Museum of the City of New York

The Museum of the City of New York (MCNY) is a history and art museum in Manhattan, New York City. It was founded by Henry Collins Brown in 1923 to preserve and present the history of New York City and its people. The museum is located at 1220–1227 Fifth Avenue between East 103rd to 104th Streets, across from Central Park on Manhattan's Upper East Side, at the northern end of the Museum Mile section of Fifth Avenue.

The red brick with marble trim building was built in 1929–30 and was designed by Joseph H. Freedlander in the neo-Georgian style. Statues of Alexander Hamilton and DeWitt Clinton by sculptor Adolph Alexander Weinman are featured on the front of the building.

The museum is a private non-profit organization that receives government support as a member of New York City's Cultural Institutions Group. It also gets money from endowments, admission fees, and contributions.

History

The museum began in Gracie Mansion, but it soon moved to show an exhibit called "Old New York" in the American Fine Arts Building on 57th Street in 1926. Because it was so popular, people wanted to give the museum its own special building. After choosing a design, the city gave the museum space on Fifth Avenue. Building started, even though plans changed after the Wall Street crash of 1929. The museum opened its doors on January 11, 1932.

In 1967, the building became an important New York City landmark. In 1982, the museum received a special award for helping the city.

Move proposals

In 2000, the mayor suggested moving the museum to the old Tweed Courthouse near City Hall. Another museum, El Museo del Barrio, would have taken its place. But the next mayor changed his mind and decided to use the Courthouse for the New York City Department of Education. The museum’s director left, and a new leader took over in 2002.

There were also ideas to combine the museum with the New-York Historical Society or to put it at the World Trade Center site, but neither happened.

Expansion

The museum’s new leader planned to grow the museum in the East Harlem area. In 2006, they broke ground on a new part of the museum, finishing in 2008. The new space, made of glass, is about 3,000 square feet and has two levels to show artifacts. The old building from 1932 was fixed up too, with new rooms for storing treasures, studying history, and caring for items. The first part of these changes cost about US$28 million.

Later in 2011, the museum helped run the South Street Seaport Museum, which opened again in January 2012.

Collection

The Museum of the City of New York has a huge collection with over 1.5 million items. Many of these items are from the 1800s and early 1900s. You can find paintings, drawings, prints — including more than 3000 by Currier and Ives — and photographs of New York City and its people. There are also costumes, decorative objects, furniture, antique toys, ship models, rare books, and manuscripts. The museum was the first in the United States to have a special area just for toys.

Some special pieces include a chair that once belonged to Sarah Rapelje, the first child born in New York State of European parentage. The museum also has many photographs by famous photographers like Percy Byron, Jacob Riis, and Berenice Abbott, as well as photographs from the Depression era Federal Art Project. There are also dioramas about the city's history and its surroundings, and a collection of original Marquand and Co. silver from the early 1800s. Additionally, there is a model of New Amsterdam based on the Castello Plan from 1660.

Notable exhibitions

The Museum of the City of New York has had many special shows. One show called Perform focused on theater in New York from 2004 to 2009. It had items like tap shoes from a famous dancer named Bill "Bojangles" Robinson.

Another show honored baseball legend Jackie Robinson and showed his family’s memories and videos. In 2020, a new show about basketball in New York opened, featuring famous players. In 2026, the museum displayed a handmade model of New York City that became popular on TikTok.