Manhattan
AMERICAN MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY
A scientific, educational and cultural institution, the museum’s mission is to explore and interpret human cultures, the natural world and the universe through scientific research, education and exhibitions. The institution houses 45 permanent exhibition halls, state-of-the-art research laboratories, one of the largest natural history libraries in the Western Hemisphere, and a permanent collection of more than 30 million specimens and cultural artifacts. Programs include special exhibitions, lecture series, workshops and film festivals.
- amnh.org
- 212-769-5200
- Central Park West at 79th St.,
- New York City, NY 11790
- Hours: Seven days a week, 10:00 AM to 5:45PM
- Suggested general admission (supports the Museum’s scientific and educational endeavors and includes 45 Museum halls and the Rose Center for Earth and Space): $16 (adults); $12 (students/seniors); $9 (children)
INTREPID SEA, AIR & SPACE MUSEUM
This complex includes the 900-foot-long aircraft carrier Intrepid with seven full decks and four theme halls; the guided missile submarine Growler; and a collection of more than 30 aircraft including the A-12 Blackbird, the fastest plane in the world; and the British Airways Concorde, the fastest commercial aircraft in the world.
Guests can experience areas of the ship including the fo’c’sle (commonly known as the anchor chain room), multimedia presentations and exhibit collections, interactive educational stations and a brand newpublic pier.
Kids will enjoy a 12,240-square-foot interactive Exploreum, which contains 18 different hands-on exhibits teaching about properties of the sea, air, space and living at sea as each relates to the ship Intrepid. They can experience a flight simulator, climb a cargo net, transmit messages using Morse code, crawl through living quarters of crewmembers, learn how the Intrepid turned salt water into fresh water and perform various tasks while wearing space gloves.
- intrepidmuseum.org
- 212-245-0072
- Pier 86 (46th Street and 12th Avenue), New York City, NY
- Hours: Monday through Friday, 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM; Saturday through Sunday, 10:00 AM to 6:00 PM
- Admission: Adults, $22.00; seniors and college students: $18.00; youth 3 to 17 and veterans, $17.00; active military, retired military and children under 3, free. All tickets are subject to a $2.00 facility fee.
THE LOWER EAST SIDE TENEMENT MUSEUM
Situated in a partially restored 1863 tenement building, this museum interprets the lives of immigrant families who once called 97 Orchard Street home. Inside its six stories, visitors find narrow hallways and cramped apartments restored to look as they did in 1869, 1873, 1897, 1915, 1916 and 1935 with period furnishings.
In the rear yard, families can see a privy shed and water pump. By early 2011, the basement will be transformed into different shops that once operated there, including a kosher butcher shop, saloon and auction house. At the Museum’s Visitors & Education, visitors can purchase tickets, watch a free film about immigration to New York, and browse the museum shop.
Neighborhood walking tours focus on different aspects of neighborhood history and change. An interactive program called “The Confino Family Living History Tour” lets visitors interact with a costumed interpreter playing a 14-year-old Victoria Confino, an immigrant from the Ottoman Empire circa 1916.
- www.tenement.org
- 212-343-4260
- 97 Orchard St., New York, NY 10002
- Hours: Monday through Friday, 11:15 AM to 5:00 PM; Saturday and Sunday, 10:30 AM to 5 PM; Visitors’ Center open daily, 10:00 AM to 6:00 PM
- Admission: Adults, $20; children, students and seniors, $15; children under 5, free
MOUNT VERNON HOTEL MUSEUM & GARDEN
This landmarked 1799 building sits on land originally owned by John Adams’ daughter and is dedicated to the collection, preservation, exhibition and research of art and artifacts pertaining to the Mount Vernon Hotel — New York City’s only surviving day hotel. As families enter this converted carriage house, they are transported to the mid 19th century amid historical costumes and story times. Kids enjoy story time events, hands-on exhibits and educational toys and can play “dress up” in period costumes. (Mount Vernon is pictured at the top of this page.)
- mvhm.org
- 212-838-6878
- 421 East 61st Street
- New York, NY 10065
- Hours: 11:00 AM to 4:00 PM Tuesday through Sunday
- Admission: Adults, $8; children under 12, free
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