Exclusive | Miss Subways 2026 crowns its new queen inside the quirky New York pageants history and its big resurgence

Stand clear of the closing doors, please — the Miss Subways pageant has just crowned a new queen of the rails.Abby Fantastic, a 40-year-old burlesque performer/native New Yorker based in East Flatbush, sashayed to victory Friday night when she represented the “A line” at NYC’s annual, fun-filled palooza, held at Coney Island USA’s Sideshows by the Seashore Theater.The event honors the city’s oft-frustrating, always iconic public transit system, along with the 4 million-plus New Yorkers who use the MTA’s subway every day.“Being a fourth generation New Yorker, I love this city,” said Fantastic, who clinched this year’s “transit tiara” with a two-part burlesque performance, dancing to an instrumental version of “Harlem Nocturne” (a 1939 jazz standard by Earle Hagen) and “Rockaway Beach” (a 1977 hit by the Ramones) while stripping down to an MTA-blue outfit that included A train nipple covers.“I’m raising my children here because I want to live in New York …To be able to represent and be here is an honor.”The talent showcase, orchestrated by the City Reliquary, featured seven contestants this year, including a mix of burlesque performers, comedians and vocalists, as well as a puppeteer and an aerialist.Dave Herman, founder of the City Reliquary museum in Williamsburg, told The Post that the finalists were handpicked from a pool of “dozens” of applicants, and that the number of would-be participants for the campy contest has been increasing “every year.”“We wanted to invite people to have a moment on stage with performing/showing whatever their skills may be, but also with an importance on how they represent the ridership of New York’s subway system,” said Herman.“Somebody who has a sense of pride in being a straphanger, and who’s also going to advocate for improvements,” he continued.

“There’s a sense of civic pride and stewardship that we look for in candidates.”The annual contest, which was revived by ...