New York Transit Museum

Ah, the subway. On the one hand, you can't beat its convenience --- $2.25 puts you within walking distance of some of the world's greatest vistas, restaurants, art, theater, and all the other things that cities are for. On the other hand, oy. What a mess. In return for 24/7 service carrying 1.6 billion people a year across 230 miles of routes, we get creepy crawlies of all kinds running around the stations, which themselves are crumbling, full of peeling paint, exposed power lines, and worse.

Needless to say, the New York Transit Museum focuses on the good stuff. Located in a former subway station in Brooklyn Heights, the museum has space to exhibit hundreds of artifacts. The preserved cars, complete with maps and ads, are enough to fill even the most cynical of riders with civic pride.