Listening to Gay Gotham
One of the unexpected highlights of curating Gay Gotham was a pair of recording sessions at a small studio far from the museum. To represent their work, we decided to record excerpts from their writings, and sought out readers who might feel a sense of kinship with them.
The Future City Lab: A Conversation with Project Director Kubi Ackerman
The 400 years of history covered by New York at Its Core don’t end with yesterday. The exhibition’s third and final gallery is the Future City Lab, which brings the focus to … Continue reading
From the Fulton Market to the Forty-Deuce: Leland Bobbé’s New York in the 1970s
In 1970 Leland Bobbé lived on Beekman Street near what used to be the Fulton Fish Market. He was a musician trying to make it in the city, and … Continue reading
Conserving the Rufus King Traveling Medicine Chest
The New York City of statesman and diplomat Rufus King (1755-1827) was a grim place. Disease crippled the city, with its rampant overcrowding and meager sanitation. And despite their stature, the … Continue reading
The Apple Peeler and Corer: Behind the Scenes, New York at Its Core
Manhattan’s Lower East Side, one of the most sought-after zip codes for young New Yorkers to settle today, would scarcely be familiar to the people who arrived here at the … Continue reading
A View of Melrose
In November, 2016, the Museum of the City of New York will launch New York at Its Core, the first museum exhibition that comprehensively interprets and presents the story of … Continue reading
Telling the Stories of Activism in New York City Today
Museums are often tasked with examining the past, but how do they represent the present? As part of the update to the Museum’s ongoing Activist New York exhibition—including a new original … Continue reading
From the Bowery to Broadway: Women of the Yiddish Stage
Last week, the Museum opened “New York’s Yiddish Theater: From the Bowery to Broadway,” a fabulous new exhibition that explores the history and influence of Yiddish theater in New York … Continue reading
When Portraits Were King: Conversation with Curator Bruce Weber
Curator of Paintings & Sculpture Bruce Weber explains the importance of self-image in 18th century New York, the evolution of the city’s painting scene, and the detective work underlying the … Continue reading
The New York Women Who Dismantled Prohibition
Women have been considered some of the most visible advocates of the temperance movement—the movement beginning in the nineteenth century to voluntarily abstain from drinking alcohol. Less known is … Continue reading
Curator’s Notepad: Bonnie Yochelson on How the Other Half Lives
A tip from the guest curator of Jacob A. Riis: Revealing New York’s Other Half: Lean in. The greatest curatorial challenge we faced in creating the Riis exhibition was the … Continue reading
The New York City Marathon: The Great Race
The New York City Marathon began humbly in 1970, with 127 participants running laps around Park Drive in Central Park. On that day a total of only 55 runners crossed … Continue reading
Affordable New York: Amalgamated Housing Cooperative
In 1926, when the tenements of the Lower East Side were overflowing and there was wide recognition of the unhealthy conditions created by such dense living, New York state enacted … Continue reading
