To many subway clerks across the city, Michael Ring is a familiar face – but not because he’s a frequent rider.
The Park Slope dad and marathon runner hardly rides the train at all these days. Ring, 46, descends underground to hunt for MetroCards.
Commuters reportedly are expected to leave more than $53 million on expired MetroCards in 2009. Over the past year, Ring boasts he’s picked up more than $900 in MetroCards that were either lost or discarded. The hobby – or compulsion, as some see it – started about a decade ago when MetroCards began replacing tokens.
A 19-time marathon runner, Ring’s latest training routes take him in and out of subway stations. On a good day, he not only gets in his stair training, but also his daily dose of MetroCard hunting.
Before heading out on one such adventure, Ring described his unique strategy for finding cards citywide:
[audio:http://cdn.journalism.cuny.edu/blogs.dir/9/files/2009/12/metrocardsaudioclip1_1-2.mp3]
Combining cards, he said, is the easiest way to make a quick buck from commuters’ MetroCard castoffs. As long as the clerks are cooperative, it’s an easy procedure Ring said:
[audio:http://cdn.journalism.cuny.edu/blogs.dir/9/files/2009/12/metrocardsaudioclip2_1-2.mp3]But the highest value MetroCards aren’t typically found in the subways. The further Ring travels from the city’s subway and bus stops, the better the odds for scoring a high-value find, he notes:
[audio:http://cdn.journalism.cuny.edu/blogs.dir/9/files/2009/12/metrocardsaudioclip3_1-2.mp3]
Supermarkets, movie theaters and tourist attractions are just some of the places Ring has stuck MetroCard gold – once finding a $47 card.
But karma works both ways, said Ring, who doesn’t hesitate to give a MetroCard swipe to a straphanger in need. He will even return the occasional monthly card he finds back to the TA, so the original owner can be refunded.
Ring loves the sport of MetroCard speculating. Still, the hobby isn’t always appropriate, he concedes. Ring resists what has become second nature to him when he has his 9-year-old twins in tow:
[audio:http://cdn.journalism.cuny.edu/blogs.dir/9/files/2009/12/metrocardsaudioclip4_1-2.mp3]
When Ring isn’t scouring the city for lost treasure, the licensed sightseeing guide volunteers at the office of tourism at Brooklyn Borough Hall. He also works part-time training local teachers to use computer software. But until he gets back to working five days a week, Ring says he’ll keep picking up MetroCards.
“Right now I have too many MetroCards,” said Ring, whose current collection is worth close to $300. “But eventually, I’ll start using them up.”
