Sometimes it’s nice to travel close to home. I’ve always lived in the New York City area (except for college) and often forget what a great place it is to visit. We recently decided to spend the afternoon in Industrial City, Brooklyn, to see the Escher Exhibit. We took the subway from NYU to 36th street and when we exited the station and tried to get oriented we read the small print on the website and realized the exhibit is closed on Mondays and Tuesdays. Guess what day it was? Yup, Tuesday.
Plan B…New York Transit Museum. Good thing it wasn’t Monday because this is closed then.
This is a really fun place if you’ve ever spent time riding the NYC subways. There were pictures showing the different methods of construction (tunneling, cut and cover), the unions and various ethnic groups who built the subways, the maps of the different lines, and the general history of the New York Transit System.
There was a display of old cars located in the lower area of the station, sitting on tracks that are still electrified but presently unused. The cars ranged from the early 1920s to the present and although it was interesting to see pot bellied stoves for heating the cars, I was most fascinated by the old subway posters.
As you can see, I found a Rheingold sign and a Miss Subway sign but couldn’t find one of my favorites: Miss Rheingold.
We went to the gift shop, just to look. It was actually the first time I can remember not having to walk through a gift shop to exit the museum. Fun gifts but I restrained myself and only took a picture.
I took the subway back to Manhattan to switch to the Path to get to Hoboken to change to NJ Transit since that has a station 3 blocks from my house. Since I’m a senior citizen I can get a round trip ticket to NYC for $7.50! The picture below is of the Oculus – the transportation hub built near the 911 Memorial. It is a wonderful building that houses a very expensive shopping mall (those who know me know that I don’t find that interesting at all) and often hosts various special events. The day I was there they had a farmer’s market with vodka, cheese, and bread samples…a fun break on the way home.
Tip: Check days and times before heading out to an activity.
So…
