MTA selects Queens woman as the new voice of the subway

Have you heard the new voice yet?

The MTA has a new voice, literally. The New York Daily News has learned that the agency has picked one of its staff members, Queens resident Velina Mitchell, to be the new voice of the subway announcements. Mitchell, who works as an announcer in the Rail Control Center, has already recorded over a dozen announcements, according to the Daily News, and slowly her voice will make its way to more stations and on to some of the new type of trains the MTA is testing.

Mitchell was picked by NYC Transit's chief customer officer, Sarah Meyer, who heard her making public service announcements, back in October.

"She sounded like a New Yorker, but she was also warm and she enunciated very well," is how Meyer described Mitchell's voice to the Daily News. These new announcements don't mean the MTA is completely doing away with its older recordings, but Mitchell's new duties are part of an effort by the MTA to make their announcements more relatable and transparent.

Daily News reporter Dan Rivoli captured a snipper of the new announcement below:

Hear the new voice of the subway:https://t.co/O2DDBJgSSA pic.twitter.com/2PJicQR29M

— Dan Rivoli (@danrivoli) May 16, 2018

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