New York Transit Museum

Boerum Pl & Schermerhorn St, Brooklyn, NY 11201, USA

Address:	Boerum Pl & Schermerhorn St, Brooklyn, NY 11201, USA
Phone:	+1 718-694-1600
Site:	nytransitmuseum.org
Rating:	4.5
Working:	Closed 10AM–4PM 10AM–4PM 10AM–4PM 10AM–4PM 11AM–5PM 11AM–5PM

Location

Photos 100

Reviews 8

tamsin morse

KID UNFRIENDLY STAY AWAY IF YOU HAVE A STROLLER OR MORE THAN ONE CHILD WITH YOU. The MOST unhelpful place I have ever visited, that is geared towards child interaction. The museum is, in fact inaccessible, and the staff will not help you unless you have waited for them for over ten minutes at the lift, which they fail to turn up to, despite buzzing through, and they will only assist you with a pushchair if you rant. I have a double stroller - twins and a toddler, I cannot carry them down tow flights of stairs, with my pushchair. If the place is inaccessible it should be advertised as so. Then I was told I wasnt allowed to take my kids into the EMPTY and wide aisled (to cater for wheelchair users) gift shop, which led to my toddler to break down as I had promised him a specific train toy. I was told to leave the stroller with my young kids outside,. and just leave them there whilst I went out of sight?? The gap by the door was the same either side of a pane of glass, some inhumane manager who was unable to think without repeating a protocol, insisted I couldnt bring the pushchair in, yet I could if it was a wheelchair. yet my limitation were not incredibly different, and certainly the passengers in the buggy were unable to walk properly. Prejudicial and obstructive. They are currently getting sued for prejudice and hopefully, after a drawn out legal battle, will be told to assist those who need it instead of ostracising them. In a childrens museum no less. Absolutely disgusting. SHAME ON YOU

A Private User

Its a very nice museum built at a former train station. The exhibit showed somewhat brutal but fascinating history of subway construction in the early 20c which brought boroughs of New York together. The exhibit of different tokens from paper, coin to MetroCard were very interesting. The museum is connected to an actual platform which houses several different subway coaches. The earliest one in the 1910s had a nice cushy seats which were later replaced with plasticky ones (which is a shame, but probably was necessary). It would have been great to see a coach with graffiti from the 1970s, as a piece of history. (I hope they will add one in the future.) A lot of people who work at the museum seem to be former/current workers of the transit system, and were friendly and very knowledgeable. Gift shop had a number of interesting items with recycled subway map. I would have bought some of the items if they had more reasonable prices (examples: metro map shower curtain $30, dog collar $30). I also liked the exhibit about the environmental consideration given by the transit authority . Overall, my 9yo son and I really enjoyed this museum. Much smaller but its almost as interesting as the Museum of Natural History!

Jeffrey Martin

A great museum (with very reasonably priced admission) if youre interested in NYC history, trains, urban planning, or the labor movement. Its tucked away in an unused subway station -- the entrance is just another painted-green staircase descending into the ground -- and uses the ample space available down there quite effectively. The platform level has a range of old subway cars that were spared from the scrap heap by motormen who hid them in abandoned tunnels so they would be preserved for future generations. Its well worth taking the tour of this part, because there are so many little details youd otherwise miss, like the fact that the oldest trains dont have lampshades over their lightbulbs because electricity was new (many subway passengers lived in buildings that hadnt been electrified yet) and electric lights were a status symbol. The ticketing and transfer level has more traditional museum exhibits that you can enjoy on your own, covering topics like the (many) dangers of tunnel construction, the rise of unions, and the epic engineering feats involved in cutting, drilling and blasting holes through the earth beneath the most densely settled city on the planet.

Javier Kohen

Very interesting museum of history of transportation in New York. There are tons of historical pieces and machinery, everything with an explanation, and there are interactive exhibits for kids. Almost every part was interesting: the construction of the subway tunnels, the history of turnstiles and the historical subway cars. The museum was a bit too kid friendly for me (read: loud), but I enjoyed it nonetheless. One thing could be improved without a ton of work: the layout of the displays. First, the subway cars could benefit from chronological order (the information plaques sometimes refer to plaques on the other side of the platform). Second, the chronological displays should be consistently arranged: some displays went in chronological order in one direction, and then the display next to it would go in the other direction, making you walk up and down the same aisles multiple times.

Sandy Tang

Had a great time here. This museum is housed in an actual subway station. Thats so cool! It showcases subways, buses, turnstiles, fare machines, IRT, BMT, how MTA took over, etc. Its very educational and I learned a lot. Theres also a huge interactive section on how electricity is made and transferred, how subway systems are controlled, and more. But my favorite part is downstairs, where several models of subway trains are just sitting on the track. These subway trains are from different eras. Theres a plaque that explains each one and you can walk inside and see how it used to look like, including the old advertisements! I was super excited to see and learn everything. Now I feel like I know more about the NYC transit system than I do the SF one. I had a great time here. Its a museum that functions well for all age groups.

Gomer Aquino

Its hard for any visitor not to love this museum, especially those who have taken a ride on the subway before. It makes everyone appreciate the monumental effort required to build the mostly underground subway system many years before the introduction of advanced digging technology (e.g., tunnel boring machines). Plus the effort to keep the system running round the clock, against all odds. Its also fascinating to see the evolution of the system, its facilities, and the ads shown on board over the years. My visit lasted 1.5 hours, up until closing, but I couldve easily spent half a day here had I arrived earlier. I wish they have a pay-as-you-wish day like most major museums in the city, considering that most of their visitors are themselves public transportation customers.

Lars Chittka

Wenn man sich ein bisschen für die Geschichte der U-Bahn in New York interessiert, sollte man auf jeden Fall hier gewesen sein. Wirklich sehr schön und anschaulich in einer alten U-Bahn Station erklärt. Selbst die unterschiedlichen Wagentypen sind begehbar. Der Eingang ist allerdings etwas versteckt am Straßenrand und ist ein U-Bahn Eingang, also nicht nach einem Gebäude Ausschau halten.

Matthew Poe

I took a transit-obsessed friend here who was visiting from out of town. I did not expect to enjoy myself as much as I did. This place is amazing! It does a great job of telling the fascinating story of how the NY transit system was built. Built inside an actual decommissioned subway stop, theres way more here than you could see in a day-- the highlight was all the antique cars that are open to wander through on the stations actual tracks. The cars are restored down with an incredible eye for detail, down to the advertisements on the train. Theyre really amazing time capsules from earlier versions of New York. It sounds like they do some cool arts programming in the museum as well-- I would happily go back here and see some more!