Have You Ever Seen Those Colored Globes On The Subway? Here’s What They Actually Were For
New York, New York. Chances are if you’ve ever taken the subway in New York, you’ve noticed those colored globes sitting on the top of the entrances and exits.
Have you ever spotted them and thought about why there are there? They really did have a purpose at one point in time, and here’s what they actually were placed there for!
John Friia is the person being the @hereinnyc on TikTok, and John is a wealth of knowledge and interesting facts when it comes down to the Big Apple.
One of John’s videos focused on the purpose behind those subway globes.
“Have you ever noticed these lights when you get onto the subway and did you know these are not just for aesthetics? It actually served a purpose,” John pointed out in his TikTok video.
John went on to share that the globes appeared at first back in the 80s, and during that time, tokens were the way you paid to use the subway.
TikTok; pictured above is one of the globes
The subway globes were first installed in the 1980s when tokens were still being used, and the globes originally came in 3 distinct colors; red, yellow, and green.
The red globe indicated that you could only exit from that staircase leading up from the subway to the street. It also meant that there was not a booth to accept tokens down there.
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The green globe was a sign that you could enter the subway 24 hours a day, and there also was a booth to accept tokens.
The final color, yellow, meant that you couldn’t enter that part of the subway 24 hours a day; it was only available to access part-time, and it did come with a booth for tokens.
If you have ever taken note of the fact that some of the subway globes dotting the city are shaped like half-moons, John said that was simply because the city tried out that new design in order to make the globes give off more light.
John agreed that it seemed like a straightforward idea, color coordinating the globes, but everything got confusing after the MetroCard replaced tokens.
“Some of the exit-only spots were converted to a regular entrance with a MetroCard machine,” John concluded.
“The yellow ones were phased out, and today in general the green means it’s a subway entrance and red is still an exit only with some exceptions.”
@hereinnyc Did you know what these meant? #nychistory #nycsubway #subway #nycsubway
? Mud Flow “the Sense of me” ( Soundtrack Life is Strange) – DOLKINS
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