Museum of the City of New York

The Museum of the City of New York is an art gallery and history museum founded in 1923 to present the history of New York City and its people. It is located at the northern end of the Museum Mile section of Fifth Avenue in Manhattan, between 103rd and 104th Streets, facing Central Park.

Contrary to popular misconception, the Museum is a private non-profit organization and receives no more government support than any other cultural institution in New York City.

The imposing brick and limestone building it occupies was designed by Joseph J. Freedlander in the neo-Georgian style. Construction began in 1928 and was completed in 1930. A new expansion and renovation project will have its groundbreaking on August 2, 2006. This project includes construction of new state of the art collections storage and expansion and renovation of the existing galleries.Contents

Collection

“The Bay and Harbor of New York” by Samuel Waugh (1814-1885), depicting the arrival of the Junk Keying in New York harbour in July 1847 (watercolor on canvas, c.1853-1855, Museum of the City of New York).

The museum’s collections include paintings, drawings, prints, and photographs featuring New York City and its residents, as well as costumes, decorative objects and furniture, toys, rare books and manuscripts, marine and military collections, police and fire collections, and a theater collection (documenting the golden age of Broadway theater).

The museum is known for its comprehensive collection of photographs, which includes works by Jacob Riis and Berenice Abbott, as well as many Depression-era Federal Art Project photographs. The museum is also home to several recreated furnished rooms from the house of John D. Rockefeller, donated by his son John D. Rockefeller, Jr..

Tweed Courthouse move

In 2000 a plan was floated for the museum to relocate to the historic Tweed Courthouse by City Hall in Lower Manhattan. El Museo del Barrio would then have moved across the street to occupy the former Museum of the City of New York building. In the end, Mayor Michael Bloomberg decided to site the new New York City Department of Education in the Tweed Courthouse instead, causing then direct Robert R. Mcdonald to tender his resignation.

The Museum’s new director, Susan Henshaw Jones, recommitted MCNY to its East Harlem neighborhood, by planning an extension to the Museum. The groundbreaking for this extension, which includes new gallery space, is planned for August 2, 2006.