New York City (Fodor's, 2012) - Fodor's [86]
Visitors enter through a gallery that provides a context for the early-20th-century artifacts on the first floor: an elaborate screen hand-painted for the fall harvest festival of Sukkoth, wedding invitations, and tools used by Jewish tradesmen. Original documentary films play throughout the museum.
The second floor details the rise of Nazism and anti-Semitism, and the ravages of the Holocaust. A gallery covers the doomed voyage of the SS St. Louis, a ship of German Jewish refugees that crossed the Atlantic twice in 1939 in search of a safe haven. Signs of hope are also on display, including a trumpet that Louis Bannet (the “Dutch Louis Armstrong”) played for three years in the Auschwitz-Birkenau inmate orchestra.
The third floor covers postwar Jewish life. The east wing contains a theater, memorial garden by artist Andy Goldsworthy, resource center, library, more galleries, classrooms, and a café. | 36 Battery Pl., Battery Park City, Lower Manhattan | 10280 | 646/437–4200 | www.mjhnyc.org | $12, free Wed. 4–10 | Thurs. and Sun.–Tues. 10–5:45, Wed. 10–8, Fri. and eve of Jewish holidays 10–3 | Subway: 4, 5 to Bowling Green.
National Museum of the American Indian (Smithsonian Institution).
This museum is housed in the Beaux-Arts Alexander Hamilton U.S. Custom House (1907), one of Lower Manhattan’s finest buildings. Massive granite columns rise to a pediment topped by a double row of statues. Inside, the egg-shape stairwell and rotunda embellished with shipping-theme murals (completed in the 1930s) are incredibly impressive.
Changing presentations drawn from the National Museum of the American Indian in New York, a branch of the Smithsonian, are exhibited here with modern stylishness. The museum recently opened a new public gallery called Infinity of Nations, which presents an encyclopedic survey of Native cultures from throughout the Americas, including 700 objects from ancient times to present day.
The Diker Pavilion provides a venue for dance, music, and storytelling programs. Videos and films made by indigenous people from around the world are shown here regularly. | 1 Bowling Green, between State and Whitehall Sts., Lower Manhattan | 10004 | 212/514–3700 | www.americanindian.si.edu | Free | Mon.–Wed. and Fri.–Sun. 10–5, Thurs. 10–8 | Subway: 4, 5 to Bowling Green.
New York City Police Museum.
Why are police called cops? Why does a police badge have eight points? When was fingerprinting first used to solve a crime? Find the answers at this museum dedicated to New York’s finest.
The force’s history from colonial times through the present is covered through permanent and rotating exhibits. A permanent exhibit, 9/11 Remembered, includes a video with interviews with those who were first responders to the attack. The Hall of Heroes honors police officers who have fallen in the line of duty. Special events include a vintage police-car show the first weekend in June. | 100 Old Slip, near South St., Lower Manhattan | 10005 | 212/480–3100 | www.nycpolicemuseum.org | $5 suggested donation | Mon.–Sat. 10–5 | Subway: 2, 3 to Wall St.
Skyscraper Museum.
This small museum will either delight or disappoint skyscraper fans. To evoke space, the stainless-steel floor and ceiling are polished to mirror quality, but the open room with column partitions does not include a comprehensive overview of the rise of the skyscraper.
Focused exhibits change every few months; the newly expanded permanent display features highlights of New York and Chicago skyscraper history, including the daily photo journal a contractor kept during the Empire State Building’s construction. Models of current or future buildings; short videos; and exhibits that reveal the influence of history, real estate, and individuals on architecture are regular features. | 39 Battery Pl., Battery Park City, Lower Manhattan | 10280 | 212/968–1961 | www.skyscraper.org | $5 | Wed.–Sun. noon–6 | Subway: 4, 5 to Bowling Green.
Asian American Arts Centre.
This space holds impressive contemporary works by Asian-American artists, annual folk-art exhibitions during the Chinese