Light Show Brightens Grand Central Terminal

The holiday season in New York is full of familiar images: snowfall in Central Park, Fifth Avenue window displays, and lights and decorations in landmark buildings. For many visitors this experience begins as they step off the train and into the quintessential urban space and meeting place that is Grand Central Terminal. << Full Story

M&M's Helps Celebrate the Subway Centennial

On October 27, 2004, MasterFoods, makers of America's most famous candy, unveiled a limited edition of M&M's in honor of the New York City Subway Centennial. << Full Story

MTA Board Approves New 5-Year Capital Program

The MTA Board has approved an ambitious $17.2 billion core Capital Program for 2005-2009. The program was developed to ensure that the investment in MTA subways, buses, rail lines, and bridges and tunnels remains at a level that will maintain and improve upon the gains in reliability, comfort, and safety made over the past two decades. The plan also calls for investments in security projects that will make the system more secure and for network expansion projects. << Full Story

Art Improves Public Transportation

The rehabilitation of the West 8th Street NY Aquarium station of the D, F, Q subway lines in Coney Island, Brooklyn, has been honored by the Art Commission of the City of New York with a 2003 Art Commission Award for Excellence in Design. The award was presented by Mayor Michael Bloomberg at a ceremony at the Brooklyn Museum on July 12. << Full Story

Brochures Detail Emergency Procedures

Over 250,000 copies of a new "Emergency and Evacuation Instructions" brochure are being distributed in June as seat drops on the MTA Long Island Rail Road and MTA Metro-North Railroad. Car cards have already been posted in the subways describing what to do in emergency situations and the new brochure provides similar information to commuter customers. << Full Story

MTA Presents Design of Fulton Street Transit Center

The MTA has presented its design plans for the new Fulton Street Transit Center, the first of two projects that will contribute to the renewal of Downtown Manhattan by improving the local transportation system. The Fulton Street Transit Center — designed by the international architecture firm, Grimshaw — features a glass and steel dome that will harvest natural light and reflect it as far underground as the A, C, and 4, 5 platforms and will addresses long-standing obstacles to better access in the area. << Full Story

Museum Book Wins Award

New York City Subway Trains, a book of punch-out, fold-together subway cars authored by the New York Transit Museum and published by Gibbs Smith Publishers, won an award in the Children's Interactive category in the Independent Publisher Book Awards. The book sells for $16.95 and is available at Transit Museum stores in Grand Central Terminal and Brooklyn and on-line.

What Do the Homeless Need Most?

Like all people, they’re individuals and every individual is different. Some homeless people just need a place to stay for a few days. Others need help with addictions. Some need medical care. Some have just become homeless through an accident or falling through the social safety net and need quick intervention to keep them from becoming entrenched in homelessness. Others have long-term problems that require multiple remedies. Most need a healthy meal, but giving them pocket change or a sandwich is unlikely to go very far in solving their problems. << Full Story

Showtime! — Celebrate the Subway Centennial on Vintage Rail Cars

Every year between Thanksgiving and New Year, tens of thousands of tourists flock to New York to sample the city’s holiday offerings. Broadway's many theaters, the tree at Rockefeller Center, and the fantastic selection of shops and department stores are all top destinations and major attractions. MTA New York City Transit has come up with its own special holiday attractions. << Full Story

Holiday Train Show A Big Hit

The holiday train show that opened recently at the Transit Museum Gallery and Store in Grand Central Terminal is already a hit with big and little kids alike. << Full Story

Celebrating the Subway's Centennial

One hundred years after the first New York City subway train rumbled into passenger service, on October 27, 1904, New York City transit employees in 1800s costume greeted the crowd assembling to mark the Subway Centennial. After remarks by MTA Chair Peter Kalikow and Mayor Michael Bloomberg (who called the subway the finest in the world and later said that “it worked a hundred years ago and works now, taking millions of people to and from work and to all the entertainment, sports, and cultural events this great city is noted for”), a train of fully restored early IRT subway cars left the old City Hall station to re-enact that historic trip. << Full Story

Transit Museum Issues First-Ever Catalog in Time for Holiday Shopping

With the release of the first-ever catalog from the New York Transit Museum, transit buffs and holiday shoppers have a new and easy way to get transportation-related gift items and memorabilia. The Transit Museum catalog — issued also to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the subway system — features dozens of items branded with the icons of the New York City subway system as well as MTA Long Island Rail Road and MTA Metro-North Railroad. << Full Story

The City Beneath Us: Building the New York Subway

New Yorkers — and many visitors — think they know all there is to know about the subway. But how many know what went into building the system, which ranks among the greatest engineering and construction achievements of the 20th century? The New York Transit Museum's new exhibition "The City Beneath Us: Building the New York Subway," gives even the most knowledgeable New Yorkers fascinating insights into this monumental effort. << Full Story

MTA Introduces New Security Ads

Building on the success of its widely recognized "See Something, Say Something" security awareness advertising campaign, the MTA has unveiled a new series of posters that reinforce the effort to enlist customers to join the police and MTA employees as the eyes and ears of the system. << Full Story

Chairman's Safety Awards

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority honored the winners of the seventh annual Chairman’s Safety Award program at a ceremony on the Northeast Balcony of Grand Central Terminal on May 25. New York City Transit won the Outstanding Agency Achievement in Safety award. The Sustained Achievement in Safety Award went to Long Island Rail Road for achieving a decrease in the rate of employee lost-time and restricted duty incidents. << Full Story

Historic Eagle Returns to New Perch at Grand Central Terminal

Celebrating its heritage, MTA Metro-North Railroad recently installed a beautifully restored cast-iron eagle to stand sentry over the southwest entrance to Grand Central Terminal. << Full Story

Driving with Pride: LI Bus Driver Among Best in Nation

MTA Long Island Bus operator Joseph Piegari won third place in the 2004 Operators' Competition in the 40-foot bus category, against 79 of the most talented bus operators in North America. Earlier this year Mr. Piegari took top honors in the New York State bus roadeo. << Full Story

MTA Announces Public Hearing Schedule

The MTA has announced it will hold a series of public hearings November 8-10 to provide the public with an opportunity to comment on a series of proposed fare and toll changes and service modifications. << Full Story

Subway Style

As part of the MTA celebration of the 100th anniversary of the New York City subway system, the New York Transit Museum organized Subway Style: 100 Years of Architecture and Design in the New York City Subway, a free exhibit in Vanderbilt Hall of Grand Central Terminal. << Full Story

Opportunity in Blue

The MTA Police is growing — from 521 officers in 2001 to a budgeted 723 in 2004 — largely due to post-9/11 security needs. That's a 38% increase, and overtime is up by 31% for the period. In this a rapidly growing organization, promotions happen frequently, and hiring is anticipated in the near future. << Full Story

Early Days of the Subway

When New York's first subway, the Interborough Rapid Transit Company (IRT), entered its second decade of operation in 1914, it faced many new challenges. Chief among these were completing construction and expanding service. The IRT also faced competition from a rival system, the Brooklyn Rapid Transit Company (later changed to Brooklyn-Manhattan Transit or BMT). To help address these issues and gain public support for its business interests, the IRT hired Ivy Ledbetter Lee, one of the leading public relations specialists in the country, in 1916. << Full Story

Three New One-Day Getaways Join Many Favorites at MTA LIRR

Along with warm weather, the summer season brings a tradition for many: the MTA Long Island Rail Road’s One-Day Getaways. New offerings this year include the intriguing “Ales, Tales, & Trails,” the interactive “Let’s Get Hitched,” and the Wild West flavor of “Deep Hollow Ranch.” Old favorites include “Montauk Lighthouse” Getaway, the renamed “Cruisin’ On Cloud 9” Getaway, and the Fire Island spanning “Island Hopping” Getaway.

Both weekend and weekday getaways are offered, most are suitable for children, and all provide a cool, no-fuss break from the city at a very affordable price. Click here for a complete schedule of getaways and purchasing information.

Catch Underground Performers Above Ground

If you've been enchanted by the sounds of New York's underground, you're in for a treat. The sounds of the diverse music styles and stylists you've enjoyed in the subways as part of MTA Arts for Transit's Music Under New York (MUNY) are expanding the program with a new summer series, Above Ground. << Full Story

Music Under New York's 17th Annual Audition

On Wednesday, June 30, 2004, MTA Arts for Transit presents the 17th Annual Music Under New York (MUNY) Audition in Grand Central Terminal Vanderbilt Hall. << Full Story

"Plan B" for Vanderbilt Hall

Seeking to stretch the definition of painting while stretching the imaginations of New Yorkers, internationally acclaimed artist Rudolf Stingel created an enormous painting on the floor of Grand Central Terminal’s Vanderbilt Hall — 27,000 square feet of wall-to-wall pink and blue floral carpet titled “Plan B.” << Full Story

Centennial Exhibition Showcases Subway Style

The current exhibition at the UBS Gallery, Subway Style: Architecture and Design in the NYC Subway, traces the evolution of the system’s design over the past century. Conceived as a great public work, the subway system melded innovative engineering with stylish architecture and interior design. The exhibition showcases examples of architecture, ceramics, metalwork, lighting, signage, furnishings, maps, fare collection, advertising, and rolling stock. << Full Story

You'll Have the Best Time In Grand Central Terminal

Time is running out for Grand Central’s 15-year-old master clock atop the Information Booth, which also controls the 20 historic clocks in the terminal. The master clock’s up-to-the-minute accuracy was controlled by a short wave radio signal received daily at 3 a.m. from the atomic clock in Boulder, Colorado, which, in turn, set all the analog clocks with hands and faces as well as dozens of newer, digital ones with glowing numeric read-outs. << Full Story

Queens Midtown Tunnel: On The Night Shift

While most of us are drifting off to sleep, maintenance crew members at the Queens Midtown Tunnel are just starting their day, getting the tunnel ready for the next day. With average daily traffic of 80,000 vehicles, all work inside the tunnel's two tubes is performed overnight, between the hours of 11 p.m. and 6 a.m. << Full Story

MTA Bridges and Tunnels Score High in Customer Satisfaction

MTA Bridges and Tunnels' nine crossings connecting the five boroughs of New York City continue to score high in overall customer satisfaction in independent random surveys conducted this year, showing improvement at many facilities. << Full Story

New Roadway Deck For Bronx-Whitestone Bridge

Work is to begin soon on a new, lightweight steel deck that will strengthen the bridge. Find out why it's needed, how it will be constructed, and what are the plans to minimize disruptions for the commuter.<< Full Story

Weapon Against the Ravages of Winter

Fixing potholes on the fly, Bridges & Tunnels' Roadpatcher truck blows out debris, and fills up the hole in one smooth operation that can repair 100 potholes in an eight-hour shift. << Full Story

Hollywood Underground

Lights, camera, action, please stand clear of the closing doors. That's the type of direction you can expect to hear in the New York City subway system, where film makers and television producers have come for decades to add depth, texture and realism to any story that takes place in New York. << Full Story

MTA Recognized for Accessibility Achievements

Baruch College's Computer Center for Visually Impaired People (CCVIP) presented a special award to the MTA at its "25 Years of Access to Excellence" celebration. The award recognizes the outstanding job the MTA has done to make its transportation network more accessible to people with disabilities.<< Full Story

Staten Island Bus Operator Saves Teen

Castleton Depot Bus Operator Cono Turchio refuses to refer to himself as a hero. A grateful Staten Island family, however, begs to differ after the nine-year NYC Transit veteran leapt to the aid of 12-year-old Tyrone Banks, the victim of a particularly dangerous prank. <<Full Story

Discounts on Top of Discounts

Employees and employers can all save money when their company enrolls in a Pre-Tax Transit Benefit program. And this is on top of the discounts already available through MetroCard and monthly commuter rail tickets. << Full Story

New Buses for Hudson Rail Link

Marking 12 years of successful feeder bus service in the Bronx, MTA Metro-North Railroad is introducing a new fleet of 10 buses for the popular Hudson Rail Link. <<Full Story

Big Jet ... Bigger Bridges!

The Corcorde jet makes its last journey by barge up the Hudson River under three MTA Bridges & Tunnels' bridges to the Intrepid Sea Air & Space Museum.<< Full Story

Recycling Redbirds

After 40 years of service, it's time for for the familiar, durable Redbird cars on the IRT to yield place to 21st century equipment. But how to get as much benefit as possible from the disposal of the outgoing cars? << Full Story

More Parking at
Long Beach Station

A section of the new two-level commuter parking facility at Long Beach Station — offering around 214 parking spaces — is now open for use by LIRR customers.<< Full Story

Increased Bus Service on Long Island

MTA Long Island Bus joined with local government and civic leaders in two Nassau County communities in recent weeks to introduce expanded bus service. << Full Story

Metro-North's Metro-Man

Is it a train? Is it a robot? Is it a human? Well, it's a little bit of all three. This new, eye-catching automaton has a fun, friendly look about it, and a winning personality, too. It's MTA Metro-North Railroad's new school safety educator — Metro-Man. << Full Story

New Look for a Classic Bridge

MTA Bridges & Tunnels uses new technology to restore the classic profile of the nearly 60-year-old Bronx-Whitestone Bridge. << Full Story