What are subway bullets?
Subway bullets are those things that are used to identify New York City subway lines. They first came into their current existance in 1967 when a new subway map was drawn and the letters and numbers that have been used in the subway system were put into colored circles. The various designs of subway maps since then have used these bullets. New designs were created over the years, though. The diamond bullets cane into being in 1979, along with a new color-coding system for those circles, based on the avenue of operation in Manhattan below 50th Street. Red for the 7th Avenue IRT, Brown for the Nassau Street line, Orange for the 6th Avenue IND, Yellow for the Broadway BMT, Lime for the Brooklyn-Queens Crosstown, Green for the Lexington Avenue IRT, Blue for the 8th Avenue IND, Purple for the Flushing line, Light gray for the Canarsie line, and black (later dark gray) for the shuttles. Double-letter names were eliminated in the mid-1980's. The square bullets were introduced in 1994. All three styles of bullets are used now in today's subway maps. Come and explore my library of subway bullets!