New York City (Fodor's, 2012) - Fodor's [85]
Among our favorites are the Rubin Museum of Art on West 17th Street, the first museum in the Western world dedicated to the art of the Himalayas; the Museum of the City of New York on 5th Avenue at 103rd Street, which provides an outstanding overview of the city’s origins; the American Folk Art Museum on West 53rd Street; the International Center of Photography on 6th Avenue and 43rd Street; and El Museo del Barrio at 104th Street and 5th Avenue, dedicated to Latino art and culture. (Bonus: all our picks also have outstanding gift shops.) But choose the museums that suit your interests, however niche they may be—there are institutions dedicated to water, toys, money, film, television, transportation, assorted cultural heritages, fashion, gardening, and many more.
FODOR’S CHOICE
Metropolitan Museum of Art
American Museum of Natural History
Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum
Museum of Modern Art
Whitney Museum of American Art
Lower East Side Tenement Museum
Frick Collection
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED
Morgan Library and Museum
Museum of the City of New York
New York Historical Society
Neue Galerie
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Lower Manhattan and Chinatown | SoHo | East Village and Lower East Side | Chelsea | Murray Hill and the Flatiron District | Midtown | Upper East Side | Upper West Side | Harlem
LOWER MANHATTAN AND CHINATOWN
Museum of American Finance.
At one time, the New York Stock Exchange was the ultimate high for many visitors. The energy of the floor and the proximity to so much power couldn’t be beat. Since 9/11, security has tightened, and tours are no longer allowed, but you can get a glimpse of what makes the financial world go ’round at this museum.
In 2008 this Smithsonian Institution affiliate moved from a room in the Standard Oil Building on Broadway to the grandiose former banking hall of the Bank of New York. On view are artifacts of the financial market’s history; interactive exhibits on the markets, banking, entrepreneurship, and Alexander Hamilton; and well-executed temporary exhibits. | 48 Wall St., at William St., Lower Manhattan | 10005 | 212/908–4110 | www.financialhistory.org | $8 | Tues.–Sat. 10–4 | Subway: 2, 3 to Wall St.
The Museum of Chinese in America (MOCA).
Founded in 1980, this museum is dedicated to preserving and presenting the history of the Chinese people and their descendants in the United States. MOCA moved in early 2009 to its new home on Centre Street, where the 14,000-square-foot gallery space increased the size of the museum by more than five times.
Designed by Maya Lin, architect of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C., MOCA features a permanent exhibit on Chinese-American history, With a Single Step: Stories in the Making of America, which includes artworks, personal and domestic artifacts, historical documentation, and films. Chinese laundry tools, a traditional general store, and antique business signs are some of the unique objects on display.
Rotating shows such as Here & Now, a contemporary art exhibit, are on display in the second gallery. MOCA sponsors workshops, walking tours, lectures, and family events. | 215 Centre St., between Grand and Howard Sts., Chinatown | 10013 | 212/619–4785 | www.mocanyc.org | $7 | Thurs. 11–9, Mon. and Fri. 11–5, weekends 10–5 | Subway: 6, J, M, N, Q, R, Z to Canal St.
Museum of Jewish Heritage—A Living Memorial to the Holocaust.
In a granite 85-foot hexagon at the southern end of Battery Park City, this museum pays tribute to the 6 million Jews who perished in the Holocaust. Architects Kevin Roche and John Dinkeloo built the museum in the shape of a Star of David, with three floors of exhibits demonstrating the dynamism of 20th-century Jewish culture.