New York City Resources | Things to Do in New York City

New York has one of the richest collections of the museums in the world, from a by-appointment-only, one-room repository of troll dolls (no joke!) to the vast collections of the Met and Museum of Natural History, which are among the largest on the planet.

Below are some of our favorites, in no particular order.

THE NEW-YORK HISTORICAL SOCIETY is the city’s oldest museum and the main repository for documents, paintings, and other objects that document the city’s rich past.

Location: Central Park West at 77th Street

Open: Tuesday-Sunday, 10:00 am – 6:00 pm; closed Mondays.

Admission: $10 per person ($5 students/seniors). Children under 12 accompanied by an adult are free.

THE MUSEUM OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK is also an excellent source of information on New York’s history.

Location: 1220 Fifth Avenue at 103rd Street.

Open: Tuesday-Saturday, 10:00 am – 5:00 pm and Sunday, 12:00 – 5:00 pm. The museum is closed on Mondays.

Admission: All prices are suggested admission; you may pay what you wish – $15.00 for families, $7.00 for adults, and $5.00 for senior citizens, students and children.

THE SOUTH STREET SEAPORT MUSEUM. Though nautical in theme, the South Street Seaport Museum’s collections tell a lot about the general history of New York and are well worth a visit. If you are interested in old ships, all the better, for their collection includes a four-masted barque, Peking, and a host of smaller vessels. (The ships are outdoors and closed in bad weather; the museum reduces the entrance price accordingly.)

Location: 12 Fulton Street (and adjacent buildings).

Open: Daily 10:00 am – 5:00 pm.

Admission: $8 adults; $6 students/seniors with ID; $4 children 5-12; children under 5 free.

THE MERCHANT’S HOUSE MUSEUM. Built in 1832, this Greek Revival townhouse is a New York gem. The original owners—Seabury and Eliza Tredwell—moved in in 1835 and their daughter Gertrude was born in the house in 1840; when she died in the house in 1933, it became a museum—and a perfectly preserved time capsule of one family’s life in 19th-century New York.

Location: 29 East 4th Street.
Open: Thursday – Monday, 12:00 pm – 5:00 pm. Admission: $6 for adults, $4 for students and seniors.

THE AMERICAN MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY is the largest natural history museum in the country and contains a sprawling collection from dinosaur bones to the state-of-the-art Rose Center for Earth and Space.

Location: Central Park West at 79th Street.

Open: Daily, 10:00 am – 5:45 pm; The Rose Center remains open on Fridays until 8:45pm.

Admission: Suggested admission for the museum and the Rose Center is $15 for adults, $11 for students/seniors, and $8.50 for children ages 2-7. However, if you are just visiting the museum and Rose Center, with no special shows or movies you can pay what you wish. If you wish to add the space show or a special exhibition, you essentially have to pay the full admission.

THE METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART. One of the largest fine art collections in the world, the Met contains treasures from every part of the globe. Even with a trove of temporary exhibitions, it’s the permanent collection that is always the star of the show at the Met.

Location: Fifth Avenue at 82nd Street

Open: Tuesday-Thursday, 9:30 am – 5:30 pm; Friday & Saturday, 9:30 am – 9:00 pm; Sunday, 9:30 am – 5:30 pm; closed Mondays (except Federal Holidays, which is the only time it is open on Mondays).
Admission: The Met charges a suggested admission fee of $20 per person, but you can honestly pay anything you want. The price also includes same-day admission to The Cloisters in Fort Tryon Park (scroll down for information on the Cloisters).

THE GUGGENHEIM MUSEUM. If you’ve never seen it and you’re a fan of architecture, Frank Lloyd Wright’s impressive spiral building is worth the price of admission.

Location: Fifth Avenue between 88th and 89th Streets.

Open: Sunday-Wednesday, 9:00 am – 6:00 pm; Friday & Saturday, 9:00 am – 8:00 pm; closed Thursdays.

Admission: $12 per person ($8 students/seniors), except Fridays after 6:00 pm, when it is pay what you wish.

WHITNEY MUSEUM OF AMERICAN ART houses a terrific collection of 20th-century American art, the core of which was acquired by its founder, sculptor Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney.

Location: 945 Madison Avenue at 75th Street

Open: Wednesday-Thursday, 11:00 am to 6:00 pm; Friday 1:00 pm to 9:00 pm (from 6:00 to 9:00 pm it is pay-what-you-wish admission); Saturday-Sunday 11:00 am to 6:00 pm

Admission: Adults $12; senior citizens (62 and over) and students with valid ID $9.50 (except on Friday evenings, as noted above)

THE MUSEUM OF MODERN ART (MoMA). This is one of the greatest collections of Modern art ever assembled. After much anticipation, the museum moved into its newly designed headquarters a couple of years ago, and while the art is still showcased marvelously, the museum has unfortunately lost some of its charm in the process.

Location: 11 West 53 Street.

Open: Monday 10:30 am – 5:30 pm; Tuesday closed; Wednesday 10:30 am – 5:30 pm; Thursday 10:30 am – 5:30 pm; Friday 10:30 am – 8:00 pm; Saturday 10:30 am – 5:30 pm; Sunday 10:30 am – 5:30 pm.

Admission: Adults $20; Students (with current identification) $12; Seniors (65 and over) $16; Children under 16 accompanied by an adult free; pay-what-you-wish admission on Fridays, 4:00–8:00 p.m.

THE JEWISH MUSEUM, run by the Jewish Theological Seminary, is the city’s preeminent institution devoted to Jewish culture.

Location: 1109 Fifth Avenue at 92nd Street.

Open: Saturday-Wednesday, 11:00 am – 5:45 pm; Thursday, 11:00 am – 8:00 pm; Closed Fridays and major Jewish holidays.

Admission: Adults, $12; seniors, $10; students, $7.50; children under 12 are free. All day Saturday, the museum is free of charge.

THE COOPER-HEWITT NATIONAL DESIGN MUSEUM, a branch of the Smithsonian, is located in Andrew Carnegie’s elegant Fifth Avenue mansion.

Location: 2 East 91st Street,at Fifth Avenue.

Open: Tuesday–Thursday: 10:00 am – 5:00 pm; Friday: 10:00 am – 9:00 pm; Saturday: 10:00 am – 6:00 pm; Sunday: 12:00 pm – 6:00 pm; Garden entrance on 90th Street open May through September (weather permitting); closed Mondays and federal holidays.

Admission: Adults, $10.00; senior citizens and students with I.D., $7.00.

THE NATIONAL MUSEUM OF THE AMERICAN INDIAN. Like the Cooper-Hewitt, the NMAI is a branch of the Smithsonian. It is housed in Cass Gilbert’s justly famous U.S. Custom House, built in 1907.

Location: 1 Bowling Green.

Open: 10:00 am – 5:00 pm daily; Thursdays the museum stays open until 8:00 pm.

Admission: free.

THE CLOISTERS, The Metropolitan Museum’s outpost in northern Manhattan, is dedicated to all things medieval. Tapestries, illuminated manuscripts, stained glass, and intact monastic courtyards are just some of the 5,000 objects in the collection.

Location: Fort Tryon Park (take the M4 Bus to the end of the line).

Open: Tuesday-Sunday, 9:30 am – 5:15 pm; closed Mondays.

Admission: As with the Metropolitan museum, the suggested admission price is $20, but you can pay anything you’d like. Admission to the Cloisters also admits one to the Met on the same day.

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