New York Transit Museum

Always fun, always interesting, and always friendly! There is plenty of merchandise for adults, children, adults who feel like old children, and everything from historic artifacts and materials for sale, art, books, clothing, and a lot of fun new MTA merchandise…all of the above with offerings for both adults and children! Whether you are a serious MTA or transit fan, looking for a more unique NYC souvenir which is far better than the stuff random souvenir shops sell, or whether you’re looking for a gift for a friend or a child, the Transit Museum gift shops have it all! Don’t forget to join the Transit Museum as a member for perks and special member opportunities! (Photos with this review from the annual Holiday Train Show at the GCT location)

I love visiting the New York Transit Museum. This location is at Grand Central Terminal at 89 East 42nd Street, New York, NY. This is the se one location that I visit. This time we only went in to buy a plate holder. However, the exhibition was awesome. We walked throughout the whole space which offers great subway memorabilia. The staff is friendly and helpful!

Nicely done and free. We came during the week and it wasn’t busy. My kids loved it. Just my toddler did a tantrum on the way out because he wanted to buy everything from the gift shop. There are a lot of beautiful toys and books for purchase.

The New York Transit Museum Gallery & Store is a gallery based in Grand Central Terminal and one that features railroad exhibits and MTA subway theme merchandise.

In June of 2023, I brought my wife and myself to visit the New York Transit Museum Gallery & Store. We enjoyed looking at the exhibits, learning about the history of the MTA and railway service in New York.

When visiting the gallery, we also learned more the MTA’s most recently completed project, the Grand Central Madison, a commuter rail terminal for the Long Island Rail Road (LIRR). This project was years in the making and provides New Yorkers a more a convenient commute from Long Island to Midtown Manhattan and vice versa.

If you enjoy learning about the history of the MTA, my wife and I highly recommend that you visit the New York Transit Museum Gallery & Store!!!

It's a super tiny store more than a museum, but every Christmas they have a great model of NYC with some old Lionel train models on quite a few different tracks. They span quite a few years of service and are pretty detailed, great for both kids and adults interested in trains. They sometimes have extra model trains in display cases around the diorama based on old long haul train lines. Not sure I'd suggest coming here other than to see the models in December though, it's a small store with overpriced souvenirs.

Have bought lovely items there on each one of my 9 visits to NYC. The items are still in use today and are very durable. Great staff.

I really love this Transit Annex with all the changing exhibits they have about the subway system and other trains and railroad and the model train show they have every holiday season and the books and other merchandise they sell there is worth a look and best of all it’s free though a donation is greatly appreciated

Liked the holiday train here a lot. It was fun looking for the yeti

Incredibly impressive holiday train show that is free this year! There is even a tiny toy store w a tiny model train as part of the train set - adorable and clever. And look for the yeti! The people who are complaining that this is not a museum seem to be missing the fact that the place is literally called “museum shop,” as in gift shop. If you’re looking for the transit museum, that’s in Brooklyn. This is wonderful!

I visited this museum one day after work during the holidays when they had a great train display of Grand Central and upstate New York with a lot of scaled-down trains, trolleys, and cryptids. It's free to visit, and easy to get to, so definitely worth a visit at some point in December.

Haven't been there in awhile
Needed a card holder... they have something for everyone
Lots of pictures of the city being built especially the transit system...we had to wait for a hour because we got there a hour before it opened..so we walked around the inside of Grand Central

The model train set was beautiful. I purchased a book and a poster. The staff were very helpful and friendly.

Kids really enjoyed seeing the trains and of course the souvenirs afterwards. Expensive but was worth it

I go for the miniature train exhibition every year. It's a great place to bring your kid along.

Tiny space, but adorable merchandise and a nice train display for the holidays. Needs more Z Train paraphernalia ! Unique gifts like magnets of the Courtesy Counts campaign

We go every December because my son loves the holiday model train show. It's free although it's small and no major change every year.

Very cute holiday train show.

My son loves the museum. He knows how to navigate through the terminal with ease getting to the front entrance without issue. I get to see the joy in his eyes once he knows he's there!!! 😊😊😊Soon he will have a great collection of trains and I will have great memories!!!😊😊😊

Took part in the train show today before it closes Sunday. Love the details.

One of my favourite transit themed shops in the whole world!!!! Well designed merchandise with transit theme.