A long-shuttered newsstand in the bowels of the West Fourth Street subway station has found new life as a shrine to New York City transit, offering free magazines, subway memorabilia and a venue for pop-ups and events hosted by local artists.
The project is being spearheaded by comedian and writer Al Mullen and multidisciplinary artist Ruth Lichtman, a husband-and-wife duo who hope to use the stand to connect everyday New Yorkers with the city’s artists and performers.
“I wanted to reach people that were just average people instead of the algorithm feeding it to the same sort of small group or performing at alt comedy shows to the same types of audience,” Mullen told the Star-Revue. “ I wanted to meet regular New Yorkers like me, and the best way to do that is that everyone in the city rides the subway. Whether you’re rich or poor, whatever you are, you ride the subway.”
Mullen never expected his pitch to revive the newsstand to become a reality when he approached MTA officials earlier this year. Instead, he found them surprisingly receptive.
“I thought I was going to get laughed out of the room,” Mullen said. “I had this call with the head of the real estate department, you know, a very serious man in a nice suit, and I was like a clown in my ridiculous apartment on Zoom, and I just thought I would get rejected. But he actually was laughing and was really excited by it.”
The pair partnered with the nonprofit Art on the Ave NYC and the David Prize, a local philanthropic organization, to bring the project to life. Cartoonist Edward Steed was commissioned to design a mural for the exterior featuring characters in his distinctive minimalist black-and-white style at various stages of their commutes.
At the stand’s grand opening, commuters stopped to peruse free magazines, subway station guides and subway conductor trading cards. Vee, a retired conductor for the G, Q and N trains whom Mullen met through a mutual friend after the two served on a jury together, was featured on the first card in the series. When she arrived at the opening, the crowd showered her with applause as she posed alongside her portrait, drawn by Lily Crandall.
“It’s a way to sort of aggrandize the people who actually do the sort of things that actually impact your lives,” Mullen said. “Instead of a LeBron James card, this is for someone who actually helps my life and doesn’t go to Philly ring chasing.”
Passersby could also have their photos taken while holding a subway pole to determine their “train aura,” a colorful halo corresponding to one of the city’s subway lines. A select few also walked away with lucky rat foot keychains made by Lichtman.
The stand is expected to be open at least once a week for the next year on the downtown B/D/F/M platform. Its first pop-up event, featuring artwork parodying tech advertisements, was on Saturday, August 8.
