyregion/cuomo-to-ban-fracking-in-new-york-state-citing-health-risks.html

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/05/us/politics/hillary-clinton-bernie-sanders-climate-change.html?_r=0

You hammer HRC on this and she's toast

or are these 'tokens' not in play?

[MineralMan]

49. Well, I'm betting that Hillary has never even

been in a NYC subway train. That would be my guess. I'm sure Bernie has, though.

You can start OPs on your links anytime you like.

[amborin]

50. Bull shit! Give it a rest!

I grew up in NY and took the subway all the time; return several times a year, every year, and always think "TOKENS"

they are ICONIC!

these attacks are so fricking pathetic

[cherokeeprogressive]

51. Once a New Yorker; ALWAYS a New Yorker. Especially after living there from birth to adulthood.

Give it a rest. This dog won't hunt.

[salinsky]

52. Bernie supporters sure are a defensive bunch ...

... Sanders says something that, to my ears at least, was cute and endearing, but when it's pointed out, they go into full blown attack dog mode.

I will agree with the "once a New Yorker, always a New Yorker" sentiment.

I have met lots of transplanted New Yorkers in Tampa, and they never lose that particular brand of assholishness.

[MineralMan]

53. I chuckled at it, too. I guess people are taking

my post more seriously than I did.

I had a picture in my head of a young Bernie Sanders jumping a subway turnstile when I wrote it. I'd bet good money that he did just that more than once. Probably every kid in Brooklyn did. Maybe every kid in the entire city jumped the turnstiles.

Token Schmoken, I say!