Live in NY and Been coming to this museum my whole life, Came here today ( Tuesday ) at 11 am and it was SOOO crowded. First of all, I am a member and members should have a separate line. The parking lot is tiny and luckily I was able to get the last space available and there is no parking in the area , only lots you will have to pay about $60 dollars for . The signage for everything is so confusing and makes no sense. There is no guidance either, the workers just on their phones distracted. Now upon entering, our first show was the butterfly exhibit. We were squished into this tiny room full of kids who were on a school trip and also families with strollers and huge back packs. I was being pushed, shoved by everybody and even one of the kids on the trip hit me with his clipboard by accident because the class was sitting on the floor doing a project which shouldnt be allowed because the room is so small its not fair for other people . The room was also so hot. We didnt get to see much either. We went to the planetarium next and boy it got worse. We were pushed like animals into the room and waited to get inside the show. We were packed in like sardines with a bunch of smelly tourists who dont wear deodorant . Only 1 girl working and she was yelling at us telling us to push in even further because they wanted to get more people in . When it was time to get into the show they simply let everyone just run rampant into the doors, no guidance at all.. an old couple was nearly pushed to the ground from all the obnoxious teenage schoolkids , it was almost like a stampede of everyone running to get inside the show , as if we werent all going to be seated and watch the show regardless . The show was great of course. the other 2 shows we watched about the elephants and immersive show were great and not packed . Everything else is very educational and great. The 3 stars are for the museums artifacts. To sum it up, I agree with what other reviewers are saying —

-Alot of things are outdated, but still love this museum and its still very educational and definitely an experience to go to.

• The museum has 0 organizational skills so plan your times 30 min- 1 hour in advance for everything . You are pretty much on your own and get a paper map .
• theres way too many infant and small children coming here , these kids are not going to remember any of this and you are only being inconsiderate of others.
• Parents , this is a MUSEUM and not a playground or free daycare for your children to run free , scream , and bump into other people . Control your kids or leave them home.
• Tourists and teenagers and kids all standing in the way of everything and on their phones and not even looking at the exhibits . Move out the way and let other people get a chance to see . We had to rush through many exhibits because of too many crowds and we werent able to read what we were seeing.
• when you come here expect to spend the entire day.
• it gets VERY hot, not much air circulation going on in there, wear light clothing and do not pack heavily. Lots of walking and stairs. ( elevators are super slow ).

This is a museum, therefore it should be peaceful and educational. At this point they must take action and implement certain modifications. They definitely need a whole new organization plan and need to update some floors.