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New York Arts and Attractions

NYC.com's guide to arts and attractions features comprehensive cultural listings on all New York museums, galleries, classical & opera, dance, universities, parks, parades & festivals, historic city sites, beaches, gardens and hundreds of other venues. Don't miss our list of top must-see sites!

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International Center of Photography

Lower East Side

The International Center of Photography, or ICP, is a museum, a school and a center for photographers and photography. ICP's mission is to present photography's vital and central place in contemporary culture, and to lead in interpretation of issues central to its development. ICP celebrates photography's diversity in many roles: as an agent of social change, a medium of aesthetic expression, a tool for scientific or historical research, and a repository for personal experience and memory. Like the photographic medium itself, ICP's mission is expanding to encompass many new forms of electronic imaging media. The Permanent Collection at the International Center of Photography houses over 100,000 photographs. The collection spans the history of the photographic medium, from Daguerreotypes and real photo postcards to iris prints. ICP’s galleries are designed for the display of a wide range of photography and new media with state-of-the-art lighting, climate control systems and digital presentation systems. ICP's educational programming includes instruction, interpretation, and critical discourse in the areas of theory, practice, and the history of photography.

Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum

Carnegie Hill

With more than 250,000 objects, the Smithsonian's Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum is one of the largest repositories of design in the world, and is the only museum in the nation devoted exclusively to historic and contemporary design. The Museum presents compelling perspectives on the impact of design on daily life through active educational programs, exhibitions, and publications. Recently renovated, Cooper Hewitt offers an entirely new and invigorated experience, with interactive, immersive creative technologies at the heart of every visit and 60% more gallery space to explore. The Museum was founded in 1897 by Amy, Eleanor, and Sarah Hewitt—granddaughters of industrialist Peter Cooper—as part of The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art. A branch of the Smithsonian since 1967, Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum is housed in the Andrew Carnegie Mansion on Fifth Avenue in New York City. The Museum houses the following collections: Drue Heinz Study Center for Drawings and Prints houses more than 160,000 works of art dating from the Renaissance to the present related to the history of European and American art and design. Among the world's foremost repositories of European and American works on paper, the collection includes designs for architecture, decorative arts, gardens, interiors, ornament, jewelry, theater, textiles, and graphic and industrial design, as well as the fine arts. Product Design & Decorative Arts home to approximately 40,000 three-dimensional objects dating from antiquity to the 21st century, which form an important and comprehensive resource for decorative art and design. International in scope, the collection contains an exceptionally diverse assortment of objects, reflecting a vast range of historical styles and design movements. Categories of objects within the collections include Ceramics, Furniture, Metalwork, Lighting, Glass, Jewelry, Architectural Elements, and Industrial Design. Textiles Collection contains more than 30,000 pieces representing an extraordinarily wide range of woven and non-woven techniques. Extending from ancient to contemporary examples, the earliest pieces in the collection are from Han Dynasty China (206 BC-AD 221). Wall Coverings contains the largest and most varied collection of wallpaper in the United States, with more than 10,000 examples. Pieces date from the late 17th century through today and represent many countries of origin. Doris and Henry Dreyfuss Study Center Library and Archive contains more than 60,000 volumes, including books, periodicals, catalogs, and trade literature dating from the 15th through the 20th centuries. Volumes cover American and European design and decorative arts with concentrations in architecture, graphic design, interior design, ornamental patterns, furniture, wallcoverings, textiles, metalwork, glass, ceramics, and jewelry.

The Met Cloisters

Fort George

This unique home for the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s vast medieval holdings, built in the mid-1930s atop one of Washington Heights’ many hills, seems more a sanctuary on the mountaintop than a museum. For the Cloisters indeed recreate the experience of a Gothic monastery, incorporating architectural features of a French cloister, replete with tapestries, stained glass, sculpture, illuminated manuscripts and intricate gardens. Enjoy the spectacular views of the Hudson River and the Palisades, have a picnic outdoors or in the nearby Fort Tryon Park. The Cloisters is the branch of the Metropolitan Museum devoted to the art and architecture of medieval Europe. Located on four acres overlooking the Hudson River in northern Manhattan's Fort Tryon Park, the building incorporates elements from five medieval French cloisters—quadrangles enclosed by a roofed or vaulted passageway, or arcade—and from other monastic sites in southern France. Three of the cloisters reconstructed at the branch museum feature gardens planted according to horticultural information found in medieval treatises and poetry, garden documents and herbals, and medieval works of art, such as tapestries, stained-glass windows, and column capitals. Approximately five thousand works of art from medieval Europe, dating from about A.D. 800 with particular emphasis on the twelfth through fifteenth century, are exhibited in this unique and sympathetic context. The collection at The Cloisters is complemented by more than six thousand objects exhibited in several galleries on the first floor of the Museum's main building on Fifth Avenue. A single curatorial department oversees medieval holdings at both locations. The collection at the main building displays a somewhat broader geographical and temporal range, while the focus at The Cloisters is on the Romanesque and Gothic periods. Renowned for its architectural sculpture, The Cloisters also rewards visitors with exquisite illuminated manuscripts, stained glass, metalwork, enamels, ivories, and tapestries. The noted philanthropist John D. Rockefeller Jr., who in addition to funding the Cloisters and purchasing land across the Hudson River in the Palisades area so that the views would not be obstructed, donated the Cloisters’ most famous piece, the Unicorn Tapestries. Although their origins are obscure, these magnificent tapestries depict a vivid tableaux of medieval life in brilliant hues. They alone are worth a visit!

Museum of Jewish Heritage

Financial District

The Museum of Jewish Heritage – A Living Memorial to the Holocaust, is located on the Southern edge of Battery Park City, overlooking the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island in lower Manhattan. It's mission is to educate people of all ages and backgrounds about the 20th century Jewish experience before, during, and after the Holocaust. With more than 2,000 photographs, 800 artifacts, and 24 original documentary films, the Museum’s core exhibition combines archival material with modern media to provide a thoughtful and moving chronicle of history, keeping the memory of the past alive and offering hope for the future.

New Museum of Contemporary Art

Lower East Side

**The New Museum is temporarily closed as it expands. Click here to learn more. ** Founded in 1977, the New Museum is the premier contemporary art museum in New York City and among the most important internationally. Dynamic solo exhibitions and landmark group shows define key moments in the development of contemporary art, reflect the global nature of art today, and span a vast array of cultural activities and media. The Museum is guided by the conviction that contemporary art is a vital social force that extends beyond the art world into the broader culture. The New Museum is New York's only museum devoted exclusively to contemporary art and recently moved into a new building designed by Tokyo-based architects Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa/SANAA with Gensler, New York, serving as Executive Architect. The first art museum ever constructed from the ground up in downtown Manhattan, the New Museum opened to the public in December of 2007. The New Museum building is a home for contemporary art and an incubator for new ideas, as well as an architectural contribution to New York’s urban landscape. Sejima and Nishizawa, who received the commission in 2002, have described the building as their response to the history and powerful personalities of both the New Museum and its storied site.

Museum of Modern Art (MoMA)

In the late 1920s, three progressive and influential patrons of the arts, Lillie P. Bliss, Mary Quinn Sullivan, and Abby Aldrich Rockefeller, perceived a need to challenge the conservative policies of traditional museums and to establish an institution devoted exclusively to modern art. They, along with additional original trustees A. Conger Goodyear, Paul Sachs, Frank Crowninshield, and Josephine Boardman Crane, created The Museum of Modern Art in 1929. Its founding director, Alfred H. Barr, Jr., intended the Museum to be dedicated to helping people understand and enjoy the visual arts of our time, and that it might provide New York with “the greatest museum of modern art in the world.” The public’s response was overwhelmingly enthusiastic, and over the course of the next 10 years the Museum moved three times into progressively larger temporary quarters, and in 1939 finally opened the doors of the building it still occupies in midtown Manhattan. Upon his appointment as the first director, Barr submitted an innovative plan for the conception and organization of the Museum that would result in a multi-departmental structure based on varied forms of visual expression. Today, these departments include architecture and design, drawings and prints, film, media and performance, painting and sculpture, and photography. Subsequent expansions took place during the 1950s and 1960s, planned by the architect Philip Johnson, who also designed The Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Garden. In 1984, a major renovation designed by Cesar Pelli doubled the Museum’s gallery space and enhanced visitor facilities. The rich and varied collection of The Museum of Modern Art constitutes one of the most comprehensive and panoramic views into modern art. From an initial gift of eight prints and one drawing, The Museum of Modern Art’s collection has grown to approximately 200,000 paintings, sculptures, drawings, prints, photographs, media and performance art works, architectural models and drawings, design objects, and films. MoMA also owns approximately two million film stills. The Museum’s Library and Archives contain the leading concentration of research material on modern art in the world, and each of the curatorial departments maintains a study center available to students, scholars, and researchers. MoMA’s Library holds over 320,000 items, including books, artists’ books, periodicals, and extensive individual files on more than 90,000 artists. The Museum Archives contains primary source material related to the history of MoMA and modern and contemporary art. The Museum maintains an active schedule of modern and contemporary art exhibitions addressing a wide range of subject matter, mediums, and time periods, highlighting significant recent developments in the visual arts and new interpretations of major artists and art historical movements. Works of art from its collection are displayed in rotating installations so that the public may regularly expect to find new works on display. Ongoing programs of classic and contemporary films range from retrospectives and historical surveys to introductions of the work of independent and experimental film- and video makers. Visitors also enjoy access to bookstores offering an assortment of publications, and a design store offering objects related to modern and contemporary art and design. The Museum is dedicated to its role as an educational institution and provides a complete program of activities intended to assist both the general public and special segments of the community in approaching and understanding the world of modern and contemporary art. In addition to gallery talks, lectures, and symposia, the Museum offers special activities for parents, teachers, families, students, preschoolers, bilingual visitors, and people with special needs. In addition, the Museum has one of the most active publishing programs of any art museum and has published more than 2,500 editions appearing in 35 languages. Today, The Museum of Modern Art welcome millions of visitors every year. A still larger public is served by MoMA’s national and international programs of circulating exhibitions, loan programs, circulating film and video library, publications, Library and Archives holdings, websites, educational activities, special events, and retail sales.

Ellis Island Museum

While you don’t need a ticket to enter the Statue of Liberty Museum or Ellis Island National Museum of Immigration, tickets are required to board ferries to Liberty and Ellis Islands. All ferry ticketing is run through Statue Cruises, which is the only vendor authorized to provide tickets and transportation to Liberty and Ellis Islands. No other ferry company can give you access to the Islands. Arrive to Ferry Service as early as possible, lines tend to be long in good weather! The Ellis Island National Museum of Immigration is located in the Main Building of the former immigration station complex and tells the moving tales of the 12 million immigrants who entered America through the golden door of Ellis Island. Today, the descendants of those immigrants account for almost half of the American people. From 1892 to 1954, Ellis Island was the largest port of entry and inspection to the United States of America. Inspections of passengers arriving from around the glo be after frequently arduous sea crossings took place here in the Registry Room (or Great Hall), where doctors inspected every immigrant for signs of illness. Ellis Island is a great place to explore American immigration history, and trace family roots, particularly at the American Immigrant Wall of Honor. Watch the award-winning documentary film Island of Hope, Island of Tears, and learn more about the Peopling of America. An Audio Tour through Ellis Island Immigration Museum, retraces the immigrants' first steps through this gateway to the New World. It is available at the museum in English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, and Spanish. Public Tours are periodically conducted by Park Rangers.

Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum

Carnegie Hill

The Guggenheim holds a unique place in the history of New York City's museums. Established some sixty years ago by philanthropist Solomon R. Guggenheim and artist-advisor Hilla Rebay, it first assumed temporary residence in a former automobile showroom on East 54th Street in New York. The "Museum of Non-Objective Painting," as it was then known, took as its basis the radical new forms of art being developed by such artists as Vasily Kandinsky, Paul Klee, and Piet Mondrian. The insistence of its founders on a wholly new kind of art seen in a wholly new kind of space set the Guggenheim on its path. Throughout its history, it has stood as a groundbreaking institution geared as much toward the promise of the future as the preservation of the past. The belief in preservation was furthered by a recent extensive restoration of the museum’s exterior, which as of 2008 is now nearly complete. The innovative cylindrical building designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, has suffered cracks in its concrete surface since the museum opened in 1959. In 2005, twelve layers of paint were removed in order to repair and restore the building’s unique structure. The museum remained open throughout the process as visitors passed under scaffolding to enter the building. The first permanent home for the museum, as mentioned, was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. He envisioned a building that not only broke the rectilinear grid of Manhattan but also shattered existing notions of what a museum could be. He conceived of its curving, continuous space as a "temple of spirit" where viewers could foster a new way of looking. Named the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in honor of its founder, the building opened in 1959, drawing huge crowds and stirring considerable controversy. It has never lost its power to excite and provoke, standing today as one of the great works of architecture produced in the twentieth century. While the Guggenheim Museum in New York is the Foundation’s flagship museum, there are also several other global branches of the Guggenheim network which include The Peggy Guggenheim Collection in Venice, The Guggenheim Museum Bilbao in Spain and The Deutsche Guggenheim in Berlin. The Guggenheim Abu Dhabi Museum is scheduled to open in 2025.

American Museum of Natural History

Upper West Side

This world-famous museum is comprised of several different Halls, each dedicated to a particular theme. The museum's exhibition-halls house a stunning array of artifacts and specimens from all corners of the world and all historical periods. These illuminate the natural history of our planet and its myriad species, and bring the world's cultures to life. The permanent exhibits include Halls dedicated to: Biodiversity, Human Biology and Evolution, Meteorites, Gems and Minerals, Ocean Life, Northwest Coast Indians, North American Mammals, African Mammals, African Peoples, Asian Peoples, Birds of the World, Oceanic Birds, South American Peoples, Mexico and Central America, Reptiles and Amphibians, Mollusks and Our World, Vertebrate Evolution Exhibition schedules and availability may change quickly and without notice, so visitors are strongly urged to visit the official web site for current updates on exhibit availability and upcoming closures. To get the most up to date information, please call (212) 769-5100. Insider tip: Make sure you don't miss the Butterfly Conservatory, home to more than 500 live, free-flying tropical butterflies in an enclosed habitat--known as a vivarium--that approximates their natural environment with lush vegetation and live flowering plants.

Morgan Library and Museum

Murray Hill

The Morgan Library, a complex of buildings in the heart of New York City, began as the private library of financier Pierpont Morgan, one of America's greatest collectors and cultural benefactors. As early as 1890 Morgan had begun to assemble a collection of illuminated, literary, and historical manuscripts; early printed books; and old master drawings and prints. Mr. Morgan's library, as it was known in his lifetime, was built between 1902 and 1906 adjacent to his New York residence at Madison Avenue and 36th Street. Designed by Charles McKim of the architectural firm McKim, Mead & White, the Library was intended as something more than a repository of rare materials. Majestic in appearance yet intimate in scale, the structure was to reflect the nature and stature of its holdings. The result was an Italian Renaissance–style palazzo with three magnificent rooms epitomizing America's Age of Elegance. Called "one of the seven wonders of the Edwardian World" and completed three years before McKim's death, it is considered by many to be his masterpiece. In 1924, eleven years after Pierpont Morgan's death, his son, J. P. Morgan, Jr. (1867–1943), known as Jack, realized that the Library had become too important to remain in private hands. In creating an institution dedicated to serving scholars and the public alike, and in what constituted one of the most momentous cultural gifts in U.S. history, he fulfilled his father's dream of making the library and its treasures available to the public. Over the years—through purchases and generous gifts—the Library's holdings of rare materials have continued to grow, and important music manuscripts, early children's books, Americana, and materials from the twentieth century have been acquired. Without losing its decidedly domestic feeling, the Library has also considerably expanded its physical space. The Annex was built on the site of Pierpont Morgan's brownstone. Completed in 1928, the addition consisted of a large entrance foyer, a reading room for scholars, and an exhibition hall. The new structure was joined to the original library by means of a connecting gallery called the Cloister (recently renamed the Dr. Rudolf J. and Lore Heinemann Gallery). A dramatic addition occurred in 1987 when the Library doubled its size with the acquisition of Jack Morgan's nearby town house. A garden court was built to connect the house with the Annex and original library. This expansion, completed in 1991, made way for both more exhibitions and a wider array of lectures, concerts, and other educational programs. Recently the largest expansion in the Morgan's history, added 75,000 square feet to the campus. Completed in April 2006 and designed by Pritzker Prize–winning architect Renzo Piano, the project increased exhibition space by more than fifty percent and added important visitor amenities, including a 280-seat performance hall, a welcoming entrance on Madison Avenue, a new café and a new restaurant, a shop, a new reading room, and collections storage. Piano's design integrates the Morgan's three historical buildings with three new modestly scaled steel-and-glass pavilions. A soaring central court connects the buildings and serves as a gathering place for visitors in the spirit of an Italian piazza. Fulfilling the vision of its founders, the Morgan Library has become and continues to be an internationally recognized center for research as well as a vital museum serving a diverse public.

Outdoor Movie Guide

Summertime is movie time in NYC! Pack a picnic, grab some wine, and enjoy seeing some of your favorite films in spectacular locations. Films generally start at as the sun goes down. HBO Bryant Park Summer Film Festival Bryant Park, Manhattan Monday Nights 2019 Season has concluded Movies with A View Brooklyn Bridge Park Thursday Nights August 29: Public Vote Pier I Picture Show Riverside Park South (at 70th Street), Manhattan Wednesday Nights, 7:00pm Season has ended Hudson Riverflicks Iconic NYC Films Pier 63 (at 23rd Street) Chelsea, Manhattan Wednesday Nights, 8:30pm or dusk. Season has ended Hudson Riverflicks Family Fridays Pier 46 (at Charles Street), Greenwich Village, Manhattan Friday Nights, 8:30pm or dusk. August 23: Trolls Movie Under the Stars Prospect Park, Long Meadow North Wednesday Nights Season has ended Summerscreen McCarren Park, N. 12th St. Williamsburg, Brooklyn Thursday Nights August 29: Audience Choice

One World Observatory

Financial District

Positioned on top of the tallest building in the Western Hemisphere, on levels 100, 101, and 102 of the 1,776 foot tall One World Trade Center building, One World Observatory™ provides unique, panoramic views of New York City, its most iconic sites, and surrounding waters. Upon entry, Guests are greeted in the Global Welcome Center, where a large video board features salutations in an array of languages, and a dynamically generated world map highlights the hometowns of visitors. All admission is timed ticket entry. Guests board one of five dedicated elevators to ascend to the 102nd floor in under 60 seconds. Immersive, floor-to-ceiling LED technology in each cab invites Guests to experience a virtual time-lapse that recreates the development of New York City’s skyline from the 1500s to present day. On the 100th floor of the Observatory, also known as the Discovery Level, Guests experience expansive, 360-degree views in all directions, taking in the iconic sights, surrounding waters and panoramic views of the city and beyond. The Main Observatory also features the Sky Portal. Guests are invited to step onto a 14-foot wide circular disc that delivers an unforgettable view, using real-time, high-definition footage of the streets below. One World Observatory™ is located at One World Trade Center in the Northwest corner of the World Trade Center site and is bordered by West Street to the West, Vesey Street to the North and Liberty Street to the South

Central Park

San Juan Hill

New York's "flagship" park of 843 acres, 26,000 trees, and almost 9,000 benches has had a rather checkered history. Planning began around 1868, when city commissioners chose the "Greensward Plan" developed by Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux. In the ensuing decades of building, the challenging terrain wasn't the only obstacle to overcome. Navigating the difficult city bureaucracy and the Tammany Hall political machine made the Park an overly politicized institution. A long spiral of decline was halted in 1934, when Parks Commissioner Robert Moses employed his controversial methods in making remarkable changes to the decrepit park. From around 1960 until 1981, another twenty years of decline ensued, until the newly-formed Central Parks Conservancy offered a blueprint, "Rebuilding Central Park for the 1980s and Beyond." The past 20 years have been much kinder to the Park, which has seen some remarkable reconstruction work. 275 species of birds have been sighted in the Park, which also has several restaurants on its perimeter, a Boathouse, a Carousel, ballfields, a running track, reservoir, sculptures of Alice in Wonderland and Shakespeare, and a nearly endless list of events and other attractions.

Edge

Chelsea

Rising over 1,100 feet in the air from the heart of Hudson Yards, Edge is designed to take visitors out of their comfort zone to experience New York as it has never been seen before. Edge is the highest outdoor sky deck in the Western Hemisphere extending out almost 80 feet from the 100th floor of 30 Hudson Yards. A 52 second elevator ride brings visitors to Edge’s 7,500 square foot outdoor viewing area revealing new 360-degree vantages of New York City’s iconic skyline, Western New Jersey and New York State spanning over 80 miles. The sky deck includes a thrilling glass floor and nine-foot tall, boldly angled glass walls enabling visitors to lean out over Manhattan.The 101st floor features a signature restaurant, bar and event space run by renowned hospitality group, Hospitality Group RHC, offering a one-of-a-kind culinary destination. Tickets are required for everyone visiting Edge except for children aged 5 and under who visit for free. Tickets have a date and timed entry and all ticket sales are final.

Governors Island

Governors Island, a 172 acre island in the heart of New York Harbor, is only 800 yards from Lower Manhattan, and even closer to Brooklyn. It is a world unto itself, unique and full of promise. Governors Island is open every day for visitors from May 24 - September 28. Visit the Island and its 30 new acres of park! Enjoy arts, cultural and recreational programs in the middle of New York Harbor. For summer 2014 the Trust for Governors Island has completed construction on the first 30 acres of new park and public spaces. The new 30 acres of park include Liggett Terrace, a sunny, six-acre plaza with seasonal plantings, seating, water features and public art; Hammock Grove, a sunny ten-acre space that is home to 1,500 new trees, play areas and 50 hammocks; and the Play Lawn, 14 acres for play and relaxation that includes two natural turf ball fields sized for adult softball and Little League baseball. In addition, new welcome areas have been added at the Island’s ferry landings, as have key visitor amenities, including lighting, seating and signage throughout the Historic District. The Trust has also broken ground on The Hills, four man-made hills promising dramatic new experiences and views of the Harbor that are the culminating feature of the new Governors Island Park. Made of recycled construction and fill materials, The Hills will rise 25 to 80 feet above the Island, and the summit of the tallest Hill will provide visitors with a 360-degree panorama of the Statue of Liberty, New York Harbor and the Lower Manhattan skyline. The Hills are currently under construction with the goal of completion in 2015. For almost two centuries, Governors Island was a military base – home to the US Army and later the Coast Guard, and closed to the public. In 2003 the federal government sold 150 acres of Island to the people of New York, with the Island’s governance and funding jointly shared by the City of New York and State of New York. The remaining 22 acres of the Island was declared the Governors Island National Monument that is overseen by the National Park Service. In April 2010, Mayor Bloomberg and Governor Paterson reached an agreement on the future of Governors Island. The City of New York is now responsible for Governors Island and created the Trust for Governors Island, the organization charged with the operations, planning and redevelopment of the Island.

Lakeside at Prospect Park

Lefferts Gardens

In the warm weather Lakeside facility offers loads of family friendly activities. Paddle with the swans and ducks with a boat rental; tour the park on bike by renting from an eclectic fleet ranging from traditional two wheels to a four-wheeled, 6-person Double Surrey; Get your groove on roller skating to mix of pop hits; finally cool off at the Splash Pad a 20 fountain sprinkler park designed for children under 12. For the older crowd check out Lola Star's Dreamland Roller Disco - an evening party every Friday that runs from 7:30 - 10:30. The Bluestone Café onsite with great food and cold drink (including beer and wine), or feel free to bring your own food and relax at one of the many outdoor tables available. Located in the Southeast quadrant of the park, with lovely views, and easily accessible by public transportation. Open from October to March. Please check website for schedule updates.

Rockaway Beach

Robertsville

Seven and a half miles of Beach on the Atlantic Ocean. Lifeguards are stationed on the beaches from Memorial Day through Labor Day. Visitors enjoy basketball and handball courts, roller-hockey rinks, sitting areas and playgrounds along the boardwalk and adjoining areas. Recent improvements to the area include the installation of “Whaleamena,” a sculpture of a whale that was originally part of the Children’s Zoo in Central Park. The whale was donated by Parks and subsequently restored by local volunteers. “Whaleamena” is located at the entrance to the Boardwalk at Beach 95th Street. In 1999, for the first time in a quarter century, the entire boardwalk was open to the public following a multi-million dollar restoration project. The origins of the name Rockaway Peninsula are closely related to the language of the Delaware and Chippewa Native Americans. Linguistic experts recognize both “Reckonwacky,” meaning “the place of our own people,” and “Reckanawahaha,” meaning “the place of laughing waters,” as the area’s indigenous names. Following the region’s European colonization during the seventeenth century, the present name was derived from these meanings. Other interpretations include “lekau,” meaning sand, and “lechauwaak,” for fork or branch. All interpretations reflect the historic and geographic traits of the peninsula. The Canarsie Tribe, which originally inhabited the area, sold the mostly barren land to Captain Palmer, an Englishman, with a deed granted by then Governor Thomas Dongan in 1685. Disappointed with his purchase, Palmer sold the land in 1687 to a prominent iron master from Long Island, Richard Cornell, whose descendant, Ezra, founded Cornell University in 1865. The Cornell family owned the land until 1808, when a partition suit divided the plot into 46 parcels, which were eventually sold to outsiders. The Rockaway Association, a group of wealthy New Yorkers, bought much of the property and began to build exclusive resorts in 1833. Within two years, James Remsen bought a large portion of the Peninsula. Remsen initiated a railroad project connecting the neighborhoods of Canarsie and East New York. The new railway was intended to greet steam ferries taking passengers to and from Rockaway. The Rockaway Peninsula remained a beachfront resort town, providing hotels, restaurants, and housing. During the 1890’s, a variety of amusement parks were built. In 1897, the Village of Rockaway Park was incorporated into New York City. Improvements in transportation, under the direction of Parks Commissioner Robert Moses in the 1930’s, led to the growth of Rockaway. The completion of two bridges, the Marine Parkway Bridge in 1937 and the Cross Bay Bridge in 1939, connected Rockaway to mainland Queens and Brooklyn. Innovations in railroad service and the development of the elevated subway allowed popular access to the peninsula. Subway access stimulated Rockaway’s transition from a vacation area to neighborhoods with permanent residents. Parks acquired Rockaway Beach, along with Coney Island, in Brooklyn and South Beach Staten Island from the city by charter in 1938. This section of beach extends from Beach 126th Street to Beach 149th Street and is part of the seven miles of city-owned beaches in Rockaway. Rockaway Beach extends through the communities of Belle Harbor and Neponsit. To the west is Jacob Riis Park, a federal beach and recreation area. Once part of Rockaway Beach, this area was transferred to the National Parks Service in 1974. Lifeguards are stationed on along the beach from Memorial Day through Labor Day. During the summer months, swimmers, walkers, and runners all use the beach. Each year local volunteers organize a beach-and-dunes clean up.

Brooklyn Museum

The Brooklyn Museum is the second largest art museum in New York City and one of the largest in the United States. One of the premier art institutions in the world, its permanent collection includes more than one and a half million objects, from ancient Egyptian masterpieces to contemporary art, and represents almost every culture. It is housed in a 560,000 square foot, Beaux-Arts building that welcomes approximately half a million visitors each year. Located in Central Brooklyn, a half-hour from midtown Manhattan with its own subway stop, the Museum is set on Eastern Parkway and one block from Grand Army Plaza in a complex of 19th-century parks and gardens that also contains Prospect Park, the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, and the Wildlife Center. The mission of the Brooklyn Museum is to act as a bridge between the rich artistic heritage of world cultures, as embodied in its collections, and the unique experience of each visitor. Dedicated to the primacy of the visitor experience; committed to excellence in every aspect of its collections and programs; and drawing on both new and traditional tools of communication, interpretation and presentation, the Museum aims to serve its diverse publics as a dynamic, innovative and welcoming center for learning through the visual arts. The Museum's permanent collections include: Egyptian, Classical, and Ancient Middle Eastern Art The Museum's collection of ancient Egyptian art is generally acknowledged to be one of the finest in the world. Many of the works on view are presented in a major reinstallation of more than 500 objects on the third floor of the renovated Morris A. and Meyer Schapiro Wing. It includes a chronological presentation ranging from 1350 B.C. during the reign of Akhenaten and his wife Nefertiti, through the regime of Cleopatra VII. It includes such diverse objects as elaborate cosmetic containers and pieces of jewelry of the New Kingdom in alabaster, wood, ivory, faience, and gold, important Dynasty XXV reliefs of the major deities Amun, Mut, and Khonsu, as well as the world famous Brooklyn Black Head of the Ptolemaic Period. Another portion of the galleries contains a thematic exhibition of almost 200 objects entitled Temples, Tombs, and the Egyptian Universe. Arts of Africa, the Pacific, and the Americas The first museum in America to display African objects as art, Brooklyn's collection, particularly strong in works from central Africa, is one of the largest and most important in this country. Recently the galleries were expanded and reinstalled with 250 works of art, including several pieces that have never before been on public view. Also displayed are a carved ivory gong from the Edo people of Benin and an 18th-century wooden figure of King Mishe MiShyaang maMbul of the Kuba people of Zaire, both of which are the only objects of their kind in the United States. Masks, statues, jewelry, and household objects are also displayed. The Arts of the Pacific collection includes works from Polynesia, Melanesia, and Indonesia. An important reinstallation of more than 50 objects from Melanesia, which features masks, shields, and statuary, recently opened. The Arts of the America portion of this collection includes some of the most important Andean textiles in the world, including the famous Paracas Textile that dates to between 200 and 100 B.C. Other notable works include a 15th-century Aztec stone jaguar, and a new presentation of Peruvian art including textiles , ceramics, and gold objects. The Arts of Asia The Asian art collection contains some of the most comprehensive and diverse holdings in the New York Metropolitan area. The department began in 1903 under the aegis of the Museum's first curator of ethnology, Stewart Culin. The core of the collection was the result of grand expeditions early in the 20th century to East and South Asia. Since then the collection has grown to include Asian cultures such as Cambodia, China, India, Iran, Japan, Thailand, Tibet, and Turkey. The collection of Korean art is one of the most important in the United States. The collection of art from Iran's Qajar dynasty (1790s to 1924) is the only serious collection of its kind on display in America. Painting, Sculpture, Prints, Drawings, and Photography The Brooklyn Museum's collection of Painting and Sculpture includes European and American works from the 14th century to the present day. The collection of American paintings is considered one of the finest in the United States. Highlights from the 18th century include famous portraits of George Washington by Gilbert Stuart and Charles Willson Peale. Among the 19th-century artists represented are Thomas Cole, Frederick Church, Albert Bierstadt, George Caleb Bingham, Eastman Johnson, John Singer Sargent, George Inness, and Winslow Homer. 20th-century artists in the collection include Georgia O'Keeffe, Marsden Hartley, Stuart Davis, Alex Katz, Mark Rothko, Richard Diebenkorn, and Louise Bourgeois. Decorative Arts, Costumes and Textiles The Museum's collection of decorative arts is considered one of the most important in the country. A pioneer in the installation of period rooms, the Museum now has 28 on exhibition, ranging from a 17th-century Brooklyn Dutch farmhouse to a 20th-century art deco library designed by Alavoine of Paris and New York. Among the period rooms are a 19th-century Moorish Room, originally a part of John D. Rockefeller's Manhattan mansion, and a mid-19th century parlor and library, taken from a home in Saratoga Springs, New York, replete with a complete set of Noah's art animals. Other objects, among them silver, ceramics, and furniture are also displayed. The Museum's holdings of costumes and textiles, which includes one of the country's finest collections of 19th-century American and English costumes, as well as the work of 20th-century American designers and French couture, are included in the Decorative Arts department. Because of conservation concerns this wide and varied portion is only occasionally on public view.

Metropolitan Museum of Art (MET)

The Metropolitan Museum is extraordinary in scope and size, and a visitor to this world-famous museum should plan on staying the entire day. In formation since 1870, the Metropolitan Museum's collection now contains more than three million works of art from all points of the compass, ancient through modern times. At their website, about 3,500 objects—fifty highlights from each of the Museum's curatorial departments as well as the entire department of European Paintings—can be searched by artist, period, style, or keyword. Following is a list of the permanent exhibitions. American Decorative Arts Furniture, silver, pewter, glass, ceramics, and textiles from the late 17th to early 20th century, as well as domestic architecture in furnished period rooms American Paintings and Sculpture Portraits, landscapes, history paintings, still lifes, folk art, and sculpture from colonial times through the early 20th century Ancient Near Eastern Art Stone reliefs and sculpture, ivory, and objects of precious metal from a vast area and time span: Anatolia to the Indus Valley, Neolithic period (ca. 8000 B.C.E.) to the Arab conquest (7th century C.E.) Arms and Armor Armor for men, horses, and children, weapons, and martial accoutrements of sculptural and ornamental beauty from Europe, Asia, the Middle East, and America Arts of Africa, Oceania, and the Americas Ritual objects and monuments, articles of personal adornment, and utensils for daily life from three continents and dozens of Pacific islands, 2500 B.C.E. to the present Asian Art Paintings, calligraphy, prints, sculpture, ceramics, bronzes, jades, lacquer, textiles, and screens from ancient to modern China, Japan, Korea, and South and Southeast Asia The Cloisters Art and architecture of medieval Europe, including sculpture, illuminated manuscripts, stained glass, metalwork, enamels, ivories, paintings, and tapestries (see also "Medieval Art") The Costume Institute Seven centuries and five continents of fashionable dress, regional costumes, and accessories for men, women, and children, up to the present Drawings and Prints Graphic art of the Renaissance and after, encompassing prints in all techniques, sketches to highly finished drawings, illustrated books, and other works on paper Egyptian Art Statuary, reliefs, stelae, funerary objects, jewelry, daily implements, and architecture from prehistoric Egypt through the Old, Middle, and New Kingdoms to the Roman period (4th century C.E.) European Paintings Major canvases, panels, triptychs, and frescoes by Italian, Flemish, Dutch, French, Spanish, and British masters, from the 12th through the 19th century European Sculpture and Decorative Arts Sculpture, furniture, ceramics and glass, metalwork, scientific instruments, textiles, and period rooms of the major Western European countries from the Renaissance through the early 20th century Greek and Roman Art Arts of Greece, Rome, Etruria, Cyprus, and Greek and Roman settlements until the 4th century C.E., including marble, bronze, and terracotta sculpture, vases, wall paintings, jewelry, gems, glass, and utilitarian objects Islamic Art Manuscripts and miniatures, carpets, intricately decorated objects in many media, and architectural elements from the founding of Islam in the 7th century C.E. onward, from Morocco to India The Robert Lehman Collection A private collection of paintings, drawings, and decorative arts given to the Museum, rich in works from the Italian and Northern Renaissance through the 20th century The Libraries Rare first editions, artists' treatises and manuals, illustrated atlases, scrapbooks, fine bindings, and seminal works of art history from the Museum's research libraries Medieval Art Early European, Byzantine, Carolingian, Romanesque, and Gothic works from the 4th to 16th century, including sculpture, tapestries, reliquaries, liturgical vessels, and more (see also "The Cloisters") Modern Art American and European paintings, works on paper, sculpture, design, and architecture representing the major artistic movements since 1900 Musical Instruments An international array of instruments of historical, technical, and social importance, as well as tonal and visual beauty, from accordions to koras to zithers. Photographs Prints and daguerreotypes from the early history of the medium, European and American avant-garde works, and contemporary contributions from around the world. Antonio Rotti Textile Center Tapestries, velvets, carpets, embroideries, laces, samplers, quilts, and woven and printed fabrics from all periods and civilizations, dating back to 3000 B.C.E. Dining Options at the Met Click here for a list of dining venues.

Restaurant Week

2 Course Lunch – $26 3 Course Dinner – $42 Twice a year, once at the end of January and again in late August, the most acclaimed restaurants join in the foodies delight – restaurant week! Special special prix-fixe menus are available at affordable prices enticing even the most frugal foodies to explore the offerings of somme of New York's best restaurants! Check-out participating restaurants! Pro tip: The event actually runs for around three weeks, so there is plenty of time to explore all your favorite cuisines. Double Pro tip: Check #nycrestaurantweek on Instagram!

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