Museum of the City of New York

Although this is a big tourist destination, I've always heard that the Museum of the City of New York is an absolute must for New Yorkers.

The museum is located on Fifth Avenue at about 103rd street, right across the street from Central Park's beautiful conservatory gardens. Lots to see and do in the area, so make a day of it.

Suggested admission is $20 for adults, but free for anyone under 20 years old. Its about $15 for seniors (65+) and students over 20. There are also discounts available regularly via Groupon or your NYC Library Card. Be sure to check those out before visiting.

I visited on a nice Sunday at around 12:30pm and it was NOT too crowded. There was enough space for everyone to take their time to read and see all of the exhibits without overcrowding.

The Museum is amazing. Essentially three floors of well-designed exhibits offerings lots of information about the beginnings of NYC up through 2020. You'll learn about how New York came to be the iconic city that it is...and journey through its various decades. Though I've always visited museums to learn about other cultures and historic times...it is very different when you have lived through some of the exhibits...9/11...and most recently COVID-19 to name a few.

The first floor is more of the information, taking you through each decade...must like what you would expect from a typical museum. There is also a FOod of New York exhibit currently in place there. The second floor has a lovely photography exhibit displaying photos of the "homes" of New Yorkers and another exhibit covering the various movements throughout the history of New York up through Black Live Matter. The third floor is dedicated to entertainment; music, movie and fashion that were influenced by New York. There is a large room surrounded by large monitors displaying popular New York-based movies...visitors can sit in the middle area and look all around..pretty cool. There is also a basement floor which has an informative movie showing every (30 minutes?!) about New York.

There is a cafe there on the second floor which sells baked items from Amy's Bread.

Street parking isn't bad on the weekends...particularly easy on Sundays when most of the parking restrictions are NOT in effect.

I absolutely loved my visit to the Museum. Although I expected to be in and out in an hour or so...I ended up spending three hours there. While I think this is a great museum for everyone, I absolutely agree that it is a MUST for all New Yorkers.