Oh, what could have been.<\/p>\n
A shy and tech-savvy anteater was just a subway stop away from being the face of the MTA and its brand-new MetroCard in the \u201990s, but was put to death before he was ever truly born.<\/p>\n
The adorably-named and incredibly \u201990s-esque Cardvaark has been resurrected at the New York Transit Museum as part of its FAREwell MetroCard exhibit \u2014 30 years after he was imagined as a way to teach New Yorkers how to swipe at the turnstile.<\/p>\n
Cardvaark was a proposed mascot for the MTA to teach riders how to use the MetroCard. Paul Martinka<\/p>\n
\u201cCardvaark could have been the mascot for MetroCard when it was introduced, but sadly, he\u2019s not,\u201d Jodi Shapiro, a curator at the NYTM, told The Post. <\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s very cute. He has sort of a knowing look: \u2018I know you\u2019re gonna use the MetroCard.’\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n Although he was left behind by the MTA three decades ago, Cardvaark is prominently displayed at the FAREwell MetroCard exhibit \u2014 giving him the adoration he missed out on when an MTA executive dashed his hopes of leading New York into a new technological age.<\/p>\n The orange anteater was proposed by a marketing team back in 1993, the year before the MetroCard was launched as a replacement for the much-bulkier token.<\/p>\n That\u2019s also three years before Arthur, the children\u2019s TV cartoon, claimed the title of most famous anteater of the decade. <\/p>\n Cardvarrk, dressed in an outfit to match the then-mostly blue cards, wore a swiper on his arm to presumably show straphangers how to use the MetroCard before catching a ride.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was new technology for New Yorkers. [The MTA] tried to figure out the most extensive plan to reach as many people as possible, so one of the ideas that was floated by a marketing consultant that they had hired was to make an adorable but technologically advanced creature to sell the card to New Yorkers,\u201d explained Shapiro.<\/p>\n Cardvaark is prominently displayed at the FAREwell MetroCard exhibit. Paul Martinka<\/p>\n \u201cCardvaark was that adorable and technologically advanced creature.\u201d<\/p>\n Cardvarrk would have been a living and breathing mascot, though much more approachable than the uber creepy Frankie Focus<\/a>, which Gov. Hochul rolled out as part of her recent school cell phone ban.<\/p>\n The costumed anteater would have been assigned to popular stations like Times Square to walk riders through using the MetroCard.<\/p>\n He has sort of a knowing look: \u2018I know you\u2019re gonna use the MetroCard,’\u201d said curator Jodi Shapiro. Paul Martinka<\/p>\n The MTA crafted an entire plan for Cardvaark that included a cost breakdown for the suit, the actor they would hire to wear it and what stations he would work at. But it was nixed in the 11th hour.<\/p>\n \u201cSomebody must not have liked it and said, \u2018We can\u2019t do this,’\u201d said Shapiro, adding that the move was so perplexing that not even the NYTM historians know why.<\/p>\n