The Big Apple has gone down the rabbit hole — to the bad old days.
At least two dozen subway cars across six lines were vandalized with ’80s-era graffiti over the weekend — including “Alice in Wonderland” Mad Hatter caricatures, the MTA said.
The brazen vandals targeted cars on the Q, G, M, 1, 6 and the 42nd Street Shuttle as part of 183 graffiti incidents so far this year, according to the cash-strapped agency.
“We have a zero-tolerance policy for vandalism, which takes valuable time, resources and taxpayer dollars away from the system at a time when the MTA is facing the worst financial crisis in its history,” said NYC Transit Interim President Sarah Feinberg. “Our cleaners work around the clock to remove the graffiti when it is found so we can keep our full fleet in service and avoid disruptions for customers.”
One M train in particular served as the canvas for extensive artwork including a nude Betty Boop smoking a joint with flames shooting from her eyes, a cannabis leaf, a Mad Hatter spray-painting mushrooms — and a giant white rabbit.
The word “DIMEBAG” was scrawled in multi-colors across one car.
The defaced train was discovered just before 5 a.m. Monday during a pre-service inspection in Queens, according to an internal report obtained by The City, which first reported the crime spree.
The majority of the other incidents happened in tunnels and on out-of-service tracks during the nightly service suspension from 1 to 5 a.m., The City said.
Of the 183 hits this year, 83 percent, or 153, have occurred in so-called “layup areas” or on in-service trains that are patrolled by the NYPD.
The remaining 17 percent (30 incidents) have occurred in yards, which are secured by the MTA, a spokeswoman said.
Still, the MTA insisted graffiti is down 34 percent overall compared to last year — which saw 276 incidents around this same time, according to their statistics.
But data obtained by The Post last year showed that there were 537 instances of graffiti on subways by mid-December — with 2018 clocking in at 619, a surge from previous years.