New York Transit Museum

Visit the #NYTransitMuseum and you'll see many of Oppy's Subway Sun posters on our vintage fleet! We are open Wednesday-Sunday, 10am-4pm. Plan your visit at nytransitmuseum.org.

Opdyke Jones began signing her name as “Oppy” as a means of disguising her gender in the predominantly male field. Her posters included playful characters cajoling and scolding commuters into courteous behavior. She is often credited with coining the term “litterbug."

The Subway Sun was a public service ad campaign that ran on the IRT (Interborough Rapid Transit). Oppy's illustrations had a lasting impact on riders. According to a @nytimes.com article from 1948, “Some riders who formerly would block doors, hog seats or read papers in crowded cars no longer dare.”

It's #WomensHistoryMonth! Throughout March we’ll be highlighting the legacy of women in transit and focusing on some of the individuals who were first in their fields. 🎨 We begin with Amelia "Oppy" Opdyke Jones, the creative force behind the "Subway Sun" from the mid-1940s until the 1960s.

🎬 This 1989 #NYTMCollection archival video clip comes from the finale of "Progress in Motion," narrated by actor Avery Brooks. The film describes the advances made by the MTA's agencies since its 1982 and 1987 Capital Plans brought billion dollars of investment into #NYC's transportation system.

🎂 Happy Birthday, @MTA.info! #TodayInHistory: #OnThisDay in 1968, the New York State Legislature created the Metropolitan Transportation Authority to oversee transportation operations in twelve counties as the parent agency of the New York City Transit Authority. The MTA turns 58 today.

The photographs shown here come from the Miss Transit scrapbook in our archive's John Jacob Carol Lamond Collection. Lamond was 2nd Vice President of the Harlem Transit Committee in the 1960s, and donated these photographs, among other images and documents from his time on the HTC, to the Museum.

The crowning of Miss Transit, also known as “New York’s Transportation Queen,” took place at a special ceremony and dance each year.

Contestants were recruited by Transit employees who handed out entry forms to Black women between the ages of 17 and 28 who rode public transportation in the city. Entrants were screened and then met with a panel of judges to discuss hobbies and ambitions, and to display their talents.

The organizer of the Miss Transit contest was the Harlem Transit Committee (HTC). Founded in 1936, the HTC’s mission was to protect the hard-earned gains won by the first Black conductors and motormen, who had just been appointed the year prior.

#BlackHistoryMonth: The annual Miss Transit contest sought out the “most beautiful, intelligent and talented girl in Harlem.” These #NYTMCollection photos show some of the contestants and winners over the years.

📆 Save the date! Spring and summer tours go on sale to Museum members Wednesday, April 1 at 10am ET! This includes our "Jewel in the Crown: Old City Hall Station” tours. Not a member? Join, renew, or gift a membership today: nytransitmuseum.org/membership.

R33WF cars were purchased to provide service on the “Subway Special,” an express route that brought passengers from Times Square and Grand Central directly to the Willets Point station. Painted in a festive turquoise/white livery, the cars earned the nickname “Bluebird." Do you remember them?

👀 What a view! These #NYTMCollection photographs show R33WF subway cars being delivered via barge to #NYC in anticipation of the 1964-65 World’s Fair. Behind the barges, the Manhattan skyline and Williamsburg Bridge can be seen.

The Museum’s Content & Research Manager, Polly Desjarlais, tells us all about it.

Music credit: “Banjo Rag,” Arthur “Guitar Boogie” Smith.

Modeling the power of air pressure, a single train car travelled back and forth through an underground tunnel beneath Warren Street and Broadway in Manhattan. New Yorkers paid 25 cents to ride and experience the novelty (that’s about $6 in today’s money).

The Beach Pneumatic Transit opened #OnThisDay 156 years ago in 1870.

Thirty-four years before the first subway line in #NYC, Alfred Ely Beach dreamed of using pneumatic tubes to power an underground transit system. When he couldn’t get the permits he needed, he went ahead and built it anyway!

#TransitTrivia: 🎬 The opening credits of the 1977 film "Saturday Night Fever" begin with a shot of a #NYCsubway train on elevated tracks in #Brooklyn. Can you name the car model or the station the train pulls into? Hint: Though the train is labeled "B," this station is now served by the D train.

former Sea Gate trolley line traveling down Surf Avenue in Coney Island in 1944.

Luna Park tragically burned down in 1944 and the Sea Gate trolley line was discontinued two years later.

Are you looking forward to visiting Coney Island this summer?

former Sea Gate trolley line traveling down Surf Avenue in Coney Island in 1940.

Luna Park opened in 1903 and served Coney Island’s summer visitors for over 40 years. Known for its ornate design and thrilling rides, it was a major operation. It took up 50 acres between Surf and Neptune Avenues, bound by West 8th and West 12th Streets, and had its own police and fire departments.

former Sea Gate trolley line traveling down Surf Avenue in Coney Island in 1912.

🎡 Missing summer? Here are some photos from our archives showing the former Sea Gate trolley line traveling down Surf Avenue in Coney Island in 1912, 1940 and 1944. In all three #NYTMCollection photos, the entrance to historic Luna Park is visible just behind the trolley.

The wallpaper design on the New York City subway R46 cars features the New York City and State crests alternating.

The R46s are best known for their visually striking orange and yellow plastic bucket seats; the tan wallpaper, however, is more subtle.

#TransitTrivia: Can you name which other train models feature city or state seals? There’s more than one!

The interior of an R46 subway car, with the iconic orange bucket seats, wallpaper, and an NYC subway map.

#MysteryMonday: Have you ever noticed this unusual wallpaper when riding the subway?

#DidYouKnow that it features a repeated pattern of the official seals of both New York City and New York State? The wallpaper is standard on R46 cars, which have been running in the subway system for over 50 years.

Archival photo of double decker bus in the snow

PLEASE NOTE: Due to the snow storm, our Grand Central Gallery and Shop at 2 Broadway are CLOSED today, Monday, February 23. The Museum in Downtown Brooklyn is closed Mondays and Tuesdays. Our regular hours are Wednesday-Sunday, 10am-4pm.

Plan your visit at nytransitmuseum.org.

This included a dentist’s office, a hat shop, and a cabaret club called the White Poodle. Also visible are pedestrians, an automobile, and an unpaved road.

On the right, the Our Lady of Pompeii Catholic Church and School is under construction. It was completed in 1930 and still stands today.

1927 photograph of Bleeker Street just west of Sixth Avenue. This included a dentist’s office, a hat shop, and a cabaret club called the White Poodle. Also visible are pedestrians, an automobile, and an unpaved road.

#ThenAndNow: This 1927 #NYTMCollection photograph shows a view of Bleecker Street just west of Sixth Avenue in Greenwich Village.

The photo was taken by Granville W. Pullis in preparation for the construction of IND Eighth Avenue Line, and shows the street’s many businesses of the time.

These #NYTMCollection photographs were taken at Worth Street station in 1947. Do you remember Worth Street station?

The platforms came so far north that they nearly reached the Worth Street station, so the decision was made to close Worth Street. After Worth Street’s closure, Brooklyn Bridge—City Hall was renamed Brooklyn Bridge–Worth St, although the station’s name was reverted back in 1995.

Platforms at Brooklyn Bridge—City Hall were extended northward to serve longer trains and to replace the curved extensions constructed in 1910 at the south end of the station.

The station was in use until 1962, when major renovations at the nearby Brooklyn Bridge—City Hall station made Worth Street station redundant.