Wednesday, July 29, 2026

Subway snack stop: Vending machines arrive at the 1st Avenue F station

Photos by Stacie Joy 

We've seen a few social media reports in recent days of cashless Coca-Cola vending machines arriving at subway stations... and lo and behold, there's now one in the First Avenue entrance of the Second Avenue F stop...
... so you have your choice of sodas and various snacks (thankfully, no option for Funyuns — no fun for enclosed train cars)...
Two years ago to the day, we read in Crain's about the MTA's desire to have "the vending machines in place of empty retail spaces" to "add a bit more liveliness to the system" ... not to mention revenue.

17 comments:

Anonymous said...

No chicklets?

Anonymous said...

We would have to time travel to the 90's. LOL

Anonymous said...

I see as Another surface for the lawless ones to vandalize

EPA said...

This will get thrashed!

Anonymous said...

I was thinking the same thing that these would get trashed or vandalized quickly. Either because people are hungry and homeless Or just because some people are prone to criminal activity.

Anonymous said...

Would much prefer if they finally put digital countdown "next train" signage above the north entrance at 1st St. & 1st Ave., like they do for most stations by now.

2ndAvenueSilverPanther said...

Great idea - bring food into the subway experience. Not enough rats down there, I guess.

Anonymous said...

Oooh. That's so much better than constructing passageways under the Avenue, leading to entrance stairs on the East side of First ave.
now I can just buy a Coke while I stand in line with all the other commuters waiting to climb out of that single-file width staircase

Anonymous said...

Fun fact, Funyuns contain no actual onions. But I still like them.

Anonymous said...

They were built to be unbreakable. No one is getting into these.

RR said...

No Chowards Violets or Halva either.

Xeo said...

lol guys, the subway is probably getting partnership money with this - all while providing a little something extra for people to buy. This is not comparable to building a new subway entrance.

This is completely fine imo. It won't even be in the way - there's a huge space down there (I assume built to be the 2nd ave subway connection back in the day).

Anonymous said...

Who would buy before going to the platform? No one lingers before the turnstile, normally one is in a rush to catch a train!

It would make more sense to have these inside on the platform — if you’re waiting for a train and are bored or feeling dehydrated/ thirsty you can get something.

EPA said...

This ain't Tokyo. Can't have nice shit in NYC!

Anonymous said...

Funyuns? In this economy?

Anonymous said...

I was hoping they'd bring back the Fruitopia

Anonymous said...

It's actually "C. Howards" but the old-timey font and the way the letters are spaced makes it look like "Chowards".

I made that same mistake years ago. I have about half a stick of chalky Violet tablets in my pocket as I write this!