Day 8. The New York Transit Museum

On By Little Miss TravellerIn New York January 2016, North America

It was time to pack our belongings after breakfast and after leaving them at the Club Quarters hotel to collect later, it was off for our final day of sightseeing.  We started off by walking along the waterfront in Battery Park for one last time then at 10.00 am as the Museum of American Indians opened its doors in the nearby Bowling Green Park, we took a look inside.

National Museum of American Indians
National Museum of American Indians

It’s free to enter and is part of the Smithsonian Institution, has three interesting galleries but what we liked most though was the actual building.  It’s the former Customs House where ship captains had to come and pay their landing dues on arrival in port.  The opulent circular entrance hall with its marble pillars retains its huge mahogany counter and domed ceiling.

National Museum of American Indians
Opulent entrance hall

From there we took the subway over to Brooklyn.  A week ago when we first started using the subway I found the stations to be utilitarian, functional spaces with tiling and metal girders but as the week progressed my views changed,  looking closely each station has its own individuality.  Mosaic tiles are embedded into the walls in the design of station names, murals, animals etc. and it’s fun to spot this subway art passing between platforms and exits.

As we’ve so enjoyed riding the New York subway we thought it was only fitting to end the week with a visit to the New York Transit Museum based in the disused Court Street subway station in Brooklyn.

New York Transit Museum
Entrance to the New York Transit Museum

It costs $7 to enter and is worth every cent, what fun we had!  Located on two floors, the upper level contains a section on how the New York subway system was constructed with some interactive displays.  Then there are turnstiles from the opening of the subway in 1904 to those in use today which can be walked through, plus fare collection systems from cash, tokens and vending machines whilst art nouveau transit posters line the walls.

New York Transit Museum
Old style turnstiles

‘Bringing back the city’ an exhibition detailing how the New York transit copes in times of crisis was extremely interesting.  One section related to weather, in particular the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy and another on the terrorist attacks of 9/11 demonstrating the resourcefulness, resilience and heroics of transit workers and how quickly they were able to get the public transport running and the city back to normal again.  The lower platform level contains a selection of subway engines and carriages from 1904 to those in use today and we enjoyed climbing on board and exploring the modifications over time.  There is also a fully functioning signal box/ control room which was used when this was a functioning station.

New York Transit Museum
New York Transit Museum

Leaving there, we headed to the nearby active subway station and sped along to Central Park for our third and final visit of the week.  Today’s visit was to take a look at the ice rink as we hadn’t seen this until now.  It was lovely to stand on the bridge and watch the skaters with the backdrop of skyscrapers, we were even tempted to take to the ice ourselves, but we didn’t really have enough time.

Next followed dinner at Denny’s on Nassau Street just a short walk from our hotel where we returned for a coffee and to collect our luggage before heading back to Newark Liberty airport for our 10.30 pm flight back to London Heathrow.

Dinner on United Airlines flight
Dinner on our United Airlines flight

After a meal on board the aircraft and a couple of glasses of wine we were soon asleep almost until our arrival at Heathrow the next morning.

Our week long New York adventure had come to an end and we returned home with so many happy memories having loved every minute of the trip.  Our hotel Club Quarters just steps away from the New York Stock Exchange was extremely good and we would certainly consider staying there again on a future visit.  Visiting in early January meant that we had the city mostly to ourselves, the weather was cold yet bright and sunny apart from heavy downpours on the first morning.

Just to dispel a few myths:

  • New York is a perfectly safe city to wander around in, both day and late evening, probably more so than some European cities we have visited
  • Riding the subway is also safe, we used it widely, both at rush hour and at quieter times and we felt completely at ease
  • New Yorkers are helpful and courteous.  Travelling independently, we spoke mostly with locals rather than tourists and we never came across one arrogant or rude person.

If you have enjoyed reading this post you may also like:

Exploring Brooklyn, Little Italy and Chinatown

Visiting Liberty and Ellis Islands, New York City

 

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45 thoughts on “Day 8. The New York Transit Museum”

  1. Pingback: Day 2. Grand Central Station, New York City – Love Travelling Blog

  2. Pingback: Day 5. Exploring central Moscow – Love Travelling

  3. Pingback: Day 3. Visiting Frankfurt’s Museums – Love Travelling

  4. Hi! I read all of your NY blog posts in one sitting. I am hoping to the city that never sleeps soon and I am looking for ideas on where to go, how to get there, and general feel of the city coming from someone who was visiting for the first time. I took notes of your tips, thank you for them. Cheers!

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  5. You should definitely come back to North America sometime, there is so much more to see! You could do a National Parks trip and see places like the Grand Canyon and Yellowstone Park. I just recently went to Bryce Canyon, and it’s a one-of-a-kind experience. Love getting to read about your travels!

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    1. Thanks Em for making contact and for you kind words. I’d love to return to the US. I have actually visited many National Parks in the west including Yellowstone, the Grand Canyon, Zion and Bryce and loved all of them. These were long before I started my blog so it will be great to return and see them once again and other ones too.

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  6. Pingback: Day 4. Exploring Brooklyn, Little Italy and Chinatown – Love Travelling

      1. I am going to the Far East for the first time the next year and have been reading your Bangkok posts … thank YOU for writing all this great information. I am going to Australia and Antarctica in January. Safe and fun travels!

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  10. I love your format, and how each day of your adventure is embedded in one post. It is such a great and easy to navigate format. I’m a brand new blogger, so I am in awe of both your editing/formatting talents and your travel experience!

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  11. So inspiring. I’m going to make it a point to visit some of the places you blogged about in your New York City series. After all, I’m here. And why not? I should do a series of posts about being a tourist in my own city. I think it’ll be fun.

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  12. I’m not long back from NY and had a similar experience to you. I found it safe despite what you hear, and I found that every person I met was so friendly and more than willing to help with directions or recommendations. I can’t wait to go back again!

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  13. I love New York City, and it looks like you had an amazing trip! As a US citizen though I’m surprised to see you kept returning to Denny’s. I know it’s nice to have something close by, but there’s so much great food to be had in NYC! Glad you enjoyed your first trip.

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