Home Asides For $650, bring a subway bench home

For $650, bring a subway bench home

by Benjamin Kabak

Now that the MTA has made public its plans to replace its wooden station benches with metal ones, the authority must also figure out how best to dispose of the old wooden ones. As these benches will be considered surplus materials, they will, reports The Daily News, be available for sale for $650 each. “Get set to enjoy the ambiance of the New York City transit system,” Mike Zacchea, Transit’s assistant chief operations officer, said.

According to Zacchea, the MTA has pursued this path with its benches in the past. A few years ago, when the authority replaced some of the more weather-beaten wooden seats, they sold them for around $600 each, and this time around, these will be priced at $650, bed bugs not included. “They’re sort of iconic,” Zacchea said. “They’ve been around a long time. They’re massive. I can see them sitting in a back yard being weathered for a couple more years and serving as a conversation piece.”

If any of you plan to buy one, please take a photo of this “iconic” bench at its new home. I’d love to see how an interior decorator approaches this one.

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9 comments

Todd February 17, 2012 - 12:15 pm

There isn’t enough Murphy’s Oil Soap on the planet.

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SEAN February 17, 2012 - 12:47 pm

That’s funny.

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John-2 February 17, 2012 - 12:43 pm

If you had a really big, leaky bathroom with white tiles, this might make a fitting complimentary conversation piece. Especially if you can get a bench from a station on the Flushing line.

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Ramiro February 17, 2012 - 1:27 pm

Yes, I can imagine the conversation right now over that bench “So Bob how many giant rats do you think trampled over that bench in its lifetime”?

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David February 17, 2012 - 1:36 pm

It’s a shame to lose the wood benches (quiet the howls down!) since “iconic” does have meaning. Given their utter lack of proper care, it’s amazing how well they’ve held up over the decades.
There are not enough benches as it is. Why not add those metal ones and refurbish the wood benches? I’ve seen a few that were redone and they are beautiful.
New Yorkers love to tear things down and build new with only profit the driver. It pays the bills.

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Scott E February 17, 2012 - 1:45 pm

Will they deliver, or will purchasers need to haul them home on the subway?

I also wonder, out of curiosity, how much MTA/NYCT initially paid for the benches.

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Al D February 17, 2012 - 3:30 pm

You can do much better at IKEA Brooklyn.

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UESider February 18, 2012 - 10:13 am

this is a mystery to me – of all the things that need fixing underground, I have never once thought, ‘Ugh, these awful wooden benches.’ what is the justification for this expense and how did it get prioritized over, #362: remove trash, change light bulbs?

besides, metal benches are going to be a chilly seat to sit on

what is the mta going to spend on this senseless project?

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Linkage: Walking the BQE; Knicks Blackout Ends; Schwimmer’s Place – insiderater.com February 18, 2012 - 9:09 pm

[…] · Filming “The Corrections” on Amsterdam & 75th St. [MyUpperWest] · $650 and a strong back will get you a NYC subway bench in your apartment [SAS] input, textarea{} #authorarea{ padding-left: 8px; margin:10px 0; width: 635px; } […]

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