New York City Museum Ticket

Highlights of the Tour

Explore the 400‑year history of New York. Begin this journey with a documentary narrated by Stanley Tucci.

Delve into captivating exhibitions about New York's activists, artists, and historical events that have shaped the diverse fabric of this nation.

The exhibitions are refreshed several times each year, allowing you to visit again and again.

Situated at the northern end of Fifth Avenue in Manhattan's Upper East Side, across from Central Park, the Museum of the City of New York (MCNY) has been dedicated to preserving and telling the story of New York City since its founding by historian Henry Collins Brown in 1923. This stately neo‑Georgian red‑brick building, with statues of visionaries who witnessed New York's rise adorning its portico, stands as a highly recognisable cultural landmark on Museum Mile.

Within its collection of over 750,000 precious artefacts, the museum weaves together four centuries of the city's history, from the Dutch colonial period to the present day. Here, you'll find Jacob Riis's glass negatives documenting immigrant hardships, capturing the crowds on Ellis Island and the earthy life of tenement buildings; costumes and script manuscripts from Broadway's Golden Age, recreating the dazzling sound and light of the theatre; and antique toys, firefighting equipment, and 26,000 pieces of clothing and textiles—each item harbouring the imprints of New Yorkers' lives.

The permanent exhibition "New York at Its Core" uses immersive storytelling to reveal the city's transformation from a small port town into a global metropolis. Thematic exhibitions focus on the city's multiculturalism and social change, from the influence of Caribbean dance on New York social life to the struggles of women suffragists, allowing visitors to feel the pulse of the city.

The museum is more than static displays. Interactive installations let you "design" your own New York skyline; the oral history archive captures the urban memories of diverse ethnic groups; and educational activities invite the public to take part in writing the city's future.

Here, there are no cold artefact labels—only a city epic woven from countless vibrant life stories. Whether you seek to trace New York's origins or feel the cultural pulse of the world's capital, the Museum of the City of New York is the ideal starting point for understanding this city.