New York City (Fodor's, 2012) - Fodor's [91]
Tickets to MoMA also include free admission to its affiliated MoMA PS1 in Queens. Don’t worry; you won’t need to trek out to Queens on the same day. Save your ticket and you can go in for free any time within 30 days of your original purchase.
11 W. 53rd St., between 5th and 6th Aves., Midtown East | 212/708–9400 | www.moma.org | $20 | Sat.–Mon., Wed., and Thurs. 10:30–5:30, Fri. 10:30–8. Closed Tues. | Subway: E, M to 5th Ave./53rd St.; B, D, F, M to 47th–50th Sts./Rockefeller Center.
The Paley Center for Media.
Three galleries of photographs and artifacts document the history of broadcasting in this 1989 limestone building by Philip Johnson and John Burgee. But the main draw here is the computerized catalog of more than 100,000 television and radio programs. If you want to see a performance of “Turkey Lurkey Time” from the 1969 Tony Awards, for example, type the name of the song, show, or performer into a computer terminal.
You can then proceed to a semiprivate screening area to watch your selection. People nearby might be watching classic comedies from the ’50s, miniseries from the ’70s, or news broadcasts from the ’90s. Adding to the delight of screening TV shows from yesteryear is that the original commercials are still embedded in many of the programs; if ads are your thing you can also skip the programming altogether and watch different compilations of classic commercials. | 25 W. 52nd St., between 5th and 6th Aves., Midtown West | 10019 | 212/621–6800 | www.paleycenter.org | $10 | Tues. and Wed.–Sun. noon–6 | Subway: E, M to 5th Ave./53rd St.; B, D, F, V to 47th–50th Sts./Rockefeller Center.
UPPER EAST SIDE
Asia Society and Museum.
The Asian art collection of Mr. and Mrs. John D. Rockefeller III forms the core of the museum’s holdings, which include South Asian stone and bronze sculptures; art from India, Nepal, Pakistan, and Afghanistan; bronze vessels, ceramics, sculpture, and paintings from China; Korean ceramics; and paintings, wooden sculptures, and ceramics from Japan.
Founded in 1956, the society has a regular program of lectures, films, and performances, in addition to changing exhibitions of traditional and contemporary art. Trees grow in the Garden Court Café, which serves an eclectically Asian menu for lunch and dinner. | 725 Park Ave., at 70th St., Upper East Side | 10021 | 212/288–6400 | asiasociety.org | $10, Fri. 6–9 free | Tues.–Sun. 11–6, open until 9 on Fri. from the day after Labor Day to July 1 | Subway: 6 to 68th St./Hunter College.
Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum.
More than 2,000 years of international design are on display inside the 64-room mansion, formerly home to industrialist Andrew Carnegie. The 200,000-plus objects here include drawings, textiles, furniture, metalwork, ceramics, glass, and woodwork.
Changing exhibitions are drawn from the permanent collection, highlighting everything from antique cutlery and Japanese sword fittings to robotics and animation. The museum’s shows are invariably enlightening and often amusing. In summer some exhibits are displayed in the museum’s lush garden. | 2 E. 91st St., at 5th Ave., Upper East Side | 10028 | 212/849–8400 | www.cooperhewitt.org | $15 | Weekdays 10–5, Sat. 10–6, Sun. 11–6 | Subway: 4, 5, 6 to 86th St.
El Museo del Barrio.
El barrio is Spanish for “the neighborhood” and the nickname for East Harlem, a largely Spanish-speaking Puerto Rican and Dominican community. The museum, on the edge of this neighborhood, focuses on Latin American and Caribbean art.
The more than 6,500-object permanent collection includes numerous pre-Columbian artifacts, sculpture, photography, film and video, and traditional art from all over Latin America. The collection of 360 santos, carved wooden folk-art figures from Puerto Rico, is a popular attraction. Thanks to a renovation in 2009, the museum now sports a glass facade and a redesigned courtyard. | 1230 5th Ave., between E. 104th and E. 105th Sts., Upper East Side | 10029 | 212/831–7272 | www.elmuseo.org | $9 | Wed.–Sun. 11–5 | Subway: 6 to 103rd St.
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