The NY Transit Museum

Back in my acting days, I shot a commercial at the NY Transit Museum, and I remember thinking at the time what a unique, magical place this museum was (and I am not someone who is obsessed with trains). Now that I have a son who is obsessed with all things transportation, I thought it would be even more magical for him; it was, it is.

One particularly cold and rainy May day, Alex’s Oma and Papa came to visit. Since we couldn’t go outside (the day turned out to be something like the eleventh rainiest day in the history of NYC), we decided to trek to Brooklyn to re-visit the NY Transit Museum.

The museum is in an old subway stop that no longer functions as an actual subway stop. When you enter the museum, you are taken through the history of how the subway system was built. They have the tools used by workers, barrels of rock that they would have to transport from underground, etc.

Then, you go down the stairs to where the cars are: they have cars ranging from the 1800s all the way to modern times. 

In each car, they have the old subway map of that time and all the old advertisements (this is actually one of my favorite aspects of this museum). With each car you step into, you feel as if you are stepping back into time. 

Back upstairs is the bus portion of the museum—you can “drive” a modern MTA bus, as well as an older model. You can learn about the history of NYC trolley cars and the eventual transition to buses.

We stopped in the museum store on the way out, where Papa and Oma bought Alex his very own B train. It hasn’t left his hands since then.

There is a Shake Shack really close to the museum, and we stopped here for lunch before heading back to Manhattan. Alex was loving his vanilla shake, I was loving my veggie burger, Papa his burger and Oma the cheese fries! It was a wonderful day, even despite the pouring rain!