Organization Details

The New York Transit Museum is housed in a decommissioned, but still operational, subway station in Brooklyn Heights. Opened in 1936 as part of the Independent Subway System (or IND), the Court Street station was the western end of a shuttle service to the Hoyt-Schermerhorn Street station, just three blocks away. Plans to extend the line beyond Court Street ? as a potential route to the new Second Avenue Subway ? were abandoned. Because of low passenger use and the availability of many stations nearby, the Court Street station was closed to passengers in 1946. The station was then used for training, supply storage, and commercial film shoots before becoming home to the New York Transit Museum in 1976. On July 4, 1976, The New York City Transit Exhibit opened to the public. Conceived and organized by New York City Transit employees and volunteers to commemorate the United States Bicentennial, the exhibit highlighted the role that public transportation played in the development of New York City and the nation. This temporary exhibition proved so popular that it was never dismantled. Instead, it formed the foundation on which the New York Transit Museum was established.

Over the years, the New York Transit Museum has grown in scope and popularity. In 1999 the Museum opened a retail store and gallery in newly renovated Grand Central Terminal, providing another venue to present changing exhibits that encourage the public to appreciate the history, impact, and future of mass transit. In 2001 the Museum?s subway station home in Brooklyn Heights closed for a two-year renovation. The project included upgrading the facility?s infrastructure, creating a new education center with a computer lab, refurbishing the galleries, revamping existing exhibits and creating new ones. The result of the renovation project has been a broader programming focus and increased attendance, with over 100,000 visitors a year. More than half are schoolchildren.

In just thirty years, the New York Transit Museum has become one of the city?s leading cultural institutions and the largest museum in the United States devoted to urban public transportation. The Museum explores the development of the greater New York Metropolitan region through exhibitions, tours, educational programs, and workshops dealing with the cultural, social, and technological history of public transportation. With collections of over 6,000 artifacts and several hundred thousand archival items representing over 100 years of transit history, the Museum strives to share this rich and vibrant history with local, regional, and international audiences.

Address

130 LIVINGSTON STREET
BROOKLYN, NY 11201
(718) 694-1794

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