She would later tell her girlfriend in college about her identity and their relationship ended shortly after that. 'And I have to give her a lot of credit because I was a minor and she was taking a risk,' she said. 'There is a downtown local 6 train to Brooklyn Bridge/City Hall approaching the station': Wagenblast's voice can be heard on subway platforms across the numbered lines, including the 4, 5, and 6 trains. 'We set a time and I sent her the phone number and she called me and I just for the first time ever shared with somebody how I felt and talked with someone who I knew could understand what I was feeling. Wagenblast found her information in the phonebook and sent a letter to her and later arranged a phone call on a payphone a half-mile from her house. She would first share her identity as a transgender woman with a teacher in a nearby town named Paula Grossman, who had transitioned and was later fired as an educator for it. After doing so, her friend's brother told his parents, who then told Wagenblast's family, who reiterated to her that this was 'not acceptable.' While playing with his female friend, who lived across the street, as a little kid, she suggested they swap clothes. She doesn't remember when it was instilled in her that boys shouldn't enjoy those things, but 'fairly soon I realized that this was not okay.' 'I remember clearly being at my grandmother's house, sitting in front of her vanity, putting on some of her necklaces, and I think she had powder at her vanity and putting that on my face,' she said. Wagenblast remembers being as young as four when she started to realize that she felt more like a girl than a boy, she said in her interview. 'Before that, I had been working on it, but most of my conversation was what I call my guy voice, and professionally I still use that voice.' 'I've only been using this voice full-time since January 1,' Wagenblast, who officially came out on December 28, told Sale. ![]() ![]() ![]() Now, Wagenblast - who also voices the announcements for the AirTrain at Newark Liberty International Airport and the PATCO system in South Jersey and Philadelphia - has come out as a transgender woman 'Beginning January 1st, I plan to begin living as a female full-time,' Wagenblast said in a social media post at the time.Īlthough she sounds much different now after seeing a speech therapist to develop her feminine voice - as estrogen does not change the depth of a person's vocals - she admitted on Anna Sale's podcast Death, Sex, and Money that she still uses her 'disembodied' voice professionally.Īny New Yorker or tourist has heard Bernie Wagenblast's voice echoed throughout the Big Apple's numbered subway lines, but rarely would a commuter be able to place a name or face to the deep voice projected across the platform. She first announced her decision to transition in December 2022. Now, Wagenblast - who also voices the announcements for the AirTrain at Newark Liberty International Airport and the PATCO system in South Jersey and Philadelphia - has come out as a transgender woman. Wagenblast, 66, of Cranford, New Jersey, is a staple part of the New York City subway system, but rarely would a commuter be able to place a name or face to the deep voice projected across the platform. 'There is a downtown local 6 train to Brooklyn Bridge/City Hall approaching the station.'Īny New Yorker or tourist has heard Bernie Wagenblast's voice echoed throughout the Big Apple's numbered subway lines, telling commuters when a train is approaching the station or how far away the next one is.
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