Help me narrow NYC museum choices (kids ages 16, 14 & 11)
 

Our family of 5 will arrive in NYC mid-afternoon on a Saturday and depart for Boston the following Thursday morning (so we have four full touring days). I'm trying to narrow down our museum choices to the ones that we'll all enjoy the most. The Metropolitan Museum of Art is a must. I was thinking of the Gugggenheim, but that was mostly to see the building, so that may have to wait until another trip due to the renovation. I'd also like to take the kids to Ellis Island. Should I try to fit in one more museum-type of experience? The Lower East Side Tenement Museum intrigues me; it looks like it would be interesting to the kids. I'm also interested in the Folk Art museem, but I may be the only one who'd love it.

Please help me narrow down my museum choices, or give me ideas I haven't yet considered.

Surely your #1 museum choice should be the <b>American Museum of Natural History</b>, over all of the others. Your children will love it, as will you.

missypie, if you mostly want to see the Gugg for its architecture, it's so close to the Met you can just walk by. Go in the revolving door, stand in the lobby and look up(!) to get a sense of the interior without buying tix to see the art. (I haven't been paying attention to the construction, but I think it has to do with an addition and so hopefully shouldn't distract from seeing FLW's showpiece.)

For kids that age, the Tenement Museum should be a good bet. I'd suggest doing Ellis Island first, then head to the LES so you get a sense of where a lot of those people coming through immigration ended up. The Tenement Museum also gives good walking tours of the area - don't miss Donut Plant on Grand Street for a vintage sweet! There are lots of cool places to eat on the LES, and you can always easily head into SoHo from there. (You don't say if your kids are shop-happy girls or not LOL!)

What do your kids like? At the Met, you could check out the Costume Institute or the Arms and Armor (and of course the zillion things in between, not least of which is the just-reopened Greek and Roman art). There's the Museum of Radio and Television in midtown, the MoMA, even the Transit Museum just over the river in downtown Brooklyn.

The AMNH is always great - if your kids are into that kind of thing. (Go early, start at the top with the dinosaurs and work your way down, or go for an IMAX movie or the Rose Center; temporary exhibitions are usually very good too, though I didn't care for the current Gold exhibit enough to pay the extra $$. The cafeteria there, while pricey, is surprisingly good with everything from pizza to a fresh, varied salad bar and loads of sweet treats.)

I like the Folk Art museum, but unless your kids are into it, it might be a little much for them. The good thing is it's right next door to the MoMA, so if there's something there that would interest them, maybe you can pop next door and then reconvene? (There's also tons of shopping in the area, from the NBA store to H&amp;M to American Girl Place and FAO Schwartz...)

I took my 13 yr. old to the Tenement Museum - you must reserve in advance (on line). We did the one where we visited the Italian (?) family. We went straight there from Ellis Island. It was a short visit but really worthwhile. BTW, as you face the museum, down the block to your right is a great gelato place (?Institute de Gelato, or something like that- very exotic (green tea, sesame) flavors- but when you come out of the museum, you're on the other side of the building.
The living history visits are the ones I think your kids will like the most.

Why the musuem of Natural History? We went to the big natural histroy museum in Cchicago and got lost in the labrynth of exhibits and couldn't find our way out. That sort of dimmed our enthusiasm for natural history museums.

The Tenement museum is well worth doing, in my opinion, and the Lower East Side is a really interesting neighborhood (although I'm biased, I lived there for 4 years). The Met is mandatory. If your family is REALLY into art, I'd suggest the Frick Collection. It is smaller, but has a fabulous collection in a unique setting. The Museum of Natural History is always fun.

The Museum of Television and Radio sounds fantastic...but how do you EVER decide what to watch? I can see myself wanting to spend the whole week there. It just seems overwhelming!

The <b>American Museum of Natural History</b> in New York is the best of its kind in the world and should not be missed.

Your family could easily spend an entire wonderful day there.

I so agree about the television choices!! Probably why I don't go that frequently - I get overwhelmed! It's great for a rainy day like today though...

The AMNH (nat history) is truly a great institution of its kind, and they've been doing a lot of renovation in recent years, so it's not all stuffy and dated. So if you're interested in trying again, IMO this would be the place to do it. However, if you're not into that kind of thing, do what you'll enjoy!! :)

I assume that you are referring to Chicago's Field Museum? It is a pretty good museum, but it can't hold a candle to the American Museum of Natural History. To be sure, there are some ancient musty hallways of exhibits, but there are also some amazing modern exhibits that any kid will like. Best of all (IMO), is the nearly-new Rose Planetarium, which has spectacular architecture, exhibits, demos, and shows (http://www.amnh.org/rose/).

As for art museums, the Met is certainly hard to pass up, but the kids might get more out of the Museum of Modern Art.

Over spring break we went to Barcelona and visited the Picasso and Miro musuems...saw a lot of modern art. That's why I'm thinking of skipping the MOMA in favor of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

(You do need to grab a map when you buy your tix for AMNH or it can be disorienting. Same goes for the Met - these institutions are vast and full of little rooms!)

The MoMA has cool exhibits on things like product design - where else will you see Tupperware behind a glass case? There's a helicopter and vintage cars, too, so it's a lot more than just painting and sculpture.

moma.org

Yeah, the MOMA sounds fantastic, too. Obviously 4 1/2 days in New York is not enough time, but that's the way it is going to have to be. Trying to balance art, history, Broadway, shopping, eating, etc.

One thing you might try is to integrate their most recent school curriculum into what you see - if the oldest has studied the Medival Europe, seeing the tapestries and arms and armor at the Met will bring those subjects alive for him/her. If American History was covered this year, Ellis island and the Tenement Museum will be especially rewarding.(an aside - most kids REALLY like the tenement museum tour because it is so vivid - you really get a feel for how life was lived) If your kids are into science, say astronomy, geology or anthropology, then AMNH will definitely engage them.

Why don't you ask THEM what they want to see? Or let each pick a particular subject/interest, do a little research beforehand and let each kid be the tour guide for the family . . . .

Well and the other negative about the MoMA is cost - it's currently the most expensive museum in NYC, so their &quot;free Fridays&quot; end up a total zoo. (Not that you'd be able to take advantage of it anyway.)

I'd definitely plan your museums around other activities in the vicinity and let that help you decide. Otherwise, as always there's too much to do and too little time! ;)

First - several of these museums are simply enormous - so go to the web sites so you can pick out n advance which things you wnat to see - or you could spend a couple of days in many of them.

for kids those ages:

Museums of Natrual History &amp; Planetarium (greata dino exhibit, brilliant exhibit on human evolution, gallery of gemsn &amp; minerals is fascinating - as well as several IMAX movies)

The Met - perhaps arms &amp; armor, temple of dendur, costume institute, impressionist, egyptian department

Ellis Island Immigration Museum - absolutely brilliant (and you can view the Stateu of Liberty from the ferry)

Then - depending on people's interests - and you may want to split for some of these:

MoMA

The Frick

Tenement Museum

Museum of the City of New York

Your idea to look at the Guggenheim from the outside and skip the inside is absolutely correct. It's not worth going into anymore (and I say this as someone who watched them build it and loved it when they used the building correctly).

As you've determined, the Metroplitan should be high on your list and MOMA is always worth a visit, even at $20 a pop.

If you'ree looking for others, the Frick is great, both for the buidling and the art within (think of it as the polar opposite of the Tenement Museum). It's at 71st and 5th, just down from the Met.

I haven't been inside since its renovation, but the JP Morgan Library might also be of interest. It's at 36th and Madison.

I think the MET will probably give them enough of a museum experience. How about the Bronx Zoo. If you join the Zoo as a family you then get free admission to the Central Park Zoo, Bronx Zoo and the Aquarium at Coney Island for an entire year. You also will get the Zoo Magazine as part of you membership so it would be something to share when you get home for the next year as well.

You could do a day at the beach and also see the Aquarium, reachable on the subway.

The Bronx Zoo has recently undergone some major rennovation and the kids will love spending the day there.

My 14-yr.-old daughter liked the Metropolitan Museum but grew weary after a couple of hours. The same was true of the MoMA. She loved the Natural History Museum, including Rose Center Planetarium, where we spent an entire day. She even grabbed the camera and took about a hundred pictures. The Met is my favorite, but hers is definitely AMNH.

(re: my previous post) By the way, we didn't do all those museums in one trip. We did the Met and the MoMA on our trip in the Fall, and the AMNH day before yesterday. The planetarium is really cool.

Hi Missypie! We will be in NYC in a few weeks as well. We were there about 18 months ago and along with the others would highly recommend the Tenement Museum. You did need to get tickets in advance, so check out their website (www.tenement.org/). By the way, we were really disappointed by the gelato store right near there someone else mentioned (il laboratorio del gelato), save your calories for your next trip to Italy!!

We will be seeing the special Poiret:King of Fashion exhibit at the MET (Costume Institute), I know your girls enjoy fashion - thanks again for the Fashion Museum tip in Barcelona.

I also found the Ground Zero Museum Workshop. (www.groundzeromuseumworkshop.com/home.html). You are required to have advance tickets so again, check out their website. We went to Ground Zero on our last trip but had not heard about this museum then. Will be going this time around.

Also, not sure if this will interest your family, but we are also planning on doing the Madison Square Garden All Access Tour (http://www.thegarden.com/inandaround...allaccess.html). My son is a basketball fanatic so this will be a priority for him. However, I have heard other people mention that it is quite interesting to see how things run as they also have concerts, etc. there. The tour is only an hour.

Definitely take the kids to Ellis Island.

Have a great trip!

I flew from the NYC gtg this week and met a nice couple and their 6 year old boy. They said the Museum of Natural History was by far the best.

If you look on the cover of fodors.com, there is a listing of several different kinds of museums. Interesting and eduational (finance/skyscraper).

I usually wind up walking around NYC, so I'll be interested to hear what you do, that way, I can plan to go there, if its great. Please let us know what you decide!

MOMA is the best modern art museum in the world. If you liked the Miro and the Picasso, you will be overwhelmed by the exemplars of the various genres.

Every child who grew up in NYC remembers the first time he or she went to the Museum of Natural History.

The Met has an extraordinary general collection. If you go there is an entrance just to the left of the steps, that is used much less used than the main entrance. The costume collection is a boy/girl choice.

The Tenement Museum is well done and evocative.

LOL! I asked for help narrowing down the choices, and you well traveled Fodorites gave me even MORE choices! I think I'll plan around the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Ellis Island and the Tenement Museum and see if there is time for anything else.

My experience is museums of natural history is similar to yours.

I like smaller museums, such as the Frick, which I think will be very interesting to you and your children. It is a small but fabulous collection and (of special interest) it is housed in a mansion complete with inner court yard, auditorium, and pipe organ.

The Whitney, not far away, usually has displays of modern art that appeals to the flexible minds of younger folk.

A nice day would be The Whitney, lunch, the Frick, Central Park, and the peek into the Guggenheim suggested elsewhere.

Other interesting smaller museums of interest include the Cooper-Hewitt, International Museum of Photography, and the Museum of the City of New York.

The National Museum of the American Indian is located in a beautiful old building in the Wall Street area (Bowling Green).

Oh yeah - as htty mentioned, if you're at all interested, the Museum of the American Indian is worth going into while you're down at Bowling Green for the ferry to Ellis Island. It's housed in the old Customs house that is right above the 4/5 Bowling Green subway entrance, it's not very large, and it's free. They have very well-curated shows, and often show contemporary native arts - it might solve some of your folk art fix!
:)

Another vote for the Museum of Natural History here.

It has a lot of very good exhibits on dinosaurs and other prehistoric animals, a butterfly atrium and much more. I've never heard of any kid of any age not liking this place (except my sister when she was a teenager).

I made the mistake of going to the Museum of the American Indian at Bowling Green several months ago. I thought it was a complete waste of time and the most disappointing museum in New York.

Perhaps the exhibits have changed? If not, skip it.

And don't miss the American Museum of Natural History!

I think Ellis Isl followed by perhaps the Confino LIving History Tour would be a good match -
the Tenement Museum also has a nice book shop/restrooms/and short film on immigration for either before or after your one hour tour.

I say let the kids play with the websites of both the MET and the AMNH - b/c I do not know their interests - if I had to choose one for them, I&quot;d choose the MET (as much as I am a fan of the AMNH,, if you are narowing to two museums I'd put the MET prior to the AMNH)

I think your children will be bored with the Folk Art Museum, but perhaps you can fit it in for yourself, b/c it sounds like you would love it -
even if you get an hour in there while they shop or something.

You could spend a month just doing museums in NY - butas you said, you need time for shows, broeadway and balancing your time and choices !
What a great trip you have planned for the kids -have fun.

just a word of caution. if you are coming in the dead of summer, the tenement museum is exactly that--a tenement. There is NO air conditioning. You MUST go early in the morning, and even then it might be brutally hot in the apartments.

Why don't you give the guide books to the kids and let them each pick out something that they would like to see. You may be surprised that they each pick one exhibit in 3 different museums. What appeals to the 11 year old may be vastly different than what the 16 year old would find interesting. Also, be sure to visit the museum websites to see what special exhibits are going on. That may completely steer you in a different direction.

And if you do the LES /Tenement Museum, think about watching Crossing Delancey before you come!

No one has mentioned the <u>Forbes Galleries</u> (www.forbesgalleries.com) with displays of more than 500 toy boats and 12,000 toy solidiers as well as historic Monopoly boards.

I was recently in the <u>Museum of Art and Design</u> (across the street from MOMA) to see their &quot;Radical Lace and Subversive Knitting&quot;. Sounds weird, but it was amazing. Lace made from the most unusual items. Only takes an hour or so to see the whole thing.

http://www.madmuseum.org/site/c.drKL...e_Knitting.htm

TC - Agree, the Forbes is great. Interesting background on the toy soldiers. Malcolm Forbes had about 20 set ups of different battle scenes--I think it was a total of 1200 soldiers. Most of them were set up at the American Ligation in Morocco, but, when we went there, there were only 2 set ups left. Apparently, his son Steve went and sold the lot of them to the Louvre, leaving behind only what the Louvre did not have room for. It was a huge loss to tourism at the Ligation.

How sad...I had no idea. I knew his family had sold the Fabrege eggs, which was my favorite part of the museum.

Just received an email from the Museum of Natural History on their current exhibits: <b>Mythical Creatures</b>. Looks like something the kids might enjoy.

http://www.amnh.org/exhibitions/mythiccreatures/

topping for 2boys

missypie, I just wanted to say: Have a GREAT trip!! I depart Wed a.m. for a month in China, and I have no idea whether I'll have access to Fodor's or not. I know you've put so much planning into your trip. I hope you and your family enjoy NYC, MA and ME as much as I do!

Bon voyage!
:) ggreen

No one has mentioned the Museum of Jewish Heritage, which is in Battery Park, near the Ellis Island ferry. I like this museum, and it's a real experience.

Also, there's an age cut-off for the Frick, but I'm not sure what it is. This is not a good museum for kids, though it is my very favorite small museum in NYC.

And the art in the Guggenheim is a big snore unless there's a special exhibit that really interests you. Look at hte interior, but by no means pay the huge admission.

Another vote for the AMNH. If I had to choose one museum for kids 16,14 &amp; 11 AMNH would be it. My kids loved it, and so did I. The exhibits were excellent, kids liked the room with totem poles and native american masks, the sea life, large mammals, the Rose Center, pretty much everything. The cafeteria in the basement has quite a good salad bar, in addition to typical cafeteria fare. Food cost was reasonable for NYC and quality good. I think kids/teens might enjoy AMNH more than the Met.

The Frick
small, intimate, incredible artwork, but easy to see when you are short on time and/or have folks with you who are not big museum buffs