A subway station that hasn't seen a paying rider since 1946 is about to host an underground disco party. The New York Transit Museum turns its decommissioned Court Street Station at 99 Schermerhorn Street in Downtown Brooklyn into a two-level dance party called Vinyl Nights Presents Return to '76, celebrating the museum's 50th anniversary with music from the Vinyl Nights event.
The party's timing is no accident. As reported by Time Out, the museum first opened its doors on July 4, 1976, and that origin story runs deeper than most visitors realize. According to the New York Transit Museum, the institution began as a temporary two-month exhibition organized by transit employees for the U.S. Bicentennial, staged inside Court Street Station itself — and it proved so popular that transit officials decided to keep it running permanently.
Court Street Station has its own strange history baked into the walls. The stop opened on April 9, 1936, as the terminus for the IND Fulton Street Line's HH Shuttle, a short run connecting Court Street and Hoyt-Schermerhorn over just three blocks, per the museum. Low ridership shut the station to passengers in 1946, and the disused station later spent decades hosting worker training and film shoots.
According to the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, a disarmingly simple artwork was originally installed in the unused Myrtle Avenue subway station in 1980 and was later restored with heavy cleaning.
Vintage Equipment Sets the Scene
Vintage Equipment at the Museum The museum's collection includes historic train cars and vintage subway artifacts, per Time Out's report. The platform has room for about 20 vintage train cars. The museum's collection reportedly includes Brooklyn Union Gate Cars, an R44, and other vintage equipment. Drinks will be available at the event.
Dance instructor Jeff Selby will lead New Style Hustle lessons requiring no prior experience. The event will also feature music.
Judges With Deep Transit and NYC Roots
Event Programming The event's programming will include music.
Rebecca Lynn created the party's presenting brand, Vinyl Nights, as a spinoff of the NYC party Mobile Mondays!.
Tickets, Access, and a Milestone Exhibition
Drinks will be available at the event. The museum also presents a digital exhibition tracing its history back to its 1976 debut. The museum's other programming is separate from the party.
The museum is dedicated to urban mass transportation and maintains a collection of artifacts and archival items. Beyond the Brooklyn station, the museum operates a free Gallery at Grand Central Terminal and museum retail locations, which host rotating transit exhibits and an annual Holiday Train Show.
A Milestone Year With Labor Tensions Underneath
A Milestone Year The museum is marking its 50th anniversary with a run of anniversary-year programming.
Return to '76 joins a run of anniversary-year programming at the museum. Together, the events frame the museum's 50th year as both a nostalgic look back at 1976 and a moment when the institution's future remains an open story.
