The Crowning of Miss G-Train

Historically, the G train has a pretty rotten reputation. It scores very low on rider satisfaction surveys year after year, and is often referred to as, the “ghost train.” At the same time, the communities the G-train traverses are notoriously bohemian and artistic ones, who love the G-train—a true Brooklynite—for all its faults, and the City Reliquary has designed a contest in its honor. The first-ever Miss G Train contest, a beauty pageant for G-train riders (men and women) aims to celebrate the controversial subway line while promoting the community museum’s ongoing photography exhibit “Miss Subways, Past and Present.”
“The G train really stands out as the underdog of the subway system,” said Dave Herman, the president of the City Reliquary. “It doesn’t have the appeal of the 7 train that goes through Queens. The service is erratic and the trains are half as long than the other trains. It is really under-appreciated.”
The G-train, which connects the working-class neighborhoods in Queens to Central Brooklyn, is now widely considered to be one of the most neglected subway lines in all of the NYC transit system, especially after years of budget cuts and construction work. Today, G-train service has been reduced to Court Square in Long Island City and is scheduled to come less often than the average subways, according to the NYPIRG Straphangers Campaign State of the Subway report. The G is also more likely than average to break down, is by far the system’s dirtiest line, and performs below average on in-car announcements.

That said, the brave four-car train that zigzags through projects, hipster and working class neighborhoods, and Italian, Polish, African-American, Asian and Hispanic communities has become a major source of inspiration (and even outright adoration) for some. Community groups, such as Save the G train, have appeared out of love for the little engine. Art projects like the G-train Salon, a conversation-based exhibition series with artists from Brooklyn and Queens, or the Glorious G train series, a blog celebrating the line, use the neglected train as a catalyst for creation.

“The G train is the ultimate bad guy!” points out Maria, a loyal G-train rider and discrete mastermind behind the Glorious G train series. “Everybody is blaming the G. It’s a ‘cannot avoid – so we have to accept it as is’ situation. It’s the excluded good friend that crosses Brooklyn and Queens. And we should be proud of it.” She adds: “There is an anarchy element in the whole G train attitude: ‘I come wherever I want and I say no word to nobody’. Artists and designers love the rebel.”

After a slow start, applications to the City Reliquary’s November 19th Miss G Train pageant have started pouring in, thanks to widespread media attention. Applicants are required to submit a photo and a 200-word essay explaining why they should be Miss G Train. Competitors will be judged on their outfits meant to evoke what the G train means to them as they walk down the museum’s runway.

“Miss G train will have to show that she has a unique interpretation of the importance of the G train and that she has an extraordinary passion for riding it,” Herman explains. “She can show love or hate. As long as the relationship is passionate…”
The pageant is being held to promote the museum’s ongoing exhibit on “Miss Subways, Past and Present,” a collection of beauty pageant images that adorned subway cars from the 1940s until 1976 as a way to celebrate the transit system.
“The Miss Subways was the first integrated beauty pageant in America. It featured number of White, African-American, Asian and Hispanic women from working class New York who wanted to become local celebrities in a town where millions of people live,” claims photographer Fiona Gardner who tracked down the former “Miss Subways” and compared them to their pageant photos for the exhibit. “In the spirit of the Miss Subways contest, I think that Miss G train should be somebody that represents the New Yorkers of today.”
The Crowning of Miss G: November 19th 7-10 PM at the City Reliquary Museum. 370 Metropolitan Ave Brooklyn, NY 11211 – 718-782-4842