“Awkwafina is Nora From Queens” premieres at 10:30 p.m. on Jan. 22 on Comedy Central. (Photo: Danielle Levitt/Comedy Central)
Jan. 16, 2020 By Allie Griffin
Straphangers who ride the 7 train will be hearing the voice of Awkwafina every time the subway pulls into a station.
The conductor announcements will feature the recorded voice of the Golden Globe-winning actress from today through Wednesday, Jan. 22.
Awkwafina arranged the deal to voice the subway intercom system to promote her upcoming show– “Awkwafina is Nora from Queens” — which premieres on Jan. 22 on Comedy Central.
The actress, whose real name is Nora Lum, will add some humor to the announcements with bits like, “Please remember to use headphones when listening to music — even if your playlist is straight fire.”
It’s a good day to ride the 7 train @awkwafina pic.twitter.com/nDb1JlpAIX
— Jonathan Sperling (@JonSperling) January 16, 2020
She will announce all 22 stops from Flushing – Main Street to 34th Street – Hudson Yards and provide other prompts.
In one audio clip, Awkwafina reminds straphangers to stop “manspreading.”
i never thought the mta would bring me any delight, but @awkwafina was the automated voice of the 7 train this morning, and everyone in the train car was smiling. ☺️ pic.twitter.com/7NnLVRMn3k
— sarah baker (@bakerbk) January 16, 2020
The announcements stem from a deal struck by The MTA with Comedy Central, which is looking to promote the new series.
“What better way to celebrate the premiere of “Awkwafina is Nora From Queens” on Comedy Central, than having Nora herself voice the train that runs through the heart of Queens,” said Josh Line, Executive Vice President, Marketing, Creative and Digital for Comedy Central.
The series is a half-hour scripted comedy created by Awkwafina and inspired by her own life growing up in Forest Hills. Awkwafina stars as Nora Lin, who is raised by her dad and grandmother in Queens.
The celebrity train announcements — piloted by Awkwafina — are something the MTA hopes to continue.
“We are exploring new and different ways to generate much needed revenue, while also surprising and delighting customers,” said Sarah Meyer, Chief Customer Officer at MTA New York City Transit. “Our focus will always be to run the trains safely and on time, and if a well-known voice can bring attention to in-car messaging, we are all for it.”
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23 Comments
So MTA is making money by this promotion, yet they claim they are broke and don’t have enough money in their budget to fix the 7 line (which equals higher fares). Next to all liberals, including Van Bramer, the MTA are the biggest crooks in the city.
Maybe get Sebastian Maniscalco next.
MTA Stop the comedy and work on the tracks!
I ride every day and boy did this get old fast. Is it Jan 23 yet?
One small step to audio commercials over the speaker system during rides.
Who cares. Train service are still shitty.
Just another hideous idea from the incompetent MTA!
So this is what we’re spending time on…typical NYC
If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.
Oh, wait. It is broken.
Ya dum numbnuts, you fixed the wrong thing!!
He’s taking us back to the ’70s level of promotional subway announcements
It’s better than garbled unintelligible messages from overpaid door openers. And they’re getting paid for it. Lighten up lady.
I listen to the announcements because I don’t want to miss important transit information. Otherwise, I try to tune out extraneous noise on the MTA because I have to spend 20-30 hours a week commuting and I need to concentrate (on reading, my own thoughts, etc.). Now, the MTA has decided to sell my attention and pour advertising directly into my ears. I can’t just tune it out. I can’t look away (like I can with posters or other printed material). My consciousness is being commodified – which is appalling and wrong. If I want to listen to something, great. If I don’t, it’s just noise. It’s pollution. And make to mistake – the wealthy are simply NOT subjected to this kind of invasive advertising. Imagine if passengers in black livery cars had no choice but to listen to commercials on their entire journey from JFK to Midtown. Yeah. No. Not going to happen. This kind of thing needs to stop – it should never have been allowed in the first place.
Overated
I’m sure the MTA will use this revenue to improve the system. HaHa!!!
Totally annoying to hear these lame jokes, over and over. Fix the subways. Don’t ever think of doing this again, MTA, unless you want to drive more people away from the subways.
You will never see a dime of it, trust me.
“Manspreading”? How about fatspreading, hipspreading, pursespreading, shoppingspreading, makeupspreading?
She rose to fame singing a song called “My Vag”. This is the person I must listen to lecture me not to “manspread”.
One more reason to hate the nyc subway
Some of the things she’s saying are not appropriate for children’s ears.
Wish they would fix the dam trains and not mess with this stuff. Awkwafinas announcements were funny apart from the blatently sexists man spreading. But what’s next announcements by politicians … Would you want to listen to Jimmy Van Blow Hard when stuck on a broken 7.
It was cute the first trip then got boring after but we’ll take the revenue.
I didn’t see one person smile or laugh on the crowded 7 train I rode this morning. Leave us alone, MTA.