PLATFORM: Creative Musings on Mass Transit

This event is no longer on sale.

Wednesday June 27

6:00 PM  –  8:30 PM

Inspired by the engineering, intricate choreography, and impromptu interactions of your daily commute? Wish there was an open mic night for historians and urbanists? A show-and-tell for your creative musings on mass transit?

Us, too. That’s why we created PLATFORM, a series of cross-disciplinary programs created by the public for the public. Have an idea? We’ll give you a platform.

The next PLATFORM event has been scheduled for Wednesday, June 27, 2018. On that evening, selected projects will be featured in an evening of simultaneous installations, displays, workshops, and performances all taking place in our museum in Downtown Brooklyn.

June 27th Event Lineup:

Aaron Asis & Justin Rivers
Fourteen City Hall

“Fourteen City Hall” is a site-specific installation designed to highlight the historical significance of the original City Hall Station. The installation, rendered as a sculptural series of cords coupled with ascending visual poetics, pays homage to the unique 14-arch design of New York City's crown-jewel station and connects the Museum's mezzanine exhibition level with the platform below.

Alexis Robbins, kamrDANCE
Defining Characteristics

Every day, women who use public transportation face a variety of challenges in moving around New York City. “Defining Characteristics” explores female friendships and how women relate to each other, despite a culture that enforces the idea that women should not or cannot have genuine friendships with one another. Tap and contemporary dancers team up to provide rhythm, sound, and movement in this performance which echoes our constantly moving transit system, hectic NYC lifestyles, and varying female relationships.

Carrie Sijia Wang
PARALLEL NEW YORK

Enter an alternative New York City where fantastical transit system inventions aim to solve the city's various problems with Parallel New York. In this imagined universe, an organization called PECSNYC (Progress, Efficiency, Comfort and Self-fulfillment for New York City) sponsors visionaries to realize their bold, out-of-the-box ideas to innovate in the city’s transit system and improve New Yorkers’ quality of living. From an in-train garden that allows subway passengers to nurture plants and be close to nature, to a giant moving sidewalk improved upon from Alfred Speer’s early 20th-century Railway Sidewalk, visit an almost perfect world of unlimited imagination, optimism, and possibility.

Filip Jeremic & Ali Levin, Ask the Elders
Ridin' with Roz & Glenda! 

Join Roz and Glenda — best friends and VERY proud native New Yorkers — to commute down memory lane onboard the New York Transit Museum’s vintage fleet in this interactive improv experience! Just like when you meet a character onboard New York’s transit system, you never know quite where this conversation will take you!

The Apple Boys
At the turn of the twentieth century, the brand spanking new IRT subway system helped transform Coney Island from a vacation destination for wealthy elites to a playground for all New Yorkers. The Apple Boys were there to bring everyone a fresh apple delivery and lift their spirits with a song. Come take a ride with them to hear stories of the subway, original songs and your favorite standards, and tips for making the most of your next trip to ride The Cyclone!

Joshua Eisenberg
6 Note Players

On an average weekday, more than 5 million people make their way through New York City in thousands of buses and subway cars, passing by – and occasionally pausing to listen to – street and transit system performers, also known as “buskers”. “The 6th Note Players” uses the magic of technology to unite four different subway performers who never met in person to perform one song, together, with your help.

Joshua Yoder, NYC Ghostbusters
Transit Makes Me Feel Good: A Ghostbuster's Guide To NYC Travel
Joshua Yoder is a Ghostbuster. As a member of the NYC Ghostbusters cosplay group, one of the biggest challenges they face is navigating public transit in a uniform that is seemingly not designed for public travel. From subway cars to stations, he’ll share his interesting and humorous stories of navigating the NYC transit system.

Karen Smul
Davey on the Bus

As Karen Smul boarded an uptown Madison Avenue bus at St. Patrick’s Cathedral to return home after the Easter Parade, she sat down across from uniquely costumed man. He agreed to an impromptu, twenty-block photo shoot in the back of the bus, ending when they reached her 86th Street bus stop.

Kevin Sacco
Subway Scenes

Subway Scenes features Kevin Sacco’s illustrations of iconic, everyday moments in the New York City subway system in place of advertisements aboard one of the New York Transit Museum’s beloved vintage train cars.

 RKHTY & Asher
Tuned In
Music is the narrative to our daily lives. It speaks to our souls, transforms our commute and brings stillness to the daily hustle and bustle. In “Tuned In” audiences will experience the commute through the eyes of a performing artist. RKHTY (Ruh-keh-ti) will reflect on how music and art has played a major role in setting the MTA system apart from all transportation systems. Meanwhile, Asher will take your commute to the next level with his futuristic installation.


For information on wheelchair access, American Sign Language interpreters, Assisted Listening Devices, or other accessibility matters please visit the accessibility page on the Museum's website.

Please note: To receive the member price of $10 in your check-out basket, existing members must sign in above to verify membership.

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