Museum Of The City Of New York

A new exhibition at the Museum of the City of New York honors the life and legacy of pioneering politician and Brooklyn native Shirley Chisholm. Opening on June 14, "Changing the Face of Democracy: Shirley Chisholm at 100" is the first-ever major museum presentation dedicated to Chisholm; it coincides with the 100th anniversary of her birth. Located on the museum's second-floor North Gallery, the exhibition explores the life of the late trailblazer, the first Black woman elected to Congress, through historical artifacts, photographs, art, and archival footage.
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See gingerbread recreations of iconic NYC landmarks

The American Museum of Natural History by Loretta Bricchi Lee. All photos by Brad Farwell for MCNY

November 9, 2023

See gingerbread recreations of iconic NYC landmarks

These gingerbread creations take the holiday cookie tradition to the next level. The Museum of the City of New York is hosting its second annual gingerbread competition, Gingerbread NYC: The Great Borough Bake-Off, featuring the work of professional and independent bakers tasked with creating festive displays depicting New York City icons in neighborhoods across the five boroughs. The installation will be on view at the museum from November 10 through January 15 and visitors are invited to vote for their favorites.
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Museum of the City of New York celebrates its 100th birthday with weekend-long party

Photo by Shinya Suzuki on Flickr.

October 10, 2023

Museum of the City of New York celebrates its 100th birthday with weekend-long party

The Museum of the City of New York turns 100 this year and to celebrate this milestone, the institution is hosting a weekend-long birthday bash. The party kicks off October 13 through October 15 and includes Roaring Twenties-themed concerts, a scavenger hunt for movie lovers, and a family day with lots of fun arts and crafts, dancing, and other events. The celebration coincides with the opening of the museum's new exhibit, "People, Place, and Influence: The Collection at 100," which explores its mission to capture New York and highlights its unique collection of over 750,000 items.
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This exhibit celebrates 100 years of art and pop culture in NYC

Richard Estes. M Train on Route to Manhattan Approaches the Williamsburg Bridge. 1995. Copyright Richard Estes, courtesy Louis K. Meisel Gallery

May 25, 2023

This exhibit celebrates 100 years of art and pop culture in NYC

A new exhibition shares more than a century's worth of creativity inspired by New York City. The Museum of the City of New York's "This is New York: 100 Years of the City in Art and Pop Culture" highlights what NYC has meant to generations of artists, musicians, writers, storytellers, and filmmakers who have captured the essence of the five boroughs through their work. The exhibition, which celebrates the museum's centennial is on view at the museum at 1220 Fifth Avenue from Wednesday, May 26 through June 21, 2024.
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A Queens-themed photo installation is now on view at JFK Airport

Photo courtesy of JFKIAT

March 31, 2023

A Queens-themed photo installation is now on view at JFK Airport

A new digital art installation in JFK Airport's Terminal 4 explores what "home" means to New Yorkers. The T4 Arts & Culture program partnered with the Museum of the City of New York to bring New York Now: Home, the first installation of an ongoing photography series at the museum that debuted this month, to the terminal. The 15 images now on display throughout Terminal 4 were either created by an artist with a connection to Queens or who make the borough the subject of their work.
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Cinthya Santos-Briones “Aerialists,” from the series “Living in Sanctuary” September 25, 2017 Courtesy of the artist

March 6, 2023

New photo exhibit explores what ‘home’ means to New Yorkers

A photo exhibition opening this month examines what it means to make a home in New York City. Museum of the City of New York's New York Now: Home exhibit features the photography and video work of 33 artists who have captured the diverse definition of "home," be it a physical place, feeling, or chosen community. Opening on March 10, the exhibition is the first installation of an ongoing photography series at the museum.
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New MCNY exhibit explores what New Yorkers eat and why it matters

Mary Mattingly, Biosphere, 2015. Courtesy of Mary Mattingly, the Bronx Museum of the Arts, and the Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes de la Habana

September 8, 2022

New MCNY exhibit explores what New Yorkers eat and why it matters

A new exhibition at the Museum of the City of New York dives into the "powerful connections" between New Yorkers and food. Called Food in New York: Bigger Than the Plate, the indoor-outdoor show features the work of more than 20 artists that explores the city's food systems and the challenges that come with it. Food in New York opens on September 16.
Details here

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Pablo Delano, “Dancers at Dominican Day Parade,” Midtown, 1994-1995. Museum of the City of New York, 20211.15.15. Courtesy of Pablo Delano

February 11, 2022

New MCNY photo exhibition is a love letter to NYC

A photo installation that captures the essence of New York City is opening this month. The Museum of the City of New York will open the new exhibition, "Celebrating the City: Recent Acquisitions from the Joy of Giving Something," on February 18. The series features roughly 100 photographs selected from more than 1,000 that were recently gifted to the East Harlem museum by Joy of Giving Something, a non-profit organization devoted to photography.
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Cultural diversity and nature informed this Brooklyn photo series by two longtime residents

Alex Webb, Park Slope, 2018. Chromogenic development print. Courtesy of the artist

March 3, 2020

Cultural diversity and nature informed this Brooklyn photo series by two longtime residents

By Alexandra Alexa

Photographer couple Alex Webb and Rebecca Norris Webb have lived in Park Slope for some 20 years and for just as long, they've been documenting the borough they call home. In 2014, the duo embarked on a collaborative series of photographs that show typically unseen corners of Brooklyn and tell the layered stories of its multicultural neighborhoods. A collection of 30 images from that series will be on view at the Museum of the City of New York beginning on March 11 in an exhibition titled The City Within.
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Where to celebrate Kwanzaa 2019 in NYC

On Thursday, the week-long holiday Kwanzaa kicks off as a celebration of African American culture and heritage in the United States. From Dec. 26, through Jan. 1, New Yorkers can learn about the seven principles of Kwanzaa, or Nguzo Saba, through traditional music and dancing, kinara lighting, African folklore storytime, and a bar crawl featuring only black-owned businesses. Ahead, find the best places in NYC to celebrate Kwanzaa, from family-friendly arts and crafts and lectures at the Brooklyn Children's Museum to live performances at Harlem's iconic Apollo Theater.
The full list, ahead

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New MCNY exhibit highlights the Native American community in NYC

Artists from the exhibition, Women of Sweetgrass, Cedar and Sage, friends and community members outside the American Indian Community House Gallery, 1985. Photo by Jesse Cooday. Courtesy of MCNY

September 26, 2019

New MCNY exhibit highlights the Native American community in NYC

By Lucie Levine

In honor of the 50th anniversary of New York's American Indian Community House on the Lower East Side, the Museum of the City of New York's newest exhibit, "Urban Indian: Native New York Now" will feature contemporary art, documentary film, and community memorabilia from Native American New Yorkers. While New York's Mohawk community is famous for having helped build many of New York's most iconic buildings, the Native American community in NYC is exceptionally diverse (the American Indian Community House counts 72 different tribal affiliations amongst its members.) Accordingly, the exhibit puts "shared authority, self-representation and collaboration" at its center.
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Photo via Blue Man Group

July 17, 2019

New Blue Man Group exhibit at MCNY lets visitors play their iconic pipes

By Nicole Mondrus

NYC’s favorite blue-painted performance group is getting its very own exhibition at the Museum of the City of New York. Starting this Friday and lasting until September 2nd, Blue Man Group will debut an exhibition that showcases their unique, paint-covered style. The exhibit is just as zany as the group, and features LED screens with endlessly scrolling text, an interactive camera, and their original 27-year-old PVC pipe instrument decorated with UV paint, on loan from the Group's archives. Visitors are encouraged to interact with the installation, as well as bang out some tunes of their own.
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Spin your wheels at MCNY’s upcoming exhibit ‘Cycling in the City: A 200 Year History’

New York Awheel―On the Riverside Drive, Near the Great Monument, Munsey’s Magazine, May 1896, Illustrator: J.M. Gleeson, Private collection courtesy of the Museum of the City of New York

February 28, 2019

Spin your wheels at MCNY’s upcoming exhibit ‘Cycling in the City: A 200 Year History’

By Lucie Levine

With 100+ miles of protected bike lanes, a flotilla of Citi Bikes, and the robust Five Boro Bike Tour, New York City ranks as one of the top 10 cycling cities in the country. In fact, the nation's very first bike lane was designated on Brooklyn's Ocean Parkway in 1894, and the city's cycling history reaches back two centuries. Beginning March 14th, the Museum of the City of New York will celebrate and explore that history in the new exhibit, "Cycling in the City: A 200 Year History."
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Stanley Kubrick, from “Faye Emerson: Young Lady in a Hurry,” 1950. © Museum of the City of New York/SK Film Archive, LLC

April 27, 2018

The Urban Lens: How Stanley Kubrick’s early photography led to his iconic film career

By Dana Schulz

6sqft’s series The Urban Lens invites photographers to share work exploring a theme or a place within New York City. This week’s installment comes courtesy of a new exhibit at the Museum of the City of New York, “Through a Different Lens: Stanley Kubrick Photographs.” Are you a photographer who’d like to see your work featured on The Urban Lens? Get in touch with us at tips@6sqft.com. Before he directed films like "A Clockwork Orange," "2001: A Space Odyssey," and "Dr. Strangelove" Stanley Kubrick worked as a staff photographer at LOOK magazine, where he developed a knack at storytelling through street photography. Kubrick "found inspiration in New York's characters and settings, sometimes glamorous, sometimes gritty," all of which is the subject of a new exhibit at the Museum of the City of New York. “Through a Different Lens: Stanley Kubrick Photographs,” tells the story of how a 17-year-old amateur photographer from the Bronx went on to become one of the most revered directors of the 20th century. The exhibit, on view from May 3rd through October, will display more than 120 photos taken between 1945 and 1950, during Kubrick's time at LOOK, and examine the connections between his photography and film work. Ahead, the exhibit curators share with 6sqft a sneak preview of the photographs and discuss their experience working on the show.
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April 23, 2018

NYC’s 10 best art exhibits and events this spring

By Michelle Sinclair Colman

The flowers are finally blooming, spring is in the air, and there are tons of awesome art exhibits popping up all over the city. Although we recently highlighted some amazing art day trips from New York City, there is always art at our doorstep that we should take advantage of, so we've rounded up 10 terrific exhibits and events that will not last long. So take an extra long lunch break or sneak out of work early to catch these temporary shows that are all worth a visit.
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Historic photos document Martin Luther King Jr.’s connection to NYC

Dr. Benjamin Spock, Dr. King and Monsignor Rice of Pittsburgh march in the Solidarity Day Parade at the United Nations building (April 15, 1967);Photo by Benedict J. Fernadez, courtesy of MCNY

January 12, 2018

Historic photos document Martin Luther King Jr.’s connection to NYC

The Museum of the City of New York on Saturday will launch King in New York, a photo exhibition that explores the relationship between Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and New York City. The collection, which commemorates the 50th anniversary of King's death, provides a look into the iconic civil rights leader's time spent in the city, starting in the 1950s and continuing through the aftermath of his assassination in 1986. New York, as the country's media capital, allowed MLK to broadcast his words and messages to both local and global audiences, hold national press conferences and speak to influential advocacy and political groups. He gave sermons at the Riverside Church in Morningside Heights and marched to the United Nations in protest against the Vietnam war. Following his death, thousands of New Yorkers marched in Harlem and Midtown to a Central Park concert to mourn together and the city named parks, playgrounds and streets in his honor. King in New York will be on view from Saturday, Jan. 13 to June 1, 2018.
Explore MLK's New York City connection

The Urban Lens: The Museum of the City of New York looks back at NYC ice skating over the centuries

Skaters at Sara D. Roosevelt Park, 1935. Courtesy New York City Parks Photo Archive

December 15, 2017

The Urban Lens: The Museum of the City of New York looks back at NYC ice skating over the centuries

By Hannah Frishberg

6sqft’s series The Urban Lens invites photographers to share work exploring a theme or a place within New York City. In this installment, we take a look back at New York City's ice skating history just days before the Museum of the City of New York's "New York on Ice" exhibit opens to the public. Are you a photographer who’d like to see your work featured on The Urban Lens? Get in touch with us at tips@6sqft.com. There are few New York winter activities more iconic than ice skating. The rink, the blades, the gliding people attempting to balance – the elements of the pastime are minimal, and so the pictures of it over the centuries are not so very different despite the decades. On view this Wednesday through April 2018, the Museum of the City of New York will be hosting an exhibit titled "New York on Ice: Skating in the City" featuring many of the images below of ice skating in NYC from the 1800s to the present day. In addition to paintings, postcards, and vintage photographs, the exhibit will also showcase costumes, posters, and more.
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November 20, 2017

NYC’s best art installations and exhibits to get you in the holiday spirit

The holiday season in New York is one of the most magical times, packed with lots of events to perpetuate the experience. Aside from ice skating, holiday-themed bars, and the tree at Rockefeller Center, be sure to tuck into these art exhibitions and events to get you into the spirit! From old standbys like the New York Botanical Garden's Holiday Train Show to contemporary offerings like Yayoi Kusama's glittering installations in Chelsea and Erwin Redl's haunting field of glowing orbs at Madison Square Park, we've rounded up the 14 best must-see artsy exhibits this year.
Our top picks right this way

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July 13, 2017

Art Nerd NY’s top art, architecture, and design event picks – 7/13-7/19

Art Nerd New York founder Lori Zimmer shares her top art, design and architecture event picks for 6sqft readers! This week, party it up at PS1 Moma’s Night at the Museum, then get to the roots of the salsa movement in New York with the Museum of the City of New York’s walking tour. The Center for Architecture leads a tour about the space-age architecture of the 1964 World’s Fair, and the Design Trust for Public Space hosts a potluck at the park outside of the Holland Tunnel. Speaking of public space, Madison Square Park’s art installation will be the scene to experience yoiking, a northern Norwegian practice of channeling animal spirits with the voice. Interesting. Then, this weekend is all about outdoor festivals. Head to Governors Island for free kayaking, boating and fun for City of Water Day, or to the Rubin Museum for their annual free block party. Finally, Bar Tabac shuts down Smith Street in Brooklyn to celebrate Bastille Day—a French festival of food, drinks, and petanque!
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Art Nerd NY’s top art, architecture, and design event picks – 6/15-6/21

Egg Rolls, Egg Creams and Empanadas Festival; Photo via Kate Milford for the Museum at Eldridge Street

June 15, 2017

Art Nerd NY’s top art, architecture, and design event picks – 6/15-6/21

Art Nerd New York founder Lori Zimmer shares her top art, design and architecture event picks for 6sqft readers! If you’re feeling low this week, head to Times Square for a round of artful applause, or to the Rubin for some pick me ups thanks to the world of sound. Step back in time (and flex your history knowledge) for a Jazz Age Drink and Draw, then test your modern New York history knowledge at the New York Now Scavenger Hunt. If you’re itching to learn, join a free history tour of Washington Square Park, take in an artist talk by Martha Rosler, then celebrate the diverse history of the Lower East Side at the Egg Rolls, Egg Creams, and Empanadas Festival. Finally, cozy up with a date for Bryant Park’s first screening under the stars with King Kong.
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April 21, 2017

The Urban Lens: Explore the whimsical photography of Todd Webb with former LIFE editor Bill Shapiro

By Diane Pham

"I instantly fell in love with Webb’s work," says former LIFE editor-in-chief Bill Shapiro, "with the beauty he captures, with his sense of the life of the street; with the way he frames both the sweeping, iconic skyline and those small, fleeting moments that define the city that New Yorkers love." These sentiments seem to be shared by just about everyone who encounters the work of Todd Webb for the first time. Webb, most fittingly described by Shapiro as "the best NYC photographer you've never heard of," worked and laughed alongside photography's upper echelon, including Georgia O’Keeffe, Walker Evan, Gordon Parks and Ansel Adams, but unlike his well-known friends, Webb was never interested fame. Instead, he quietly took to documenting life in America, particularly post-war New York between 1946 and 1960.
more on the work of todd webb here

Image: Jason Wyche, Public Art

February 16, 2017

Art Nerd New York’s top event picks for the week – 2/16-2/22

In a city where hundreds of interesting events occur each week, it can be hard to pick and choose your way to a fulfilling life. Ahead Art Nerd founder Lori Zimmer shares her top picks for 6sqft readers! This week, the Red Bull space rechristens itself in style with a massive department store-style installation by Norwegian artist Bjarne Melgaard. Also this week, the Public Art Fund is battling advertisements with a city-wide ad screen takeover by 23 artists, while SVA’s Curatorial MA program hosts a panel about art and commodity. Buff Monster’s ice cream murals delve into the third dimension in a new sculptural pop-up, and William Binnie’s WINTER is coming to LMAK. LES gallery Pierogi welcomes a solo show by Elliott Green, and finally, The Museum of the City of New York celebrates the rich diversity that Muslims have brought to our city for generations in a new exhibit.
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February 8, 2017

10 alternative Valentine’s Day events for urbanists, historians, and art lovers

By Dana Schulz

Roses and chocolate are nice, but why go the traditional route when the city has so much more to offer for Valentine's Day. Show your significant other, spouse, or best friend how much they mean to you with one of these ten alternative events that 6sqft rounded up throughout the city. From a wastewater treatment plant tour, to after-hours museum visits, to a romantic evening at the planetarium, these are the perfect ideas for urbanists, historians, and art lovers.
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November 23, 2016

Art Nerd New York’s Top Event Picks for the Week- 11/24-12/1