Art Museums:
Ancient, Byzantine and modern art from Greece and Hellenic Civilization. Gallery is small and located in the basement of an office building in midtown, but is known for thought provoking and high profile exhibits of art from ancient and medieval Greece and can be quite popular.
Museum Rating: Pauline: 8, Paul: 8 (out of 10).
Possibly the greatest museum of modern art in the world. The collection consists of over 150,000 works in 6 different departments: Painting and Sculpture, Architecture and Design, Photography, Prints and Illustrated Books, Drawings, and Film and Media. MOMA is considered to have one of the best collections of modern Western masterpieces, with iconic works such as Vincent van Gogh's Starry Night, Picasso's Les Demoiselles d'Avignon, Salvador Dali's Persistence of Memory, and Andy Warhol’s Marilyn Monroe. Unfortunately, due to the popularity of this museum, it is often extremely crowded.
Museum Rating: Pauline: 9, Paul: 5 (out of 10).
Large quirky museum on Columbus Circle. Formerly the American Craft Museum, this museum focuses on the art and design of hand-made contemporary objects made from 5 different materials: metal, fiber, wood, clay and glass. Upper floor contains an open artist studio with young artists at work and available for questions. Top floor has somewhat pricey American style restaurant and bar with an amazing view of Central Park and the Upper West Side.
Museum Rating: Pauline: 7, Paul: 6 (out of 10).
Museum Rating: Pauline: 7, Paul: 6 (out of 10).
Gallery Korea
Art gallery showing Korean and Korean-American contemporary artists in roughly 10 exhibitions per year, located on the sixth floor of the Korean Consulate building. The gallery is part of Korean Cultural Service New York, working to promote Korean culture and aesthetics through gallery exhibitions, performing arts concerts, educational programs and a popular monthly film series.
Museum Rating: Pauline: 4, Paul: 6 (out of 10).
The art of self-taught artists, including historic American crafts and folk art, and the more modern outsider art movement. Exhibited in a moderately sized museum located on the same block as MoMA (see below).
Museum Rating: Pauline: 5, Paul: 4 (out of 10).
Museum Rating: Pauline: 5, Paul: 4 (out of 10).
Small gallery space within a Scandanavian cultural center. Exhibits generally focus on Scandinavian design and architecture. The center also has an excellent (and not terribly expensive) Scandinavian cafe on the ground floor and an active craft class and film schedule.
Museum Rating: Pauline: 4, Paul: 5 (out of 10).
Museum Rating: Pauline: 4, Paul: 5 (out of 10).
Austrian Cultural ForumContemporary Austrian art in a small multi-level gallery space housed in a distinctive modern building, one of the narrowest buildings in midtown. The Forum is the cultural section of the Austrian Consulate General in New York and an agency of the Republic of Austria working to promote Austrian culture in the U.S., hosting exhibitions, concerts, film screenings, and readings throughout the year.
Museum Rating: Pauline: 2, Paul: 2 (out of 10).
Books/Manuscript Museum:
The amazing private library and office of banker J. P. Morgan. Features a famous collection of books and manuscripts, displayed in a sumptuous gilded age library decorated with old master paintings. The library collection is extensive and includes the original manuscript of Dickens's “A Christmas Carol”; the paper scraps on which Bob Dylan jotted down "Blowin' in the Wind"; Henry David Thoreau’s journals; Percy Shelley's notebooks; autographed and annotated scores from Beethoven, Brahms, Chopin, Mahler and Verdi; 3 Gutenberg bibles; and over 600 volumes of one of the world's finest collection of illuminated medieval and Renaissance manuscripts.
Museum Rating: Pauline: 9, Paul: 7 (out of 10).
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History/Historical Buildings:
United Nations Headquarters
The historic New York headquarters of the United Nations, seen with a guided tour. Tours may include the famous General Assembly Hall and the Security Council, but only on days when these rooms are unused. Tours also feature a variety of exhibits and discussions about the goals and function of the UN. Note: the UN is undergoing a 5 year renovation (which it badly needs), and will be closed for tours starting in the spring of 2011.
Museum Rating: Pauline: 7, Paul: 8 (out of 10).
Small gallery in a hidden nook of Carnegie Hall. Exhibits focus on the history of this legendary performance hall and feature pictures and memorabilia from the celebrities who lived or performed here.
Museum Rating: Pauline: 3, Paul: 7 (out of 10).
Girl Scout Museum
Museum Rating: Pauline: 3, Paul: 7 (out of 10).
Girl Scout Museum
Historic photographs, badges, handbooks and uniforms dating from the founding of the Girl Scouts in 1912 through the present, exhibited in a small one room museum on the 14th floor of the headquarters of the Girl Scouts of America. The museum is part of the Girl Scout National Historic Preservation Center.
Museum Rating: Pauline: 1, Paul: 1 (out of 10).
Media Museums:
Museum associated with prestigious photography school founded by the brother of Robert Cappa, one of the first photojournalists. Extensive, detailed exhibits focus on photography as an art form, historical documentation and social critique.
Museum Rating: Pauline: 9, Paul: 9 (out of 10).
Museum Rating: Pauline: 9, Paul: 9 (out of 10).
Formerly the Museum of Television and Radio, this museum collects and preserves television, radio and other media (i.e. TiVo). Its archives are accessible to all visitors in quiet "library" viewing areas, and contain nearly 150,000 programs covering 100 years of television and radio history, including sitcoms, comedies, variety shows, news, performing arts programs, documentaries, children's shows, sports and even commercials.
Museum Rating: Pauline: 9, Paul: 8 (out of 10).
Museum Rating: Pauline: 9, Paul: 8 (out of 10).
Wax museum in Times Square. Museum displays a large number of life-like statues of celebrities and famous people (historical or contemporary) posed in a variety of rooms and settings. Photography is allowed, and guests can (and do) photograph themselves with any statue(s).
Museum Rating: Pauline: 7, Paul: 5 (out of 10).
Museum Rating: Pauline: 7, Paul: 5 (out of 10).
Ripley's Believe It Or Not
Museum franchise specializing in the weird and bizarre from around the world, including a collection of authentic shrunken heads, a two headed cow, a lock of Elvis' hair, a section of the Berlin wall, models of the world's tallest people, instruments of torture from the middle ages and the jaws of a prehistoric shark. Exhibits are often interactive and some are designed to startle or poke fun at guests, in the spirit of vaudville.
Museum Rating: Pauline: 6, Paul: 5 (out of 10).
| Midtown Museums | Type | Cost | Pauline's Rating | Paul's Rating |
| Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) | Art | $20 | 9 | 5 |
| Museum of Arts and Design | Art - Contemporary | $15 | 7 | 6 |
| Austrian Cultural Forum | Art - Culture | Free | 2 | 2 |
| Gallery Korea | Art - Culture | Free | 4 | 6 |
| Japan Society | Art - Culture | $15 | 8 | 6 |
| Onassis Cultural Center | Art - Culture | Free | 8 | 8 |
| Scandinavia House | Art - Culture | Free | 4 | 5 |
| American Folk Art Museum | Art - Folk | $12 | 5 | 4 |
| Morgan Library & Museum | Books/Manuscripts | $12 | 9 | 7 |
| Sony Wonder Technology Lab | Children's | Free | - | - |
| Discovery Times Square Exposition | General | $25 | - | - |
| Rose Museum | Historic Building | Free | 3 | 7 |
| United Nations Headquarters | Historic Building | $16 | 7 | 8 |
| Girl Scout Museum | History | Free | 1 | 1 |
| Mossman Lock Museum | Industry | $10 | - | - |
| International Center of Photography* | Media | $12 | 9* | 9* |
| Paley Center for Media | Media | $10 | 9 | 8 |
| Intrepid Sea-Air-Space Museum | Military | $22 | - | - |
| Madame Tussauds | Pop culture | $35+ | 7 | 5 |
| Ripley's Believe It or Not! | Pop culture | $34.73+ | 6 | 5 |
+ indicates additional cost for tax
