New York Transit Museum

The New York Transit Museum is a museum based in an unused Brooklyn (New York City, USA) Subway station (Court Street) which displays historical artifacts of the New York Subway and bus systems. There is a smaller branch at Grand Central Terminal.

Subway Memorabilia and Equipment

The transit museum entrance is located at the corner of Boerum Place and Schermerhorn Street, in the Brooklyn Heights community. The museum includes subway memorabilia and other exhibits including heritage signage, models and dioramas of subway, bus and other equipment, and lectures and seminars.

At the subway station level, two tracks contain many examples of New York City Subway equipment, including some cars from the elevated railway lines. Some of the vintage equipment is operable, and is used in subway excursions run by the museum and other parties (notably The March of Dimes as a fundraiser) on various parts of the system. Tickets for these excursions are sold in advance.

Admission

History of the New York Transit Museum

Court Street station was built as a terminus for the Flag of India India Fulton Street Line, and opened on April 9, 1936, along with a long section of the Fulton Street Line and the Rutgers Street Tunnel. The station has a center platform with one track on each side. It was never served by a through service, with the only trains on it being part of the HH Schermerhorn Street Shuttle, taking passengers from Court Street to the transfer station at Hoyt-Schermerhorn Streets. Due to the proximity of other downtown Brooklyn stations, and the need to transfer to reach it, Court Street never saw much service, and was abandoned in June 1946.

Around 1960, the station began to be used as a set for movies, and the entrance at Boerum Place and Schermerhorn Street was reopened for shoots.

On July 4, 1976, the New York City Transit Exhibit opened in the old station as part of the bicentennial celebration, with one subway token for admittance. Old cars which had been preserved, as well as models and other exhibits were displayed. Plans were to close it after the celebration, but it was never closed. The unused outer platforms at Hoyt-Schermerhorn Streets are now sometimes used for movie shoots.

Recent News & Events

On This Brooklyn Route, the Next Stop is History
The 13th annual New York Transit Museum Bus Festival was held last September 16, 2006 to allow audiences to experience advances made in the field of transportation.