
Leaving New York and want to take a piece of this great City with you? Or are you looking for a second home? Here’s the ultimate souvenir. The New York City Department of Citywide Administrative Services (DCAS) today listed Redbird subway car #9075 – the last of its kind – for public auction.
Update ~ The Redbird sold at auction for $235,700.00, 35-times the starting bid of $6,500.00, to an undisclosed lucky buyer.
The iconic, scarlet red subway car formerly transported visitors to and from the 1964 World’s Fair in Flushing Meadows Corona Park and was retired from service in 2003. Opening price for this remarkable piece of New York City history is $6,500.

“If you want a full scope of all of the items and goods our agency helps manage then look no further than our public surplus auctions. You may end up with a ferry boat, a train car, or some deeply discounted office supplies,” said NYC DCAS Commissioner Dawn M. Pinnock. “It’s a true reflection of the breadth of our reach and the role we play in every facet of making government work citywide. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity to own a piece of history that is so intrinsic to the City’s identity. That blazing red subway car is as memorable and iconic as yellow taxi cabs, and now it could be yours. Take a look at our surplus offerings and claim something new today.”

The 50-foot, 40-ton subway car is among the last train cars to feature the tear-drop shaped metal hand grips, that inspired the term straphanger for subways riders. In the early 2000s the Redbirds were phased out and replaced with stainless steel cars throughout the transit system. Redbird cars were built between 1959 and 1963 and upon their retirement many were repurposed to form a reef barrier in the Atlantic Ocean. Redbird subway car #9075 avoided an aquatic fate and has been residing at Queens Borough Hall.

- Recruiting, hiring, and training City employees
- Managing 55 public buildings
- Acquiring, selling, and leasing City property
- Purchasing over $1 billion in goods and services for City agencies
- Overseeing the greenest municipal vehicle fleet in the country
- Leading the City’s efforts to reduce carbon emissions from government operations

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