10 must-follow Instagram accounts for NYC subway lovers

Instagram is the go-to destination if you want to peek at the most visually arresting images of the New York City subway. Whether it’s looking at all new construction the MTA has going on, or the beautiful artwork installed inside several subway stations—or just checking out some hot dudes—we’ve got you covered.

Here now are nine of the best accounts for NYC subway lovers. Did we miss your favorite? Let us know in the comments.

MTA New York City Transit

Let’s start with the official MTA account, mostly because it occasionally offers a behind-the-scenes look at what makes New York’s transit system tick. (See: workers cleaning the tracks, flood barrier protection tests, and the like.)

MTA Arts & Design

Operating under the MTA umbrella, Arts & Design is responsible for the beautiful mosaics and museum-quality artwork found throughout the transit system. The org’s Instagram account highlights those pieces, along with other happenings within New York City transit.

New York Transit Museum

The Transit Museum’s account highlights both the present and past of the city’s subway system, with lots of photos of vintage train cars, old subway advertisements, and stations from back in the day.

Transit Maps

Not every map featured in this account depicts the NYC subway, but enough do to make it worth a follow if you love New York City transit. It’s especially good for seeing rare or vintage maps, such as the “Wonders of New York” map from the 1950s.

The NYCTA Project

Photographer Brian Kelley has been collecting trinkets from the NYC transit system—maps, uniforms, MetroCards, and the like—for several years, and documenting them on this Instagram account since 2014. Taken as a whole, it serves as a kind of digital compendium of transit history; there’s also now an IRL version courtesy of the Standards Manual imprint.

NYC Urbanism

This is the go-to stop to find vintage photos, old maps, and facts about New York City’s past—including that of the subway system—that you might not know about.

Subway Signs

If subway signs and subway-related graphic design catch your fancy, look no further than this account. There are vintage subway signs galore, like this 1930s sign from the 42nd Street station—and you can buy most of them too.

The City and the Subway

The point of this account, according to its proprietor, is to “show[] you the beauty of the NYC subway system while you wait for the train”—and it succeeds at that goal, boosting photos of trains in interesting or unlikely places.

Sunday Book Review

Every few days blogger Uli Beutter Cohen talks to a stranger reading a book on the subway, and then documents it on this account. Started in 2013 in NYC, Cohen also now interviews folks in London, Cairo and Mexico City—If you’re looking to pick up your next book, look no further.

Hot Dudes Reading

Because we’re not immune to the charms of attractive men on the subway (and other forms of transit) reading. Look, we’re only human.