Familiar voice across NYC subway, Newark AirTrain comes out as transgender
NEW YORK (WABC) -- The person behind a familiar voice across the New York City subway has embarked on a new journey as a transgender woman.
Bernie Wagenblast is the voice behind some subway announcements and the AirTrain at Newark Liberty International Airport.
Now after 60 years, Wagenblast is finally living as her authentic self. She came out to friends last year and for the first time this January, she stepped out publicly as a woman.
"I had been to an event where it was the first time that I had been in public presenting as a woman, and it went very well," Wagenblast said. "And I thought, well, if I'm going to do this, this is the time to do it."
Wagenblast said she has known since she was 4 that she was meant to be a girl.
"I was over at my grandmother's house and I remember sitting in front of her vanity and putting on some of her necklaces," Wagenblast said.
While she lived with the secret, a few people supported her along the way - namely her wife of 42 years.
"She helped me walk through this all of our married life," Wagenblast said.
But they decided not to tell their adult daughters until 2017.
"It was very emotional," Wagenblast said. "It's difficult trying to explain something like this that you've felt all your life to someone who can't really relate."
Having no acceptable outlet for her true feelings growing up in the '60s and '70s in New Jersey, Wagenblast poured her energy into her passion: broadcast.
She landed jobs at local radio stations before becoming a voice of local transit. Now she has found her voice and hopes to inspire others to do the same.
"It was very important for me to share my story because I remember that teacher that I had shared with when I was 13 years old, and how many how much it meant to me to have her listen to me and for her to be an example of somebody that I could see," Wagenblast said.
Now she is working to improve her feminine sound.
"I try to use this voice for virtually everything other than the professional voiceover work that I do," Wagenblast said.
So that familiar sound to subway riders and AirTrain passengers won't change any time soon.
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