New York Transit Museum

The New York Transit Museum: 50 Years of Stories is a special anniversary exhibition exploring some of the most surprising, funny, and fascinating tales from the history of New York’s transportation system. Drawn from the Museum’s vast collection of photographs and objects, the exhibition highlights unusual transit experiments, bold proposals for improving the system, and the memorable personalities who shaped it. Along the way, visitors will encounter singing bus drivers, inventive scientists, and a few New Yorkers who pursued immortality in unexpected ways.

Ode to the Orange Seats is a loving tribute to an increasingly rare sight in New York’s subways: the orange and yellow bucket seats first introduced on R44 cars in 1971. A bold departure from the cooler tones that had long defined subway interiors, the sunny seats quickly became an iconic part of the city’s transit system, capturing the imaginations (and backsides) of millions of riders for more than 50 years. Featuring works by 14 artists across mediums including miniature modeling, tattoo, watercolor, flashe, acrylic, and oil painting, the exhibit explores how the everyday commute can spark nostalgia, creativity, personal connection, and spirited debate among New Yorkers.

FAREwell, MetroCard tells the story of the iconic fare card that reshaped daily life for millions of New Yorkers. When the MetroCard debuted in 1994, its mission was twofold: introduce new technology to the transit system and speed the elimination of tokens as a way to pay fares. In the decades that followed, the MetroCard became almost as iconic as the token itself, bearing safety reminders, commemorating anniversaries, and celebrating cultural moments. As OMNY becomes the new way to pay, the exhibition invites visitors to explore the MetroCard’s origins, its systemwide rollout, the technology behind it, and the many ways it became a cultural icon for a generation of riders.

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.

Steel, Stone & Backbone 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.