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Reader Zach Sparer sent us this image from a station pylon inside Farragut North Metro. Something's clearly not right here. Since when is the Woodley Park-Zoo/Adams Morgan Metro station called "Zoological Park"? And what about "Tenley Circle"?
Those are actually the original names of those Metro stations, but Metro currently has no plans to change any of them back, Metro spokesperson Steven Taubenkibel assures DCist. Metro suspects a vandal is at work in this case.
"It looks like somebody or someone may have removed the adhesive or did something with the pylon," Taubenkibel said. "All the other pylons (in the Farragut North station) have the correct, normal names."
Taubenkibel explained that when the station pylons were first installed, the original names of the stations were permanently printed on them. Several names on the Red line, such as Zoological Park, Tenley Circle, and Nicholson Lane, were replaced by their current names, Woodley Park-Zoo/Adams Morgan, Tenleytown-AU, and White Flint, before the stations even opened in the late 1970s. What's happened with this single pylon in the center of the Farragut North station is that someone managed to yank off the overlaying sign, which was applied with a strong adhesive.
Metro has already sent a maintenance crew to fix the sign today.
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Ah screw it - we should just change "Woodley Park-Zoo/Adams Morgan" to "Panda Babies Station."
Meh. I prefer the anagram Metro name myself.
"OK Dog Romp/A Woozy Salamander" has a much more classy ring to it. Or maybe that's just the head trauma.
That map is nothing short of BRILLIANT! I'm printing a copy for my cube. Right now.
Or "Long Uphill Walk to the Damn Panda Park" station.
The other Red Line platform pylons have "Union Sta-Visitor Ctr." under their overlaying signs, which were once easily removed stickers back in the 1990s.
That's why you get off at Cleveland Park, walk downhill to the Zoo, leave the Zoo, and proceed to walk downhill towards Baby Gorilla/Panda/Schlep to Drink in Adams Morgan station.
Quick! Someone send that pony head to Jim Graham before he renames the station "Woodley Park-Zoo/Adams Morgan/OMG!DEADPONIES."
Retro Metro
This was before Metro decided each station name needed to be ridiculously long. Can't we just pick one and go with it? I can see it now in twenty years: Woodley Park-Zoo/Adams Morgan/Starbucks-Duke Ellington Bridge/Denny's Metro station.
Yeah, right. Like a Denny's would ever locate in downtown DC.
I thought the same thing, but there's a Denny's at the corner of East Capitol and Benning Rd.
So WTF are you waiting for? Go get your free Grand Slam Breakfast. Let us know how the rats eyes in the omlettes taste. Mmmmmmm....lawsuit-riffic.
exactly, hillrat. downtown ward 7 ain't downtown DC!
Seriously? Are you that much of a dick?
That is downtown for some people, even if it's not somewhere that you chose to spend your time.
Chill out on the overreaction. Just about any rational person will agree with the statement that E. Capitol and Benning Rd is not "downtown DC", regardless of how many people consider it their personal downtown. You're simply reading too much into the comment.
I'm hoping you're right and that I am reading too much into it and overreacting. And if that is the case I apologize.
However, I frequently find that commenters on here forget that there are sections of DC outside of Northwest and The Hill...
irg: sorry, didn't mean to call your reaction "huffy"
we all OK now?
i hear you, though, regarding people's understanding of the city, and i sure as heck know (and can't stand it) when people forget the two wards east of the river, as well as the other less well publicized parts of town.
We are all ok, well as far as I can tell anyway.
I met a guy in a bar one night who even started talking about the 'wrong' and 'right' sides of NW. Apparently if you leave east of Rock Creek park you live on the "wrong" side...
East of Rock Creek is the "wrong" side of NW? Who IS this f**k? And that includes, what, Dupont? West End? Totally f**king GHE-TTO. Has this clown ever bothered to even look at a MAP?
Really, you need to hang out with a better class of douchebag.
Yeah, that's why I was jumping to conclusions, and I do apologize again. We were talking about apts and he and his girl friend (who is actually really cool) are paying like 2 grand/month for a one bedroom and I informed them that they could do better than that and that's when I got schooled on the right and wrong sides of the park. Plus they live in McLean Gardens, which is nice but, not amazing.
Mclean Gardens? See, this is what happens when you get all your DC real estate advice from the "Washington Flyer" magazine that's in the back of your airplane seat next to the barf bag. You're better off reading the barf bag. At least that's not full of $h!t. Just vomit.
Although, I would totally go all Marion Barry on Christina Hendricks with a goddamned spoon and lobster bib. No lie, G.I.
ugh—i'd go ahead and junkpunch that guy just on principle...
The only way a Dennys would locate on Capitol Hill or Northwest would be if they rebranded themselves as an exclusive upscale eatery serving small plates of lime foam on starched tablecloths and with a pretentious name like "The D."
And you'd still get rats eyes in the lime foam.
thanks, politburo.
irg: no need to get huffy. hillrat and i are cool, i wasn't ragging on him for anything. just pointing out the obvious, i thought. monkey said "denny's would never go in downtown DC", hillrat said, "whaddya know, there's one in ward 7", and i said, "yep, ward 7 isn't downtown"
nothing more, nothing less.
Yup. When I think "downtown DC," Deanwood isn't the first thing that pops into my head. The first thing that pops into my head is, "What the hell happend to my pants?" and "Where the f**k is my narcolepsy medicine?"
Mmm free Grand Slam for all Americans
you see a lot of pylons on the green/yellow line that still say "mt. vernon sq/UDC" as well.
who spilled the beans and ruined our fun? seriously.
Put them back to the original, shorter names. Every other city subway system seems to be able to survive without listing every single frakin' attraction that's outside the station doors, and tourists can find their way just fine without having to have everything listed out (and if they can't, then they're too dumb to be out in public in the first place).
Shorter names, pleeeeeeeease! Although I will miss saying U Street African American Civil War Memorial Cardozo in one breath. And I'm still reeling from hearing it called Ronald Reagan George Washington National Capital Airport!!!
In Metro's defense, they did try to resist the Reagan-ification of DCA.
The GOP wanted to rename it "The Reagan National Reagan at Reagan National Airport Reagan."
Welcome, fellow Republicans. To start with the old business, Brother Hibbard will read a report on our efforts to re-name everything after Ronald Reagan.
Pylons? I blame the Sleestaks.
I think you mean Daleks. Sumbitches look just like pylons.
I was just about to make the same Dalek joke. One of us needs to get a girlfriend.
Oh wait, you're married. Just me then. You know, the uh, TARDIS talk, it uh, doesn't really get a gal's motor running.
You're going to have to study up on your "Land of the Lost" mythology if you want to enjoy the latest Will Ferrel "let's destroy the childhood memories of gen X" movie.
But .. but .. shorter station names hide our secret shame. I can't tell my lady friends to meet me at Rhode Island Ave./Home Depot/Urine Soaked Underpass stop.
To be fair, that station name is pretty ambiguous. If there's an underpass in DC that isn't urine soaked, I've never been in it. And I choke hobos under freeways on a regular basis.
You can still see signs at Union Station that say "Union Station / Visitor Center". And Metro Center was almost just "12th and G". There's a ton about this stuff in "The Great Society Subway"/
There's still a 'Nicholson Lane' on a pylon somewhere out there.
Yes, this very same sign has Nicholson Lane at the bottom, as you can see from my photo. Zach and I were down in Farragut North together and we both took photos, within maybe 2 seconds of each other. Personally I prefer my photo.
I originally uploaded mine to the DCist Flickr pool three days ago, but Zach had to go for glory and contact DCist directly :P
Update: As of 7:30 PM tonight, the sign is fixed. I'm fairly certain that the previous replacement sign (with up-to-date names) was stolen by an inaugural tourist. I would imagine it's on someone's wall now.
Wouldst that I had taken some photos back when I first rode Metro. Of course, that was 1983, and I was only six years old at the time.
Better than Woodley Pork
Last I checked, there's a sign on the upper level of the Pentagon station that still indicates the western terminus of the Blue Line as 'Addison Road'.
I suppose my local stop in Alexandria should be renamed Braddock/Del Ray/Where Jim Morrison, Mama Cass, & Willard Scott went to HS
they missed an opportunity when they named the newest station in the district. couldn't been:
new york avenue/florida avenue/galludet university/eckington/noma/florida avenue market/uline arena/mckinley technical high school/truxton circle
You forgot "Historic Methadone Clinic District."
i knew that name looked kinda short.
Let's put the U back in U Street.
Seems to me there might be a new game in town for red line station vandals.
Could y'all come over to the blue/yellow lines and take care of the "National Airport" signs please?