We all have that one friend who’s nuts for public transport. Why don’t you show them some love? We curated a list of the greatest transit gifts the internet has to offer. Enjoy!
1. Customized New York City street signs, Department of Transportation
Have a friend who seems in need of a sign? The NYC Department of Transportation offers customizable signs in a variety of designs. In addition to classic directional signs and replicas, from the DOT website you can order your own parking or street sign. (Yes, we got one for Untapped).
2. Subway Tile Shirts
Image via Subway Tile Shirts
Officially licensed by the MTA, Subway Tile Shirts offers (incredibly soft) shirts featuring iconic subway tile signs. From 161st-River Avenue to Bleecker Street, seven different stops’ art are featured in a variety of colors.
3. Metro Cuffs, Design Hype Inc.
Design Hype Inc. offers jewelry and cuffs of cities around the world. Their stainless steel cuffs feature cities from Paris to San Fransisco, but since New York City is, well, New York City, we are featured twice on the list, with maps of both Manhattan and Brooklyn offered.
4. Taxi Cake Pop, Alexandria Cake Pop Co.
If you’re looking to sate a sweet tooth with something that looks (but luckily doesn’t taste), like a New York cab, order a NYC Taxi Cake Pop from the Alexandria Cake Pop Company in Fairfax, VA. These cake-on-a-sticks are decorated in the iconic black and yellow of New York’s stalwart fleet of cabs, and you can choose from six different cake centers.
5. MTA Jewelry, MTA Store
The MTA itself has a variety of jewelry available for purchase, including necklaces made from MetroCards or maps and necklaces and cufflinks made from fragments of the marble of Grand Central Terminal. For a more tactile way to remember the history of the New York City subway system, bracelets, charms and even ornaments made from retired subway tokens are available
6. Subway Line Pillows, In the Seam
If you’re not looking to wear any transit paraphernalia, maybe you’d like to rest your head on one. In the Seam, an online pillow shop, offers handmade pillows featuring the logos of your favorite or at least best-running subway lines. Part of their line of New York City themed pillows, all 24 logos are available on 11″-11″-4″ cotton fabric.
7. Taxi Cab Medallions, NYC CityStore
New York City’s official CityStore sells three different kinds of taxi medallions from 1997 to 2003. Taxi medallions are, as the plate reads, “physical evidence of a taxi cab license and [were] affixed to the hood of the taxi cab.” As medallions are currently auctioned for $1 million, these vintage medallions are quite a find.
8. Subway Stop Tiles, NYC CityStore
These 6″x 6″ ceramic tiles are authentic representations of the stops they relate. You can choose from eight different beautiful reproductions of some the iconic tile art that adorn the various stops around new York.
9. Subway Map Shower Curtain, NY Transit Museum
Finally, the perfect gift for figuring out your trip every morning: the MTA subway map shower curtain. Available from the MTA Transit Museum, this map exhibits the current and full subway system. Whether you live in a penthouse or a studio, save some time getting around by incorporating this into your morning routine.
10. Subway Map Socks, Transit Museum Store
The picture says it all. Sold at the NY Transit Museum Store, these socks display your love for public transportation, but only when the bottom of your pants come up when sitting on the subway.
If you reading this are a public transit aficionado, check out what you didn’t know about the job of an MTA employee, and be sure to look through the vintage busses and trains of the MTA’s nostalgia special.