The Museum of the City of New York: Where the Past Informs the Future
The essential introduction to New York City, the Museum of the City of New York explores the past, present, and future of New York through groundbreaking exhibitions that offer a behind-the-scenes look at what gives the city its singular character.
Stephen Burrows: When Fashion Danced
Through July 28, 2013
Stephen Burrows: When Fashion Danced is the first major
examination of the work of the designer The New York Times called in
1977 the “brightest star of American fashion.” It looks at the period
spanning the 1970s when Stephen Burrows’s meteoric rise to fame made him
not only the first African-American designer to gain international
stature, but a celebrated fashion innovator whose work helped define the
look of a generation. With vibrant colors, metallic fabrics, and slinky
silhouettes that clung to the body, Burrows’s danceable designs
generated a vibrant look that was of a piece with the glamorous,
liberated nightlife of the era. Through photographs, drawings, and
original garments, the exhibition will trace Burrows’s evolution from
creating eclectic looks for his friends in the 1960s to his work with
the chic 57th Street retailer Henri Bendel to the floor of Studio 54, as
he dressed such 70s style icons as Cher, Liza Minnelli, and Diana Ross.
Making Room: New Models for Housing New Yorkers
Through September 15, 2013
Making Room: New Models for Housing New Yorkers showcases innovative design solutions to better accommodate New York City’s changing, and sometimes surprising, demographics, including a rising number of single people, and will feature a full-sized, flexibly furnished micro-studio apartment of just 325 square feet – a size prohibited in most areas of the city. Visitors to the exhibition will see models and drawings of housing designs by architectural teams commissioned in 2011 by Citizens Housing & Planning Council, in partnership with the Architectural League of New York. The exhibition also presents winning designs from the Bloomberg administration’s recently launched pilot competition to test new housing models, as well as examples set by other cities in the United States and around the world, including Seattle, Providence, Montreal, San Diego, and Tokyo.
Activist New York
Ongoing
Activist New York explores the drama of social activism in
New York City from the 17th century right up to the present. In a town
renowned for its in-your-face persona, citizens of the city have banded
together on issues as diverse as historic preservation, civil rights,
wages, sexual orientation, and religious freedom. Using artifacts,
photographs, audio and visual presentations, as well as interactive
components that seek to tell the entire story of activism in the five
boroughs, Activist New York presents the passions and conflicts that underlie the city's history of agitation.
New York Interiors: Furnishings for the Empire City
Ongoing
New York Interiors: Furnishings for the Empire City features elements of New York domestic environments from the late 17th through the early 20th centuries. On display are objects that illuminate aspects of daily life including recreational pursuits and various domestic technologies.
A Beautiful Way to Go: New York's Green-Wood Cemetery
Ongoing
Predating both Central Park and Prospect Park, Green-Wood Cemetery was
one of the most important public green spaces in 19th-century America. A Beautiful Way to Go: New York’s Green-Wood Cemetery
marks the 175th anniversary of this significant national landmark,
exploring how its carefully constructed bucolic landscape reflected
changing notions not only of death but of nature, and how Green-wood
helped to inaugurate a rising trend of so-called rural cemeteries and
public parks. Its grounds are a museum of monuments and statuary by
leading architects and artists – including Augustus Saint-Gaudens,
Richard Upjohn, and Warren & Wetmore, designers of Grand Central
Terminal - working in a wide range of styles. Comprising equal parts
architectural, art, social, and cultural histories, the exhibition
features original artifacts, sculptures, drawings, and Hudson River
School paintings; historic documents; and photographs, including
specially commissioned color images by Jeff Chien-Hsing Liao.
Timescapes: A Multimedia Portrait of New YorkOngoing
Timescapes,
an engrossing 22-minute multimedia experience, traces the growth of New
York City from a settlement of a few hundred Europeans, Africans, and
Native Americans to its present status as one of the world’s great
cities. Created by Jake Barton of Local Projects and James Sanders,
co-writer of the PBS series New York: A Documentary History, and
narrated by actor Stanley Tucci, the film features animated maps and
archival photographs, prints, and paintings from the Museum’s
collections.
More updates coming soon!
Museum of the City of New York Location and Directions
1220 Fifth Avenue at 103rd St.
Subway: 6 Lexington Avenue train to 103rd Street, walk three blocks west, or 2 or 3 train to Central Park North (110th Street), walk one block east to Fifth Avenue, then south to 103rd Street.
Hours
Daily: 10am to 6pm
Closed: Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Day and New Years Day