New York Transit Museum
by Mike Chlanda
(New York, NY)
The New York City Transit Museum is a great and inexpensive kids attraction in New York City.
Located in an old subway station in downtown Brooklyn, you pay at the farebooth to get in and you go through the old turnstiles to enter. It's under $10 per person and my son and I can spend the whole day there!
The mezzanine is devoted to surface transit - buses and trolleys. There's also a turnstile exhibit. My son's favorite part is the old bus they have - you get to sit in the driver's seat, steer the big wheel, and best of all, you control all the lights. Keegan had a blast turning them all off and on.
Downstairs is the main exhibit in the subway station proper. At the head of the station is a mockup of a dispatch tower. Old subway cars line both sides of the platform. They're all open and kid-friendly - there's no "no touch" policy here. Cars of all eras are displayed here, along with period maps and advertisements. There's also traction motors and work equipment displayed here.
Upstairs also features a gift shop (a little overpriced in my book). My son's trying to collect one hat or t-shirt from each line. Another neat thing is the earrings made from old tokens. No food is sold here, but they welcome brown-baggers - there's a seating area towards the back in the mezzanine. Pick up a treat from Court Street a block away and bring it in!
There's also an annex at Grand Central, but nowhere anywhere as cool as this. The Museum also has excursion trains, where they run the old trains throughout the city. There's a free email signup list so you can find out about these special events.
