Change at Jamaica: 190 Years of the Long Island Rail Road
The New York Transit Museum and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) today announced that Elizabeth Moore will discuss research for her upcoming book, Change at Jamaica: 190 Years of the Long Island Rail Road, in a conversation at the New York Transit Museum on Thursday, May 23 at 6:00 p.m. Moore received a writing fellowship at the CUNY Gotham Center supported by the Gardiner Foundation and recently curated an online exhibit on this same subject.
The presentation will feature a look at Moore’s ongoing research, untold stories of the Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) as well as new archival materials from the Transit Museum’s collection, digitized with support from the Robert David Lion Gardiner Foundation. Her research will be published as a book by Cornell University Press’s Three Hills Press, slated for 2025.
LIRR President Rob Free will convene the conversation and offer a few words of introduction.
One hundred ninety years ago on April 24, 1834, New York State officially chartered the LIRR to run from the Brooklyn waterfront 95 miles east to Greenport, Long Island. Despite early challenges and financial troubles, the LIRR spurred explosive population growth in Brooklyn and Queens and significantly shaped the suburbs of Long Island—long before the rise of the automobile. As the first modern electrified commuter service in the United States, the LIRR is the nation’s oldest railroad still operating under its original name – and remains the nation’s busiest commuter line. And these well-traveled lines and branches figure prominently into bold new plans for a more livable New York.
Tickets for this event are $10 for museum members and $15 for the general public. For members the discount is applied at checkout.
Members of the public can register for the event here.
For more information on Transit Museum accessibility including wheelchair access, please visit nytransitmuseum.org/accessibility. Please email access@nytransitmuseum.org with any questions.
Children ages 15 and under must be accompanied by an adult.
For general inquires email programs@nytransitmuseum.org.
All ticket sales are final. Should customers be unable to attend the program on the date reserved, the full price of unused tickets may be treated as a donation to the Transit Museum and is tax deductible to the fullest extent allowed by law. The Museum is not able to provide refunds or reschedule reservations to another date.
About The New York Transit Museum:
New York Transit Museum is the largest museum in the United States devoted to urban public transportation history and one of the premier institutions of its kind in the world. Since its inception over forty years ago, the Museum – which is housed in a historic 1936 IND subway station in Downtown Brooklyn – has grown in scope and popularity. For nearly 25 years, the Transit Museum has also operated a Gallery & Store in Grand Central Terminal. To learn more, visit nytransitmuseum.org.