NOW ON VIEW
New York Transit Museum exhibits draw from our extensive collection of vintage vehicles, photographs, artwork, and archival materials that tell New York’s transit story. Explore what’s currently on view in Brooklyn and at our Grand Central Gallery below, and experience our digital exhibits from right at home.
For more information on hours and admission, visit our know before you visit page.
The New York Transit Museum: 50 Years of Stories is a special anniversary exhibition exploring some of the most surprising, funny, and fascinating tales from the history of New York’s transportation system. Drawn from the Museum’s vast collection of photographs and objects, the exhibition highlights unusual transit experiments, bold proposals for improving the system, and the memorable personalities who shaped it. Along the way, visitors will encounter singing bus drivers, inventive scientists, and a few New Yorkers who pursued immortality in unexpected ways.
Ode to the Orange Seats is a loving tribute to an increasingly rare sight in New York’s subways: the orange and yellow bucket seats first introduced on R44 cars in 1971. A bold departure from the cooler tones that had long defined subway interiors, the sunny seats quickly became an iconic part of the city’s transit system, capturing the imaginations (and backsides) of millions of riders for more than 50 years. Featuring works by 14 artists across mediums including miniature modeling, tattoo, watercolor, flashe, acrylic, and oil painting, the exhibit explores how the everyday commute can spark nostalgia, creativity, personal connection, and spirited debate among New Yorkers.
FAREwell, MetroCard tells the story of the iconic fare card that reshaped daily life for millions of New Yorkers. When the MetroCard debuted in 1994, its mission was twofold: introduce new technology to the transit system and speed the elimination of tokens as a way to pay fares. In the decades that followed, the MetroCard became almost as iconic as the token itself, bearing safety reminders, commemorating anniversaries, and celebrating cultural moments. As OMNY becomes the new way to pay, the exhibition invites visitors to explore the MetroCard’s origins, its systemwide rollout, the technology behind it, and the many ways it became a cultural icon for a generation of riders.
Through archival photographs, ephemera, and objects from the Transit Museum’s extensive collection, Ticket to Ride shows the evolution of fare collection across all of New York’s modes of transportation. Visitors will see and touch different types of collection equipment such as turnstiles and fare boxes, get a sense the colossal process of fare collection, and see some of the people who make sure the money goes where it’s supposed to go.
Ticket to Ride is generously sponsored by:
Steel, Stone & Backbone presents a look at the construction methods and labor required to build the city’s first subway line at the turn of the 20th Century. Historical artifacts, video and photography footage bring to life the dedication and tenacity of the workers who made this project possible.
Moving the Millions highlights the evolution of the subway and the major issues and events that influenced the development of the largest transportation network in North America. Home to twenty vintage subway and elevated cars dating back to 1907, and a working signal tower, the Museum’s working platform level spans a full city block.
Explore the story of above ground mobility and surface transit from the early 1800s to the present. A 12-seat city bus, “fishbowl” bus cab, walk-don’t walk signs, parking meters, fire hydrants, traffic lights, and an array of other interactive “Street furniture” bring this exhibit to life. Visitors can also learn about the evolution of fuel technologies and its environmental impact.
Information design in New York’s transportation system is constantly evolving to meet the changing needs of millions of people traveling in a 5,000 square mile area. Important travel information must be conveyed quickly, clearly, and efficiently in a manner that is also pleasing to the eye. One of the founding objectives of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, more than 50 years ago, was to standardize wayfinding and informational signage. But what came before “Subway Standard” Helvetica?
No Spitting on the Platform showcases a selection of historic wayfinding and platform etiquette signage from the New York Transit Museum’s archives.
This exhibit features over 50 detailed scale models of trolleys and work cars, with a focus on Brooklyn. It helps visitors trace the changes in trolleys and buses over time, and encourages a dialogue among generations. New York’s trolleys and buses have been a familiar element in city life since the late 1800s, and many New Yorkers remember various vehicles in detail. Just seeing particular shapes or features can bring back memories of eras, events, relationships, and neighborhoods.
In laboratories with bubbling test tubes and specialized apparatuses, a diverse and dedicated group of transit employees conducted thousands of experiments between 1900 and the mid-1990s. The mission? To ensure the materials used in New York City’s transit system were safe and durable.
On view on our platform level, Subway Science: The Materials Inspection Division, showcases rarely seen objects and images from the Museum’s archive to reveal the forgotten world of materials testing in the transit system. Discover tools and equipment used in the labs and the unsung innovators responsible for this important work.
Our Grand Central Gallery & Store is located just off the Main Concourse in the Shuttle Passage, adjacent to the Station Masters’ Office. For more information on hours and admission, visit our know before you visit page.
Artwork by Nina Boesch
ON VIEW THROUGH SUNDAY, OCTOBER 25 AT GRAND CENTRAL
Since its debut in 1994, the MetroCard has been more than a way to get around New York. With its compact size, bold graphic design, and citywide circulation, the fare card quickly became an unexpected canvas. Opening March 16 at the New York Transit Museum’s Grand Central Gallery & Store, Inspired by MetroCard explores how this everyday transit object evolved into a powerful artistic medium and source of inspiration for artists, designers, and cultural institutions over three decades.
OPENING FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 13 AT GRAND CENTRAL
This holiday season, the New York Transit Museum’s Grand Central Gallery & Store welcomes visitors of all ages to the 22nd Annual Holiday Train Show, a beloved tradition celebrating the magic of model trains and New York City. Lionel trains, including Metro-North, vintage subway sets, and the whimsical Polar Express, travel along a 34-foot, two-level “O” gauge layout, passing familiar New York landmarks on their journey from a miniature Grand Central Terminal to the snowy North Pole. This year’s display features new models by New York City-based artist Danny Cortes, including the former Crazy Eddie electronics store and La Borinqueña family grocery, two ornate apartment buildings, and the fictional Eric’s Comic Books, all brought to life with weathered brickwork, intricate storefront details, and detailed façades that capture the character of New York’s neighborhoods.
DIGITAL EXHIBITS
DIGITAL EXHIBIT
Our Journey: The New York Transit Museum at 50
For 50 years, the New York Transit Museum has preserved and shared the stories of the system that moves millions every day. Trace the journey of our Court Street station home, our collection of over 1 million image and artifacts, and our community, from construction in the 1930s to the living, breathing museum it is today.
DIGITAL EXHIBIT
Bringing Back the City: Mass Transit Responds to Crises
Bringing Back the City offers a unique perspective on the vital, often unseen, work of New York’s transit employees, using the events of 9/11, the 2003 Northeast Blackout, Hurricane Sandy and other severe weather events as examples.
DIGITAL EXHIBIT
Grand by Design: A Centennial Celebration of Grand Central Terminal
Examine Grand Central Terminal itself as an artifact, using archival images and interviews that convey the story of the building’s past, present and future in larger-than-life detail.
DIGITAL EXHIBIT
Elizabeth Jennings Graham
100 years before Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat, a 24-year-old black New Yorker stood her ground on an omnibus. With courage and perseverance, she won the first recorded legal victory for equal rights on public transportation. Hear her story.
DIGITAL EXHIBIT
A Grand New Connection: LIRR to Grand Central Madison
The opening of Grand Central Madison is one of the most seismic shifts in New York transportation history, allowing LIRR trains to provide service directly to Manhattan’s east side. Explore the LIRR’s journey to Grand Central Madison.
DIGITAL EXHIBIT
Transit Innovator: Granville T. Woods
Granville T. Woods was a prolific inventor. In the face of discrimination and racial prejudice, he had over 50 registered inventions to his credit during his lifetime.
DIGITAL EXHIBIT
Malbone Street Wreck
November 1, 2018 marks the anniversary of the Malbone Street Wreck, the worst subway accident in the history of New York City. Learn more about the event and the changes and improvements made to help prevent such tragedies from happening again.
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