Astoria's 46th Street Subway Station Gets Biden-Inspired Makeover

ASTORIA, QUEENS — Joe Biden was sworn in Wednesday as the 46th president of the United States — and as the unofficial mascot of Astoria's 46th Street subway station.

New York artist Adrian Wilson is behind the installation, for which he added the name "Joe" to the M and R station's tiled wall and changed the exit instructions below it from "46th ST" to "45th OUT."

Outside, Wilson redid the station's entrance to read "M R BIDEN," drawing on the subway system's orange and yellow symbols for the train lines that stop at the station.

Wilson, who created similar subway-themed tributes to U.S. Supreme Court justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and the famed musician David Bowie after their deaths, told Patch that his latest work is meant to welcome the newly-inaugurated president and say goodbye to former New Yorker and now-former-president Donald Trump.

“It’s basically a New York City goodbye," Wilson said. "You either leave here because you have to or you want to, and Trump’s left New York because he has to."

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A post shared by Adrian Wilson (@plannedalism)

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A post shared by Adrian Wilson (@plannedalism)

Wilson previously redecorated the 46th Street station after the presidential election in November, putting the name "BIDEN" up on its tiled wall.

But the capitalized lettering reminded him too much of Trump's tweets, which often used capital letters in spewing false or exaggerated claims about everything from the news media to political opponents to government agencies.

So, Wilson took a different approach with the latest iteration.

“I know it’s only a subtle thing, but making the J-O-E with the 'o' and 'e' lowercase is more friendly, like, 'Hey, it’s Joe,'” Wilson said.

Wilson made the lettering on black paper sprayed to look glossy, then measured and drew the "tiles" using a dollar bill. (He didn't have a tape measure, he said, so he had to get creative.) The process took three to four hours.

He then affixed the paper to the subway wall, like a sticker.

Although Wilson's piece technically qualifies as vandalism, he said he tried to make it easy to peel off, so it will not cost the cash-strapped MTA money to remove.

“It’s just a feel-good thing,” Wilson said shortly after noon, when Biden had just been sworn in. "If I get arrested — it’s after 12 o'clock now — I’ll go for Biden’s first pardon.”