Friday, June 5, 7-10 pm (8 pm showtime)
Coney Island USA Sideshows by the Seashore Theater (1208 Surf Ave, Brooklyn)
Tickets: $30 General/$10 City Reliquary members. Buy Now!
On Friday, June 5, The City Reliquary and Coney Island USA proudly present Miss Subways 2026! This one-night-only extravaganza event celebrating NYC’s favorite mode of transportation takes place at the Sideshows by the Seashore Theater, 1208 Surf Avenue, from 7-10 pm. Tickets are on sale now! ($30 general, $10 for City Reliquary members).
A diverse lineup of contestants will represent their subway line of choice for a panel of local celebrity judges in Costume, Talent, and Interview categories.
The winner will receive the transit tiara, the subway sash, and the title of Miss Subways 2026. (Photo: Nate Dorr @rock_hyrax)
The winner will be crowned by Miss Subways 2025, artist and performer Bimini Cricket! (Photo: Nate Dorr @rock_hyrax)
The 2026 Miss Subways Contestants
- Abby Fantastic (she/her/Mom), world-renowned burlesque performer and co-producer of Bounce House Burlesque. Representing the A train.
- Jess Joseph (she/her), writer, educator, tour guide, and local history (including Miss Subways) expert. Representing the 2 train.
- LuXury Leah (she/her), best known for wrestling in Subway Mania, but you should also know her cosplay and charity work through Critical Care Comics. Representing the 4 train.
- Trudy Carmichael (she/her), Las Vegas lounge legend bringing improvisational grit and glamor to NYC. Representing the C train.
- Alicia Kalsi (she/her), civil servant, award-winning vocalist, puppeteer, and pinball enthusiast. Representing the Franklin Avenue Shuttle.
- Kaley Morrison (she/her), sketch and improv comedian, burlesque performer, writer, and advocate for Native and Indigenous artists. Representing the R train.
- Sugar Hoops (he/him), creator and performer of circus musical works, specializing in aerial lyra, hoops, and rope darts. Representing the L train.
The Master of Ceremonies
Presiding over this year’s pageant, and bringing her talents to a new realm, is domestic doyenne Brini Maxwell. Described as part Donna Reed, part Mary Tyler Moore, Maxwell makes kitsch feel classy through her unparalleled personal flair for home design, entertaining and savvy household tips. She began sharing her domestic know-how on her eponymous show on cable access and later moved to the Style network. Her love of 20th century culture and design means she’s tickled pink to host Miss Subways 2026, following her turn as a judge of last year’s competition. She’s currently producing content for YouTube and acting as a muse for the art of her creator, Ben Sander.
Special Guest Announcer
Charlie Pellett is a veteran news anchor and reporter for Bloomberg Radio. Most importantly, as one of the designated official voices of the New York City subway system, Charlie Pellett asks riders to “Stand clear of the closing doors, please!” Before joining Bloomberg in 1992, Pellett spent a decade at 1010 WINS in New York City. He also worked as a news writer for CNN, as a disc jockey in Northampton, MA, and co-hosted a Friday night call-in show with former New York City Mayor Ed Koch.
The Celebrity Judges
Each of this year’s Miss Subways judges embodies creativity, love for New York City, and living life to its fullest extent. They’re artists, performers, tastemakers, advocates, and one of the voices of our daily commute.
Joe Coleman, Artist
Joe Coleman is a world-renowned painter, writer and performer based in New York. His microscopically detailed paintings have been exhibited for four decades in major museums throughout the world including one-man exhibitions at the Palais de Tokyo in Paris, the Kunst-Werke Institute for Contemporary Art in Berlin and the Barbican Centre in London. He was the subject of the award winning feature length documentary How Dark My Love (2025). In 2024, a 450 page monograph of his work and life, A Doorway to Joe, was published by Fantagraphics. Joe and his wife Whitney were King Neptune and Queen Mermaid in the 2024 Coney Island Mermaid Parade.
Queerly Femmetastic, Brooklyn Bombshell
Brooklyn Bred bombshell Queerly Femmetastic is a nerdy connoisseur of Blackness. Her pronouns are she, her, and ma’am. This Patron Saint of Multiple Orgasms is inspired by Black shake-dancers, strippers, and hoochie-coochie girls across generations. Known for snatching souls and taking titles, she is Miss Subways 2024, the Silver Tusk Awards 2025 Entertainer of the Year, and Miss Coney Island 2026. Queerly loves the smell of books, practicing sneaky splits, and the feeling of your money on her skin.
Bernie Wagenblast, voice of the New York City Subway
Bernie Wagenblast’s voice was first heard by folks in the Tri-State Area in 1979 when she made her debut on New York radio as a traffic reporter. Since 2009 her voice is heard daily by millions of riders on the New York City subway (“Please stand away from the platform edge!”). She also is the voice of the AirTrain at Newark Liberty International Airport and on PATCO in South Jersey and Philadelphia. At the start of 2023 Bernie came out as a transgender woman and has used her celebrity to raise trans visibility. More recently, she was asked by Lin-Manuel Miranda to serve as the voice of the train conductor on the Warriors album. She has been named as one of the grand marshals for the 2026 NYC Pride March. Follow Bernie at @cranford_radio
This will be an unforgettable evening! Don’t miss the crowning of this year’s Reina of the Rails!
