One of the many old trains that can be seen at the New York Transit Museum in Downtown Brooklyn. Photo courtesy of NY Transit Museum
DOWNTOWN BROOKLYN — The underground New York Transit Museum, whose entrance is on Schermerhorn Street, is commemorating the 120th anniversary of the city subway system with a new exhibit and a series of vintage train rides.
The city’s first subway line, from 145th Street in Manhattan to City Hall, opened in October 1904 after four years of work. It was operated by the Interborough Rapid Transit Company (IRT) a private company. The IRT and the Brooklyn-based Brooklyn Rapid Transit Company (BRT) had previously built elevated lines in Manhattan, Brooklyn and the Bronx as a precursor to the subway system.
The IRT kept expanding its subway network, and in 1908, its line was expanded to Borough Hall in Brooklyn. It was extended to Atlantic Avenue a few month later, and finally reached New Lots Avenue and Flatbush Avenue in 1920. The BRT also began a subway network, incorporating its elevated lines and also building new lines, such as the Sea Beach line in 1915. Finally, a city-owned network, the Independent (IND) system, made its debut in the 1930s and introduced even more Brooklyn routes, such as the Fulton Street line and the northern part of the Culver line (F train).
“Very few things exist that are as synonymous with New York as our subway. Whether you hear a snippet of the sound of a train or catch a quick glimpse of a station or a subway car, you know you’re in New York City,” says New York Transit Museum Director Concetta Bencivenga.
The new exhibit, “The Subway Is….,” opens on Sept. 26. Through an array of historic artifacts, photographs and multimedia installations, the exhibit traces he…
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