New York Museums

Museum Mile and the Annual Museum Mile Festival

New York has hundreds of museums worth visiting. Several are located on what is known as Museum Mile.

New York's famous Museum Mile with eight museums and other fine arts institutions runs along the east side of Central Park on Fifth Avenue from 82nd Street to 104th Street.

Soak up culture as you take a tree lined walk along Central Park on Fifth Avenue and visit:
Goeth House German Cultural Center at 82nd Street,
Metropolitan Museum of Art from 82nd to 86th Street,
Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum at 88th Street,
National Academy Museum and School of Fine Arts at 89th Street,
Cooper-Hewitt National Museum of Design at 91st Street,
The Jewish Museum at 92nd Street,
Museum of the City of New York at 103rd Street and
El Museo del Barrio at 104th Street.

The Met is on the Central Park side of Fifth Avenue, all the rest are on the eastern side.

Each year since 1978 New York has celebrated its cultural heritage with a Museum Mile Festival. Traditionally the second Tuesday in June from 6-9pm, the nine cultural institutions on Museum Mile are open to the public for free, 5th Avenue is closed to traffic and street artists and entertainers perform.

Participating museums usually offer outdoor art activities for children.

An opening ceremony, special exhibits and musical entertainment at several participating institutions are additional highlights of the event.

Many more New York City museums are nearby including Asia Society, the Frick Collection, Whitney Museum of American Art, Museum of American Illustration and, not far from the southern end of the park, MoMA The Museum of Modern Art which reopened in Manhattan in 2005.

The American Museum of Natural History is next to the New York Historical Society almost directly across Central Park from the Met.

The New York Historical Society was running a special exhibit (September 10, 2004 - February 28, 2005) on “Alexander Hamilton - The Man Who Made Modern America” when I took this photo.

New York museums are popular with both visitors and locals. Consider taking advantage of the late hours that many of the city's top museums have on Friday and/or Saturday nights. The crowds will be considerably thinner and there will be fewer kids. Another option for avoiding the crowds to better enjoy the art is to arrive when the doors open.

The Guggenheim and MoMA are just two of the famous museums and sights you can see for 50% off the box office price with a New York CityPass. Travel the Museum Mile on the hop-on, hop-off classic double-decker bus uptown loop with stops at many other New York museums as well. Admission to several New York Museums is included among the 40+ attractions with the New York Pass.

I mentioned at the beginning of this article that there are hundreds of museums in New York. While I won't list all of them here are a few more that you may want to visit in addition to those mentioned above:

American Folk Art Museum
While the Whitney (mentioned above) has probably the best collection of 20th-century American art the American Folk Art Museum displays American Folk Art in a stunning new structure on the same block as the just renovated MoMA.

The Cloisters
The branch of the Metropolitan Museum of Art devoted to the art and architecture of medieval Europe. On a cliff overlooking the Hudson river.

Forbes Magazine Galleries
This small eclectic museum includes the Farergé Room (think eggs) and a Toy and Trophy Room. Young boys especially should enjoy the flotilla of 500 toy boats and 12,000 miniature soldiers. Located in the Forbes Magazine building at 60 Fifth Avenue, free.

Fraunces Tavern Museum
History buffs will enjoy this small museum of early American history and culture most famous as the location of George Washington's farewell to his soldiers at the end of the American Revolution in the Long Room.

International Center of Photography
Moved from Museum Mile to larger Midtown facility in 2000. School and rotating exhibitions of 60,000 prints.

Intrepid Sea-Air-Space Museum
The aircraft carrier USS Intrepid, submarine USS Growler and more than twenty-five aircraft overlooking the Hudson River. Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum tickets.

Skyscraper Museum
The Museum explores tall buildings as objects of design, products of technology, sites of construction, investments in real estate, and places of work and residence.

South Street Seaport Museum
Historic ships and 11 square blocks of restored historic buildings in a commercial environment.

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Website and all photos copyright © 2001–2013 Lee W. Nelson