The Spoiler Alert signs warn waiting riders of this potentially unwanted information — allowing them to avert their eyes so they may preserve their spirit of adventure — while still leaving visible the data for travelers who wish to ruin the surprise for themselves.
On February 21, 2009, an advertising firm handed Poster Boy a MoMA jacket and gave him free range of the MoMA branded Atlantic-Pacific subway station in New York. Turns out the firm wasn’t supposed to do that, and MoMA fired them. Whoops.
For their latest mission, Improv Everywhere staged a reenactment of the first Princess Leia / Darth Vader scene from Star Wars on a New York City subway car.
For our latest mission, over 1,000 people rode the subway without underwear or pants in New York City. Our annual No Pants Subway Ride has been a tradition for years, and we decided it was time to up the ante. Riders spread out over four different subway lines to surprise and delight everyday New Yorkers riding the train. Enjoy the video first and then go behind the scenes with our mission report and photos. We have blurred out the private parts of all the riders to keep the documentation safe for work.
On Sunday, January 10th, 2010 over 5,000 people took off their pants on subways in 44 cities around the world. In New York, the 9th Annual No Pants! Subway Ride had over 3,000 participants, spread out over six meeting points and ten subway lines.
Every so often the MTA runs vintage “Nostalgia Trains” in the New York subway for special occasions. Last month the Levy Family organized a old-timey tea party on one of those trains, effectively completing the “turn back the clock” atmosphere.
Toronto artist Posterchild recently took a break from installing art in NYC phone booths to propose to his girlfriend. He popped the the question by appropriating a sign reserved for ad space above a Manhattan subway stop. Posterchild writes:
She thought she was just helping me out with another street art project; I kept this covered until after it was installed and after the unveiling I was expecting some kind of reaction- but it took a little while to convince her that this was a proposal for real, and not just some art project!
A brand new Improv Everywhere mission hit the interwebz today:
For our latest mission, we installed a photography studio on a random subway car. We claimed that the MTA had hired us to take photos of every single person who rides the subway and that we’d be producing a yearbook at the end of the year. Most people were happy to pose for us, and the resulting photos show just how diverse New York subway riders can be.
Urban Prankster covers pranks, hacks, participatory art, and other creative endeavors that take place in public places in cities across the world. It is edited by Charlie Todd.
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