Change is coming to the subway — one vending machine at a time.
Oversized vending kiosks are beginning to occupy the dim, vacant stretches of New York City subway stations where newsstands once did brisk business, stirring a wave of nostalgia among riders who miss the small but familiar human exchanges that used to come with a daily commute.
The MTA rolled out three large, brightly lit Coca-Cola vending machines underground last week, launching a new effort to address the growing number of empty retail spaces throughout the transit system.
The machines have been placed in long-unused storefronts, including one at the 2nd Avenue F train station. But for commuters such as Emmanuelle Nyanid, the sleek new setup also brought back memories of the vendor who once worked behind the counter there.
“In general, I feel like New York is already dehumanizing in a way,” Nyanid, 18, told The Post, while acknowledging that the new vending machines are “cool.”
“I’ve lived here for ten years — people don’t really wanna talk to you. This is perfect for those New Yorkers.”
Similar vending machine installations are also in place at the 23rd Street R and W station and the 116th Street 6 train station. The MTA said dozens more machines will be added at 23 additional stations across all five boroughs in the coming months, with the rollout continuing into 2027.
The initiative has been years in the making. The transit agency first began looking for vendors in 2023 after concluding that the traditional subway newsstand and grab-and-go retail model no longer drew the same demand it once did.
“The robust number of newsstands of decades past went by the wayside,” David Florio, the MTA Chief of Real Estate Transactions and Operations Officer, explained to The Post, adding that vending machine operators initially approached the MTA.
“And as you know, a vending machine takes less labor than a walk-in retail unit, so we decided to try that model out.”
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The MTA could not say what the vacancy rate currently stands at, but Florio confirmed that tenancy is lower than it had been before the pandemic.
There are about 180 tenanted locations throughout the city, ranging from grab-and-go to full-blown restaurants and art installations — and even new kiosks that are currently being constructed in Times Square and Grand Central.
The vending machines are being put in low-demand retail spaces that have struggled to maintain tenants and have been configured so that they do not protrude and take up precious platform space.
“They’re basically repurposing spaces that otherwise would have remained dark,” said Florio.
Straphangers so far are split on more machines entering the subway system, with the change coming just months after OMNY machines eradicated the classic MetroCard dispensers.
“It makes me sad. Growing up here, I appreciated the culture,” said bartender Nico Jung, 22.
“Newsstands — there’s people behind the stands. It gives them work to go to every day. I enjoy a person-to-person interaction over sticking a coin in a machine … I grabbed a bottle of water this morning, and I bought it from a real person.”
Other commuters questioned whether the machines would soon become targets of criminals or how it would be resolved if a can of soda gets stuck after it was paid for.
Patricio Urruchua, however, marveled at the technological upgrade, telling The Post it proved how the Big Apple was changing with the times.
“It’s actually really practical. I didn’t know you could put this kind of stuff in the metro,” Urruchua, 22, who was visiting from Mexico City, said.
“There’s nothing compared to this. The fact that you have this kind of infrastructure, you planned out the city, it’s impressive.”
