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After three decades of swipes, sighs and “please swipe again,” the MetroCard is officially heading for retirement—and Alidoro wants you to eat your feelings about it. The beloved Italian sandwich shop has teamed up with chef Wylie Dufresne’s Stretch Pizza to give New Yorkers one last delicious swipe: La Tessera (“the card”), a limited-time hero stuffed with crispy chicken cutlet, sweet soppressata, fresh mozzarella, Calabrian chili vodka sauce and garlic pesto cream on toasted semolina.
The culinary creation is part of the MTA’s citywide farewell tour for the MetroCard, an activation running through December 31 that involves the release of edible tributes all around town, from Zabar’s to Carvel.
Dufresne’s own spin—the Metro Pizza, made with the same ingredients as Alidoro's La Tessera—is part of the program. The dish will be available whole or by the slice starting November 3, just in time for National Sandwich Day. “We’re paying homage to the old and the new,” said Alidoro owner Jon Streep in an official statement.
And if a chicken cutlet carb-fest doesn’t hit the nostalgia button, maybe dessert will. Carvel is selling $2 MetroCard Flying Saucers dusted with blue-and-yellow sprinkles (plus free sprinkles if you mention the MetroCard), while Golden Krust is handing out free Jamaican coco bread with any patty purchase between November 10 and 14. At Gong Cha, you can sip The M Tea A Drink, a limited-edition boba concoction layered with green tea, pearls and butterfly-pea milk foam tinted to match the MetroCard’s colors.
“We’re sending the MetroCard off in style with a farewell campaign that is worthy of an icon,” said MTA chair and CEO Janno Lieber. Beyond the bites, keep an eye out for giant MetroCard photo ops popping up in subway stations, plus new merch from Only NY and the New York Transit Museum later this year.
MetroCard sales officially end on December 31, though you’ll still be able to use yours into 2026. So before you tap-and-go for good, maybe take one last swipe—and grab a sandwich while you’re at it.