The latest mystery for bemused straphangers: Why are blue seats suddenly sprouting randomly in the middle of the orange and white ones on older subway cars?
It’s simple. They save money.
MTA workers who repair broken seats were told to do away with the old color scheme in favor of the newer gray-blue on nine lines: the 1, 3, 7, B, Q, D, W and two shuttles.
The idea was to cut costs by saving on the amount of paint that has to be bought — and to save time by not having to use masking that creates the white trim on the older car seats, said NYC Transit spokeswoman Deirdre Parker.
The newer color matches the seat scheme on the latest subway cars, like those used on the N and L lines.
Ideally, the entire subway fleet will eventually feature those cars or similar ones.
“They’ll be repainted this color forever,” said Charles Seaton, of NYCT.