The Z Train Gazette is a zine dedicated to the NYC Subway's Z train line. We accept both written word and visual art exploring the theme of the Z train.
Submission form: Z Train Gazette Submission Form
Submissions will be reviewed on an ongoing basis, but the deadline for the first issue is January 23, 2026.
The Z train is...
- An express subway service that runs with the J during rush hour in one direction only. In the morning it only goes one way from Jamaica to Broad St, and in the afternoon it goes the other way.
- Travels between the Financial District and Jamaica through Chinatown, the Bowery, the Lower East Side, across the Williamsburg Bridge to Williamsburg, then down Broadway between Bed-Stuy & Bushwick, into Cypress Hills, Woodhaven, Richmond Hill, and a connection to JFK at Sutphin Boulevard.
- Many people have never seen a Z train. Some believe the Z train isn't real. However we can assure you that the Z train really exists.
Some ideas:
- Riding the Z train for the first time, riding the Z train every day, waiting for a Z train that may or may not come, seeing a Z train or never seeing a Z train. If you have never been on or seen a Z, try it and share your experience?
- Local news, coverage of events, reviews, photographs and artwork of places that you can get to on the Z
- Places that the Z skips over
- Personal experiences along the Z line
- Zohran, the new mayor in City Hall (near the Chambers St Z). Are you on the Zohran train? Is he living up to expectations?
- What is your Z train? The Z train as a metaphor for everyday experiences for you that are unheard of for everyone else; short-lived experiences that are only around for a little bit and then disappear as quickly as they came; or wherever else your mind goes
- Explorations of the letter Z
Guidelines:
- Written work can be any genre: essays, articles, short stories, poetry, interviews, reviews, opinions, classifieds, personal ads
- Images up to 5"x8": 2D artwork (digital or scanned), photographs or video stills. Note: we will Riso print this zine in two colors, so color images will be turned either black & white or into a duotone
- Or a combination of both written and visual art.
- Text should be in .doc or Google Docs format. Images should preferably be in .jpeg or .png
- Submissions will be reviewed primarily based on relevance to the theme