Alex "Tracks" McFarland has been selling candy to subway passengers for 14 years, but he became a mini-viral video celebrity after Columbia graduate student Bianca Consunji featured him bragging about making $150/day in a short documentary. In the video (see it below), McFarland says that peanut M&Ms are his biggest draw—"These M&M’s, I take care of my family with this"— but now he tells the Post that he's dropped the delicious junk food, "Too expensive. Not enough profit." Another revelation: He doesn't pay taxes on his haul!
McFarland, 25, says that he sells candy on the D train to make money for his kids—he has three, ages 8 months to 5—but he's also "single like a dollar." But the only taxes he pays is sales tax on the actual candy, no taxes on the $55,000 he claims to make each year (he does work seven days a week). And another man who also sells candy on the subway tells the Post, "I make $200 a day in profit. There’s big money in this game." But there is danger: It's illegal, per the MTA.
Sugar rush hour from Bianca Consunji on Vimeo.
