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New York Transit Museum

Transit Museum

The New York Transit Museum highlights the NYC public transportation system and exhibits its long history for visitors. The museum includes exhibits from industrial machinery to old train wagons and even platform design. Located at 99 Schermerhorn St, Brooklyn, NY 11201.

The Museum is committed to revealing and maintaining the tales of public transportation, its remarkable engineering achievements, and usage of an intricate network that operates almost every day of the year.

History of the Museum

A historic railroad station abandoned in 1936 is now home to the New York Transit Museum. Since its reopening in 1976, it has enthralled and astounded millions of visitors. The transit museum has used the vision of transportation history to connect generations of people to this area and the city. This purpose is reflected in every exhibit, to its earliest and most popular motto, “Catch All the Trains You Missed!”

Transit Museum New York
Transit Museum 7

Educational Programs

The museum’s educational initiatives feature exhibitions, public programs, school-based projects, family-friendly activities, and special events for visitors of all ages. Over half a million people visit the New York Transit Museum annually, and more than 60,000 participate in these educational activities. The museum effectively reflects the goals of science, technology, engineering, arts, math, and all essential elements of mass transportation.

Informative tours delve into complex ideas like history, electricity, and city planning. Every year, schools from all over New York City plan field trips for children to the museum, helping them discover its wonderful history and develop a love for the technical aspects of mass transit systems.

The museum has created a wide range of activities catering to diverse guests. Museum staff trained to assist children with impairments, teach them how to ride the train safely, and encourage independence. A renowned after-school program called Subway Sleuths helps children with autism spectrum disorders. This program aims to help them develop the social skills they need to succeed in school and life.

Interesting Facts

  • There is a wall in the middle of the platform for the F Train traveling towards Brooklyn at the J Street Metro Tax stop. 
  • A secretive metal roll door conceals the elevators and tunnels, only accessible by passing through the metal door. 
  • Till the last century, money was transported across the city using these tunnels. The amount was secretly retrieved by the authorities from the trains as they arrived at J Street Station. Then it would ascend to the second level of 370 J Street, which at that time served as the NYC Transit Authority’s main office. The authorities would then count the money before depositing it in the bank.
  • A fan-favorite music video “Bad”, directed by Martin Scorsese for one of the most well-known artists, Michael Jackson, was filmed at Hoyts Gamma Horn Street Station, roughly three blocks from the New York Transit Museum. Michael Jackson and his crew danced their way through Hoyt Schorn Street Station in 1987.
  • A trip to Manhattan reveals a fantastic piece of artwork called Mass Transit Scope. It was created in the old Myrtle Avenue subway station in 1980 by an artist named Bill Brand. It runs like a zoetrope containing 258 individually painted panels. It appears the artwork is moving in what appears as a 20-second animation when the train passes it.

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