Winners for the Straphangers/Tri-State Campaign contest on how best to celebrate the subway centennial were chosen last week. Reviewers attempted to mix ambition with simplicity and practical steps with memorabilia and educational activity. These are the selections:

Celebrate by making your station shine! Anyone participating in ‘make the station shine’ would get unlimited ride 7-day MetroCards.

Open City Hall station as a museum. "Open up the station as a new art museum, with commissioned works from New York artists."

Issue a commemorative postage stamp.

Place anniversary logos on cars or sell naming rights. Let the public submit historical figures, events and places to be put on subway cars.  Examples: ‘The Spirit of Jackie Robinson’ or ‘The Wonder Wheel.’

Break Ground on the Second Avenue subway! "The best celebration would be to start work on a new line."

Issue a coffee table book of subway maps and how they've changed over the years

Issue special edition ‘Subway M&M’s’ corresponding to the correct subway color and line number or letter.

Install plaques giving each station’s history. The plaques should be permanent at the oldest stations, but perhaps just a temporary sign elsewhere during the birthday celebration.  ‘Younger’ stations might earn permanent plaques as they turn 100."  

Have transit employees wear buttons saying, ‘The New York City Subway is 100 and I'm proud of it!’

Create an educational program in schools emphasizing the importance of the subway system.

Persistent sub-themes among the entries included a strong desire for free transit service during the celebration and the notion of shutting the system down for a thorough cleaning. A minority current held that transit conditions, service and high prices are so bad that "no celebration is warranted."

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