The Museum of the City of New York is a history and art museum located in Manhattan, near the Museum Mile. It was established by Henry Collins Brown with the aim to preserve the history of New York. It follows the Neo Gothic style and it was built in the period from 1929 to 1930. It is decorated with statues designed by Alexander Hamilton and the sculptor Adolph Alexander Weinman. It is a significant cultural institution for both the city and the country. In addition to temporary exhibitions, in the museum there is the permanent exhibition "New York at its Core" and it presents the history of the city from 1609 to the present day, as well as the "Activist New York" exhibition, which gives an overview of the city through the prism of social justice and political agitation. The ex-president of the New-York Historical Society and the editor of the Encyclopedia of New York City, Kenneth T. Jackson, on one occasion said: “If you have to choose a place to study in New York, that is probably going to be the Museum of the City of New York”.
The museum is a private non-profit organization which receives government support as a member of New York City's Cultural Institutions Group. Until 2000, the museum was considered out-of-date and not attractive to visitors. However, many dynamic and interactive exhibitions have been set up since the beginning of the century – one of them being the exhibition by Robert Moses that depicts a detail transformation of New York. Another exhibition that drew the public’s attention was the exhibition with tens of thousands vintage photographs of New York. This one was also internationally recognized.
The museum has over 750.00 items in its collections, consisting of photographs, pieces of clothing, jewelry and many other items and pieces of art.
In the museum you can see over 400.000 photographs and negatives that show life in New York since the 19th century to this day. The collection shows the life prior to photographs – it depicts portraits, sketches, cartoons, engravings, architectural sketches etc. The collection consisting of sketches and aquarelles has over 6.000 items. There is also a theatre collection with more than 200.000 items that show plays ever from 1875 to modern Broadway plays. In addition to that, you may also see a furniture collection (the 19th century to this day), as well as a collection with manuscripts and many other archive documents.
If you want to get to know New York, how it used to look like and how it is presented today, the Museum of the City of New York is a perfect place for you.
Ticket price for the museum
Regular ticket price $ 20
Reduced ticket price $ 14 - for students and seniors
Free entrance - for young people up to 19 years
Museum opening hours
From Thursday to Sunday from 10 AM to 6 PM
Author of the article:
Marijana Niković tour guide for Montenegro
For guided tours please contact:
(Viber) 00382 68 230 241
