The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) announced a partnership with New York institution Zabar’s in honor of the New York City subway’s 120th anniversary and Zabar’s 90th anniversary, the legendary gourmet market located on West 80 St. on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. Zabar’s will offer promotional “commuter special” bagel deals beginning Thursday, Oct. 24, through Sunday, Oct. 27, from 8:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. On Tuesday, Oct. 22, New York City Transit (NYCT) workers will distribute hundreds of Zabar’s famed Black and White cookies to lucky subway riders at four subway stations in the Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan, and Queens.
To celebrate 120 years of the subway, a bagel with schmear will cost $1.20. A bagel with schmear and a coffee will cost $2.90, and to commemorate 90 years of Zabar’s, a bagel with cream cheese and lox will cost $9.90. Bagels will be wrapped in bagel and subway-themed paper with drawings of stations, cars, signage, and more.
Messages reminding customers of the Zabar’s deal will run on digital screens throughout subway stations and onboard train cars. The MTA and Zabar’s will also host a social media sweepstakes where there will be a chance to win a special MTAxZabar’s gift basket. A winner will be chosen on Sunday, Oct. 27.
This year, the MTA is marking 120 years of the subway on Sunday, Oct. 27. In addition to the Zabar’s partnership, the New York Transit Museum is offering four nostalgia train rides on Sunday, Oct. 27, and Saturday, Nov. 16. The Museum has also opened a new exhibit, The Subway Is…., which invites visitors to explore the profound impact of the subway on New York City’s development, culture, and identity.
In 1934, husband and wife Louis and Lillian Zabar established Zabar’s as a 22-foot-wide shop along Broadway and West 80th St. with a mission to serve the highest quality coffee and smoked fish. Four generations and 90 years later, the family business remains as a New York institution serving its carefully curated selection of world-class food, from smoked fish and fresh-baked bagels to pastries, freshly roasted coffee, cheese, and more gourmet and specialty items.
New York’s first underground rapid transit network, known as the Interborough Rapid Transit (IRT) subway, opened on Oct. 27, 1904, with 28 stations along a 9.1-mile line. The IRT expanded to the Bronx, Brooklyn, and Queens and was eventually joined by two competing companies, the Brooklyn-Manhattan Transit Corporation (BMT) and the city-owned Independent Subway (IND).
In 1940, these companies were unified, and today they comprise the current New York City subway system which is made up of 25 routes, 472 stations, 800 track miles, and a fleet of over 6,000 passenger cars. Laid end to end, NYC Transit train tracks would stretch from New York City to Chicago.
-via Press Release
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