Our friend Reema showed these great commercials in last night's NYC subway class. They were produced by the MTA itself in 1989, with the intent of getting New Yorkers back on the trains and "heralding the revitalization of the system." The resulting commercials are a strange, not-super-positive but charming and incredibly honest look at the subway system. 

You should spend 3 minutes watching them, below, or over on the MTA's Youtube page. Some highlights are below, and huge thanks to Reema for finding these!

A couple of my favorite moments:

Each commercial features some fun things, like gratuitous welding shots, to really hit home just how hard they're working. 

They also feature customers saying mildy positive things about the subway. One of my favorites is this lady, who offers the most tepid praise imaginable: "They're working on it; they're doing the best they can."

Then there are these amazing old ladies in Woodside who enjoy the new escalator downstairs and offer wise words for us all: "You have to be patient."

There's also a heavy emphasis on an increased police presence. This guy offers somewhat comforting advice: "Only 3% of the crime in the city is committed on the subway, but it's 100% too much."

Lastly, each commercial ends with the incredibly creepy phrase, "We're coming back so you come back," which only makes me feel like the MTA is going to kidnap me.