Claw Machine Wasteland

New York State’s Really Bad Idea

Zoltar is gone!

New York State has made a terrible, awful, dreadful mistake. So we discovered on our pilgrimage along the New York State Thruway.

Over the past few years, all the thruway rest stops have been remodeled as clean, functional, identical- boring - places called Applegreens. Every one the same. Every one dreadful.

Why dreadful? Two reasons, as pointed out by Little Bean. No Zoltar. No claw machines.

I’d add that they also no longer serve terrible, burnt, cheap coffee which is or should be a highlight of any righteous rest area.

If you want to learn more about Zoltar, click here, we wrote about him just two years ago. Alas the fortune teller is no more:

Day, the Twenty Eighth

Even more troubling is the removal of the claw machines. Very troubling indeed.

The rubber ducky grab. The tiny ball grab. The Dino bones jaw grab. Not even a cheap IT merch grab station left. Nothing. Not one.

Heck, they even pulled out all those cheapo penny squish souvenir machines!

All replaced by “comfortable” chairs and window seats. Who tries to make rest stops look like fancy coffee shops? What’s the point of even stopping now?

Thankfully, Mass. does it right and continues to feature busted up claw machines. Little Bean grabbed two duckies before we entered the barren claw machine wasteland of the NYS Thruway.

I mean, my God, one rest stop had a tent with a farmer selling artisanal honey. The heck?

You won’t see any middle America rest stops with cappuccino machines, I’d wager.

Anyway, we’re here so we’ll abide. There must be some claw machines someplace in New York. One can only hope.