These automated vending machines are moving into NYC’s subway newsstands

For most New York City subway riders, especially in the years since the COVID-19 pandemic, underground newsstands are often nothing more than a relic of history turned into prime real estate for graffiti and branded stickers. Once a staple of the commuter experience, the underground retail stops began phasing out with the decline of print media. The nail in the coffin was slowing subway ridership during the pandemic. Only around 52 of the subway’s 195 retail storefronts (which include newsstands) were open in 2024. It’s still valuable real estate, though. Slowly, these nooks and kiosks across the city’s underground system have started opening their gates to passersby once more, some as gathering spots for musicians and others as a canvas for art—all helping reinvent one of NYC’s most recognizable urban infrastructures into something more useful or delightful for people in the city today. But riders still need the occasional water bottle on a hot summer day, or a pack of gum before a date, creating an opening for the subway’s latest additions: vending machines. A candy and snack vendor on the 7th Avenue subway platform, 2025. [Photo: Lindsey Nicholson/UCG/Universal Images Group/Get…