I've been noticing during my new commute that train operators often announce my stop as "47th-50th, Rockefeller Center, Top of the Rock". This is the observation deck on the 70-story GE building, open to the public since November of 2005. A visit requires a reservation and costs about $17. The web site, once you skip the intro, asks you to choose your favorite color, time of day, and style of music, and then presents you with a choice to "Enter", "Skip", or "Buy" (it also, just for a moment when you first load it, has a title of "WEBSITE TITLE HERE"). The attraction has been heavily promoted since it opened. Given these facts, I think it's pretty obvious that Top of the Rock is paying the MTA to announce the stop like this. It's evidently been going on for a while: Gothamist commented on it in October 2006, and the Subway Blogger in March 2007. A man named Will Hines wrote about it just a few days ago. Apparently the MTA denies payment for it, but it's hard to believe the volume of people getting off at that stop to visit the deck justifies the announcement, especially when Rockefeller Center is already being announced.

No one who remarks on this can help thinking: what's next? How crazy could subway announcements get? "42nd Street, Times Square, M&M World." It may sound heinous and far-fetched, but you can always look at it this way: M&M World, or fare hike?