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Museum of the City of New York: General Admission
4.4
95 Ratings
New City
Explore the vibrant history and culture of New York City at the Museum of the City of New York. Discover the city’s past, present, and future in a beautifully renovated building on Museum Mile.
Explore the vibrant history and culture of New York City at the Museum of the City of New York. Discover the city’s past, present, and future in a beautifully renovated building on Museum Mile.
Duration:
4 hours
Cancellation:
24 hours
Highlights
- Museum of the City of New York - The Museum of the City of New York features two ongoing exhibitions–the award-winning New York at Its Core, a three gallery exhibition that explores New York City’s history and future through objects, images, contemporary video, photography, and interactive digital experiences, and Activist New York, an…
- Museum of the City of New York - The Museum of the City of New York features two ongoing exhibitions–the award-winning New York at Its Core, a three gallery exhibition that explores New York City’s history and future through objects, images, contemporary video, photography, and interactive digital experiences, and Activist New York, an exhibition which seeks to tell the story of activism in the five boroughs past and present. There are also several special exhibitions on view at any one time and the short documentary Timescapes, a multimedia historical storytelling, bringing viewers on a 28 minute journey through 400 years of history. The film runs every 40 minutes and headsets are available in French, Mandarin, and Spanish.
What's Included
- General Admission
- All special exhibitions
- Permanent exhibitions
- Timescapes, an award-winning documentary narrated by Stanley Tucci
- General Admission
- All special exhibitions
- Permanent exhibitions
- Timescapes, an award-winning documentary narrated by Stanley Tucci
What's Not Included
- Snacks
- Gift Shop items
- Snacks
- Gift Shop items
Additional Information
The City of New York Museum cultivates comprehension of the unique character of city living in the world’s most impactful metropolis. It pulls in visitors through celebration, documentation, and explanation of the city’s history, current state, and future potential. The Museum, which is situated in a recently refurbished 1932 Georgian Colonial-Revival…
The City of New York Museum cultivates comprehension of the unique character of city living in the world’s most impactful metropolis. It pulls in visitors through celebration, documentation, and explanation of the city’s history, current state, and future potential. The Museum, which is situated in a recently refurbished 1932 Georgian Colonial-Revival architecture, boasts a location at the pinnacle of Museum Mile on Fifth Avenue and 103rd Street, opposite Central Park’s Conservatory Gardens, and on the south edge of East Harlem district.
Location
Museum of the City of New York
1220 Fifth Avenue at 103rd Street, at 103rd Street
Cancellation Policy
For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.
For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.
Customer Ratings
4.4
(95 Ratings)
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Tc-voyageur
Jan 22, 2026
Excellent into to nyc. Like the title of the museum says. Nicely up to date. - Excellent intro to the history of nyc. I’m not a tourist but imo this is perfect for them and very good even fit residents. Nice use of audiovisual. I think it can be seen at a leisurely pace in 3 hours. Less if you move along. Nice 40 minute video n some shorter ones.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Monte_p
Jan 11, 2026
History of New York - Very informative exhibits with the movies being most informative & enjoyable. Wonderful history lesson in front of our eyes.
Review provided by Viator
Anna_a
Dec 28, 2025
Worth the Visit - Such a great, underrated museum! If you want to learn all about NYC’s history, you’re going to love this place.
Review provided by Viator
Joeax9858cr
Nov 19, 2025
Best Museum in NYC - This museum is the perfect place. Smaller and not so busy that you can actually take your time learning about the wonderful exhibits. The Gingerbread display is fascinating! The staff are so friendly and helpful.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Gary
Nov 13, 2025
Much more fun than expected - We spent almost 4 hours in the museum.
It consists of four floors, with several exhibits showing how New York grew from a tiny village to arguably the most important city on earth.
The two best parts were both video.
On the ground floor is a 30 minute documentary showing things like the Brooklyn Bridge going up, the Verrazano going up, the beginnings of the El trains, early subways, how the city started in lower manhattan and grew both north and into the suburbs. The movie was so good we watched it twice.
The other video was a montage of scenes from movies filmed in or about New York like, Taxi Driver, Fame, Tootsie, the Warriors, On The Town, and many more. A lot of fun.
There is a special exhibit on now, that apparently goes on every fall, where about a dozen professional and amateur bakers are invited to create buildings or other structures out of ginger bread. Not only did it smell great, there was a tenement house, the Brooklyn Bridge, the Chrysler Building, and many others, all made of ginger bread.
Much more fun than I expected.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Dreamer65624475695
Oct 19, 2025
A good time on a Saturday afternoon. - A lot to digest. So much information. Telling everyone I know to go and see for themselves. I especially enjoyed the gift shop.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Julie_c
Aug 22, 2025
Great trip of the City - Go on a pretty day and sit on top . We just rode it through the whole tour which took about one and a half hour.
Review provided by Viator
489meghanm
May 31, 2025
Not To Be Missed - This museum is not to be missed. Start with the approximately 20 minute video on the first floor about the history of New York. It’s a good starting point for the rest of your visit. From there we visited the two rooms on the history of the city. There was so much information. I feel like I have a greater understanding of the city after going through these spaces. (Pro tip: grab a stool, there’s a lot of reading.) There’s a very well done film that’s about 30 minutes long on NYC film. I could watch it again since I know I missed parts due to where I was seated in the room (the film is along three walls).
The exhibit on Shirley Chisholm was excellent. I honestly knew very little about her before visiting the exhibit.
We spent four hours at the museum and didn’t see everything. I would definitely return. I wish I had visited at the start of our trip because I probably would have noticed some different things about the city after having visited the museum.
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Danmy5870pp
May 29, 2025
Go for the video - The museum was good. The video of the city was the best bit. Films set in new york was also interesting. It will take about 2 hours to walk around
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Mimastech
Aug 21, 2025
A good museum to learn about the history of New York City - The museum is located at the north-east side of central park, near Harlem. It is an excellent source of the history of New York (e.g., to learn about how New York gets massive funding from the New Deal from 1933-1943, how mid-class migrate away to suburb in 1950s-1960s, and how New York changes from a manufacture center to focus on culture and art.)
Review provided by Tripadvisor