Exhibits
Explore the past, present, and future of public transit—in person and online. From vintage subway cars to timely art exhibitions, the New York Transit Museum offers experiences for every kind of transit enthusiast. Can’t make it to Brooklyn or Grand Central? Click here to view our online exhibits.
Exhibits On View at the Grand Central Gallery
Our Grand Central Gallery & Store is located just off the Main Concourse in the Shuttle Passage, adjacent to the Station Masters’ Office. Click here for more information on hours, admission, and directions.
Commentary on the Commute: A Century of The New Yorker’s Transportation Cartoons
On view March 26th – October 26th
The New Yorker was founded in 1925 by Harold Ross and Jane Grant as a sophisticated humor magazine. From the outset, its pages featured journalism, criticism, fiction, and poetry of the highest quality. That same year, New York’s transportation system was growing—and growing in popularity. Mass transportation and the city it served became inextricably linked, as well as shorthand for one another, making it a natural subject for not only cartoons, but the colorful covers of the publication.
In celebration of the magazine’s 100th anniversary, the New York Transit Museum is proud to present Commentary on the Commute: A Century of The New Yorker’s Transportation Cartoons. Showcasing work from 57 artists, the exhibit includes a selection of cartoons and covers from The New Yorker whose subjects should be familiar to anyone who has ever taken public transportation: the uniqueness of New Yorkers, the challenges of the commute, the daily sea of humanity (and critters) that move through the region, and the grittiness and the grandeur that is New York.
Exhibits On View at the Transit Museum in Brooklyn
Shining a light on The Subway Sun: The art of Fred G. Cooper and Amelia Opdyke Jones
Now on View
Over five decades, The Subway Sun advised, informed, and admonished New York subway riders—encouraging civility, safety, cleanliness, and pride in their city and its mass transit rail system. For the bulk of its existence, two artists gave the campaign its distinctive tone: Fred G. Cooper and Amelia Opdyke Jones. This exhibit features more than 40 selections from the New York Transit Museum’s collection of approximately 120 original poster artworks and more than one hundred vintage posters, most produced between 1936 and 1965.
The Subway Is…
Now on View
You take it to work, to school, or for a night out. It’s become a shorthand for New York — or urbanity in the abstract. It’s the New York City subway. It moves millions of people — and has since the day it opened on October 27th, 1904. Using images and objects from the Museum collection, this exhibit explores some of the endless ways to complete the sentence, “The Subway Is…”
The Subway Is… exhibit is generously sponsored by Boldyn Networks, with additional sponsorship support from Alstom, Metropolitan Transportation Authority, Mitsubishi Electric, di Domenico + Partners LLP, and Interactive Elements, Inc.
Ticket To Ride
Now on View
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:
Permanent Exhibits
Steel, Stone & Backbone: Building New York’s Subways 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.
On the Streets: New York’s Trolleys and Buses tells 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.
No Spitting on the Platform includes a selection of historic wayfinding and platform etiquette signage from the New York Transit Museum’s archives.
The Dr. George T.F Rahilly Trolley and Bus Study Center features over 50 detailed scale models of trolleys and work cars, with a focus on Brooklyn.