Date: Wed, 09 Apr 2003 09:56:48 -0400
From: "Michael Walsh" <MJW at mail.press.jhu.edu>
To: <wsfalist at keithlynch.net>
Subject: [WSFA] The End of An Era in NYC
Reply-To: WSFA members <WSFAlist at keithlynch.net>

>From the NY Times, 8 April:

"In five days, when the last New York City subway token slides through the =
slot of the last booth to sell them, few people will notice and fewer will =
care. There will be no official ceremony to mark the passing. If there is =
music in the background, it will not be taps; it will be the bleating song =
that turnstiles using to valid MetroCards.

But off in a corner, hidden in the shadows where things begin to smell =
bad, at least a few observers will notice and care quite a lot. They =
belong to a sad and desperate breed of criminal that has been in decline =
for a long time, one that will soon become as irrelevant as bootleggers =
and horse thieves.

Officially, the crime is classified as theft of Transit Authority =
property. But among transit police officers it is more accurately and less =
delicately known as token sucking. Unfortunately for everyone involved, it =
is exactly what it sounds like. "

To read the story without signing up at news.=
google.com, search for: subway tokens and have the search sorted by date.