Museum Mania

Description:

Opened in 1930, The Pierre has been setting a high standard for excellence ever since. Formerly owned and operated by Four Seasons, the Pierre is now under the keen eye and management of Taj Hotels. The hotel retains its understated but perfectly polished ambiance and it overlooks theCentral Park. Located just north of Midtown, it is near the city's top museums, art galleries, shops, restaurants and theaters. The designer decor and service amenities including afternoon tea will make guests feel duly pampered and richly comfortable.

Our Local Expert Says:

The hotel does not offer room service, but it has its own entrance to the popular Brazilian steakhouse Churrascaria Plataforma, for hearty and festive lunch and dinner dining.

Description:

The Belvedere Hotel is the premier choice among the most discerning business and leisure travelers seeking lodging in New York City. Style, service, and exceptional comfort in the heart of midtown Manhattan, the Belvedere Hotel sets the Standard for all New York City Hotels. This luxurious NY hotel offers 400 guestroom accommodations, each specially appointed to maximize your comfort and convenience.

Our Local Expert Says:

The Costume Institute, a curatorial department of the Met, does not have a permanent installation but hosts two special exhibitions each year featuring items from its vast collection. Past events dedicated to star designers like Chanel and Versace have drawn huge crowds.

Description:

Don't expect to fully take in all that this enormous museum has to offer in one visit. With the finest collection of American art in the world, a collection of more than 3,000 European paintings, an expansive array of art from ancient Egypt, and recently renovated halls of Greek, Roman, Cypriot, and Asian art, there is a reason the Metropolitan Museum is considered the foremost symbol of arts and culture in a city chock-full of arts and culture. Often referred to simply as "The Met", the museum is located on Fifth Avenue at 82nd Street, on the eastern edge of Central Park and at the center of the so-called "Museum Mile".

First opened in 1872, the Met has been significantly expanded over the years, and its permanent collection now contains more than two million works of art, divided into nineteen curatorial departments. In addition to its giant holdings of American, European, Egyptian, African, Asian, Oceanic, Byzantine, and Islamic art, the museum is also home to encyclopedic collections of musical instruments, costumes and accessories, and antique weapons and armor from around the world. A number of notable interiors, ranging from 1st century Rome through modern American design, are permanently installed in the Met's galleries. The Met also organizes and hosts a continually changing series of special exhibitions each year.

Description:

This bakery and restaurant is known for rich confections like its apricot-glazed chocolate tarts and chocolate-glazed domes of hazelnut mousse, all created by chef and owner Francois Payard. He is also in charge of the dining room, where you can get such updated French cuisine as caramelized sweetbreads with an orange-rosemary reduction. Of course you will have to order a dessert, but any guilt you may feel will likely be overshadowed by the charming ambience and attentive service.

Description:

Sarabeth's is great for breakfast, which is available all day. The pastries have a deservedly great reputation, including scones, brownies, cakes and sticky buns. There is a full lunch and dinner menu (try the chicken potpie), and such desserts as chocolate truffle cake, chocolate soufflé and homemade ice cream. The restaurant is done in an Early American motif with parquet floors, crown moldings and rosettes.

Description:

The Cooper-Hewitt Museum was founded in 1897 by the grandchildren of wealthy New Yorker Peter Cooper. Today, the museum is a branch of the Smithsonian Institution, and it houses one of the world's largest collections of historical and current design. It is also the only exhibition space in America devoted solely to this subject. The outside of the Upper East Side building resembles a Georgian country house.

Our Local Expert Says:

After viewing such masterpieces as Monet's Water Lilies, Picasso's Les Demoiselles d'Avignon, and van Gogh's Starry Night, visitors to the MoMA can relax and recover in the museum's stunning restaurant, the Modern.

Description:

Opened in 1929, the Museum of Modern Art was one of the first museums with a focus on modern art, and it boasts one of the world's most comprehensive collections. Its permanent collection numbers 135,000 paintings, prints, photographs, drawings, sculptures, films, and design objects, including works by Picasso, Cézanne, Van Gogh, Kandinsky, Dalí, O'Keeffe, Pollock, Warhol, and some of the best more contemporary artists, like Richard Serra, Cindy Sherman, and Chuck Close.

MoMA reopened in 2004 following a $425 million expansion program that marked the museum's 75th anniversary. Led by the Japanese architect Yoshio Taniguchi, the renovation nearly doubled the capacity of the original building and revamped its appearance completely, starting with the striking entrance. A 110-foot-high atrium towers over an indoor walkway, extending over 53rd Street to a new entryway on 54th Street. The new six-story David and Peggy Rockefeller Building houses the main collection and temporary exhibition galleries, while the restored and expanded sculpture garden, named for museum founder Abby Aldrich Rockefeller, boasts more than 30 masterworks of modern sculpture. The MoMA's sleek next-door restaurant, the Modern, is also worth a visit.

Description:

Coccooned in the MoMA - Museum of Modern Art (The), Cafe 2 is a culturally themed restaurant which offers museum goers some delectable Italian fare. Keeping with the amazing artworks it stands in the midst of, Cafe 2 is a visual delight and the cuisine too follows suit! Their policy requires you to order and pay at the counter while the food is served to you at the communal tables. Sip a wine and feast yourself on their delicious antipasti, pasta and paninis. On offer for dessert are tiramisu, cheesecakes and gelato. Also the Espresso Bar is a good place to grab a quick coffee. Museum entry required.

Our Local Expert Says:

This museum offers a diverse selection of visiting exhibitions (fun past ones include the history of chocolate and a hall of butterflies) and a great IMAX theater, as well as its famous dinosaur halls.

Description:

Founded in 1869 by a group that included J.P. Morgan and Theodore Roosevelt, Sr., father of the 26th U.S. president, the American Museum of Natural History is a remarkable architectural landmark, with its combination of Neo-Gothic and Neo-Romanesque styles and its grand white-columned entrance on Central Park West, marked by a statue of President Theodore Roosevelt. The museum complex contains 27 interconnected buildings housing 45 permanent exhibit halls, a planetarium, temporary exhibition halls, research and collections facilities, and a library in the natural sciences; add parking and service amenities and the area totals 1.6 million square feet.

The museum's vast selection of permanent exhibitions and its various special temporary exhibitions focus on illuminating various aspects of the earth's evolution, from the birth of the planet through the present day. Those that have the energy and perseverance to tour all of the museum's four floors of gallery space will be rewarded with a "field guide to life on Earth, the cultures of humanity, and the latest discoveries in the cosmos," according to the museum's Web site. In addition to the expansive galleries of dinosaurs, whales, birds, snakes and aquatic life, the museum features the recently revamped Rose Center for Earth and Space and the Gottesman Hall of Planet Earth. Other permanent exhibits are the Fossils Halls, the Arthur Ross Hall of Meteorites, the Harry Frank Guggenheim Hall of Minerals, the Milstein Hall of Ocean Life, Biodiversity, Mollusks, and Our World.

Description:

This newly renovated section of the American Museum of Natural History focuses on all things related to the stars - from our home planet to the most distant galaxies. The fantastic, high-tech architecture actually makes you feel as though you have stepped into the future, perhaps even to a distant planet. The most prominent feature of the Rose Center is the New Hayden Planetarium, but the other exhibits (such as the installations illustrating the scale and age of the universe or the inner workings of the earth) are just as fascinating.

Description:

Opened in 1930, The Pierre has been setting a high standard for excellence ever since. Formerly owned and operated by Four Seasons, the Pierre is now under the keen eye and management of Taj Hotels. The hotel retains its understated but perfectly polished ambiance and it overlooks theCentral Park. Located just north of Midtown, it is near the city's top museums, art galleries, shops, restaurants and theaters. The designer decor and service amenities including afternoon tea will make guests feel duly pampered and richly comfortable.

Our Local Expert Says:

The hotel does not offer room service, but it has its own entrance to the popular Brazilian steakhouse Churrascaria Plataforma, for hearty and festive lunch and dinner dining.

Description:

The Belvedere Hotel is the premier choice among the most discerning business and leisure travelers seeking lodging in New York City. Style, service, and exceptional comfort in the heart of midtown Manhattan, the Belvedere Hotel sets the Standard for all New York City Hotels. This luxurious NY hotel offers 400 guestroom accommodations, each specially appointed to maximize your comfort and convenience.

Our Local Expert Says:

The museum's signature exhibition, the Whitney Biennial, celebrates its 75th anniversary this year. According to the Whitney website, this year's Biennial (called "2010") features "media ranging from painting and sculpture to video, photography, performance, and installation...[and] serves as a two-way telescope through which the Whitney’s past and future can be observed." Runs February 25-May 30, 2010.

Description:

Housed in an extraordinary building designed by Marcel Breuer, and resembling an upside-down pyramid, the Whitney Museum is dedicated to American art in all its eclectic forms. What began as the small collection of the sculptor Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney (granddaughter of shipping and railroad magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt, she married into the Whitney family of oil, tobacco and banking) has today grown into one of the world's foremost collections of American art. The museum's second floor is dedicated to its permanent collection, which includes some 18,000 works by Georgia O'Keeffe, Edward Hopper, Andy Warhol, Charles Sheeler, Jackson Pollock and other luminaries. A rotating series of well-curated exhibits occupies the rest of the space. 

Description:

Would you like to listen to programs from radio's heyday for nine hours? Or view 'I Love Lucy' all day long? If the answer to either of these questions is yes, then you have come to the right place. This interactive museum offers 60,000 television and radio programs, and thousands of commercials for the pleasure of entertainment history buffs (or television junkies).

Description:

Anthos means blossoming in Greek. Donatella Arpaia and Chef Michael Psilakis are teaming once again to continue the tradition begun at Dona and Onera. The space, an airy midtown temple of expansive glass, was first home to Acqua Pazza, owned by her brother. Teaming again with designer Matthew Sudock who designed Dona, Onera, davidburke & donatella and Acqua Pazza, Donatella established a palette of delicate pinks and chocolate brown that softens the cool, clean lines of Sudock's original design. The result is an artful balance of masculine and feminine elements that speaks to the professional union of Donatella and Psilakis and to the needs of the area's clientele. Anthos promises to bring a wealth of ancient flavors to a modern midtown locale. "At Onera, I opened people's eyes to what Greek food could be. Now, Anthos is about blossoming and rebirth," says Psilakis. "This is a defining moment of Greek cuisine.

Description:

Opened in 1930, The Pierre has been setting a high standard for excellence ever since. Formerly owned and operated by Four Seasons, the Pierre is now under the keen eye and management of Taj Hotels. The hotel retains its understated but perfectly polished ambiance and it overlooks theCentral Park. Located just north of Midtown, it is near the city's top museums, art galleries, shops, restaurants and theaters. The designer decor and service amenities including afternoon tea will make guests feel duly pampered and richly comfortable.

Our Local Expert Says:

The hotel does not offer room service, but it has its own entrance to the popular Brazilian steakhouse Churrascaria Plataforma, for hearty and festive lunch and dinner dining.

Description:

The Belvedere Hotel is the premier choice among the most discerning business and leisure travelers seeking lodging in New York City. Style, service, and exceptional comfort in the heart of midtown Manhattan, the Belvedere Hotel sets the Standard for all New York City Hotels. This luxurious NY hotel offers 400 guestroom accommodations, each specially appointed to maximize your comfort and convenience.

Our Local Expert Says:

The collection of Egyptian art is one of the best of its kind in the world, while the American section contains pieces from masters like Thomas Eakins, John Singer Sargent, Winslow Homer and Georgia O'Keeffe.

Description:

In a city bursting with culture, the Brooklyn Museum, opened in 1897, is one of the highlights. Located just past beautiful Prospect Park, and adjacent to the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, the museum is housed in a majestic building designed by the architect Stanford White. In addition to various special exhibitions--a particularly notorious one, featuring works from the collection of Charles Saatchi, was criticized by then-mayor Rudolph Giuliani and led to a court battle over public funding for controversial art--the museum's permanent collection contains a wide range of Pacific, African and New World art, Asian art, Egyptian and ancient Middle Eastern art, decorative art, European, American and contemporary painting and sculpture.

Description:

This small but beautiful botanic garden features a Japanese hill and pond garden, as well as the Cranford Rose Garden, herb garden, the Children's Garden and the Steinhard Conservatory of indoor flowers and plants. In all, there are 52 acres and 12,000 varieties of botanicals, ranging from the tiny bonsai to the towering oak. Self-guided tours, individual classes and certificate programs are all available. Students come with your valid id cards, if you want to avail of a concession.

Description:

The same architects who designed Central Park in Manhattan, Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux, were responsible for creating this beautiful Brooklyn park. Unlike its more famous cousin in Manhattan, Prospect Park is not surrounded by skyscrapers. Many Olmsted fans dub this 526-acre park his crowning achievement. It features horseback riding, ice skating, tennis, paddle boats and a carousel, as well as the Prospect Park Wildlife Center. There is a band shell for concerts, and Prospect Lake is full of ducks, geese and swans.

Our Local Expert Says:

Give your name to the hostess and take a seat at the restaurant's wine bar around the corner to wait…or just eat there, as they serve the full menu.

Description:

A vibrant ambience, colorful interior, and spacious feel are what this trattoria is all about. Al di Là serves up authentic North Italian cooking in an atmosphere that molds itself to your needs—if you're with a date, it can pass off as very romantic, and if you're with the family, as cheery and warm. The menu boasts of such dishes as creamy salt cod, braised rabbit, and tagliatelli with meat sauce, and the Italian wine list provides select accompaniments. Prices are reasonable, but no reservations are accepted, so make sure you come early—it can take up to two hours to get a table on weekends!

Description:

Opened in 1930, The Pierre has been setting a high standard for excellence ever since. Formerly owned and operated by Four Seasons, the Pierre is now under the keen eye and management of Taj Hotels. The hotel retains its understated but perfectly polished ambiance and it overlooks theCentral Park. Located just north of Midtown, it is near the city's top museums, art galleries, shops, restaurants and theaters. The designer decor and service amenities including afternoon tea will make guests feel duly pampered and richly comfortable.

Our Local Expert Says:

The hotel does not offer room service, but it has its own entrance to the popular Brazilian steakhouse Churrascaria Plataforma, for hearty and festive lunch and dinner dining.

Description:

The Belvedere Hotel is the premier choice among the most discerning business and leisure travelers seeking lodging in New York City. Style, service, and exceptional comfort in the heart of midtown Manhattan, the Belvedere Hotel sets the Standard for all New York City Hotels. This luxurious NY hotel offers 400 guestroom accommodations, each specially appointed to maximize your comfort and convenience.

Our Local Expert Says:

For just a few of the many diversions available in the park, check out some advanced roller blading skills at "The Hill" west of Sheep's Meadow, or have a drink/meal at the Boathouse, near 74th Street on the east side of Rowboat Lake and open all summer.

Description:

The idea for Central Park was born in 1858, which a competition was held to choose a design for what would be the first public park built in America. The winners were Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux, whose Greensward plan proposed an entirely man-made park that would be intended only for public use, as a refuge from the relentless rhythms of New York City's already overcrowded streets. It took more than 15 years and $14 million (the equivalent of about $200 million today) to build the Park, with its 843 acres and six-mile perimeter extending from Central Park West to Fifth Avenue and from 59th Street to 110th Street. Those 843 acres include 136 acres of woodlands, 250 acres of lawns, and 7 different bodies of water totaling some 150 acres.

Starting in 1980, a public-private partnership between New York City and the Central Park Conservancy restored and preserved Central Park, and attendance has only been rising in recent years. Now, more than 25 million visitors per year stroll its 58 miles of pedestrian paths, go horseback riding on 4.5 miles of bridle paths, bike or jog on its 6.5 miles of winding roads, or simply relax on the grass or on the nearly 9,000 benches provided. The famous Tavern on the Green restaurant - the location of the finish line for the New York City Marathon - was originally a sheepfold, housing the shepherd and the flock that grazed Sheeps Meadow until 1934. In nice weather, the still lush meadow now welcomes hordes of sunbathers, picnickers, and people-watchers, all of whom enjoy lounging underneath some of the only sky in Manhattan unmarked by tall buildings. Other special features of the park include the Central Park Carousel, the Marionette Theater, the Central Park Wildlife Center, the Charles A. Dana Discovery Center, the Delacorte Theater, the Great Lawn, the Central Park Zoo, the Henry Luce Nature Observatory, Wollman Rink, Lasker Rink, the Loeb Boathouse, and the North Meadow.

Description:

This museum, founded in 1988, is dedicated to all the immigrants who came to New York City during the 1800s, but in particular to the occupants of this one-time tenement on Orchard Street. See life as new Americans experienced it in Chinatown, Little Italy and elsewhere on the Lower East Side through photos, displays and memorabilia. The gallery is free.

Description:

Italian-style small plates, including the ever-popular paninis and bruschetta, feature at this trendy Lower East Side eatery, an extension of 'ino in the West Village. Inexpensive but excellent, this is the place to head for Italian if you don't want to leave feeling bloated. In addition, the wine list is extremely lengthy, and sure to impress. The espresso and desserts are also great.

Our Local Expert Says:

Between 2005 and 2008 the Guggenheim underwent a $29 million exterior renovation; soon after its completion, the museum was registered as a National Historic Landmark. It celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2009.

Description:

Opened in 1959 to house the impressive collection of mining tycoon Solomon R. Guggenheim, the museum is considered by many to be a work of art in itself. Architect Frank Lloyd Wright worked for 16 years (he died one month before the museum opened) to create not just an art museum but a completely unique space, where the building and the art work together to create "an uninterrupted, beautiful symphony." From the outside, the oddly shaped Guggenheim has drawn comparisons to an upside-down cupcake, a Jello mold, or a pile of twisted ribbon. Inside, a long ramp spirals upward for a quarter of a mile above a large central rotunda, topped by a domed glass ceiling. Wright's love of nature led him to make the building appear on the inside like a giant seashell, with each room opening fluidly into the next.

In 1993, a controversial expansion and renovation added even more exhibition space to the museum, which houses a large permanent collection of Impressionist, post-Impressionist and other modernist work and mounts several large-scale special exhibitions each year. These are usually devoted to the work of a single modern artist or to a topic, such as the Aztec Empire, the Art of the Motorcycle, or Family Pictures. Located at the corner of 89th Street and Fifth Avenue, the Guggenheim is now one of the city's most popular attractions, with more than 900,000 visitors each year.

Description:

If it weren't for this branch of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, many New Yorkers would never get to this northernmost point in Manhattan. This remote yet lovely spot is devoted to the art and architecture of medieval Europe. Atop a cliff overlooking the Hudson River, you'll find a 12th-century chapter house, parts of five cloisters from medieval monasteries, a Romanesque chapel, and a 12th-century Spanish apse brought intact from Europe. Surrounded by peaceful gardens, this is the one place on the island that can approximate the kind of solitude suitable to such a collection. Inside you'll find extraordinary works that include the Unicorn tapestries, sculpture, illuminated manuscripts, stained glass, ivory, and precious metal work.

Modern times have even come to the Cloisters. There is an official blog devoted to their wonderful medieval garden, http://blog.metmuseum.org/cloistersgardens. Garden lovers will love to peruse its postings. By the way, even in the dead of winter and without flowers, the garden -- which is inside the museum in the center of a courtyard -- has a magical quality, especially when it snows.

Despite the remoteness, the Cloisters are quite popular, especially in fine weather, so try to schedule your visit during the week rather than on a crowded weekend afternoon. A free guided Highlights Tour is offered Tuesday through Friday at 3pm and Sunday at noon; gallery talks are also a regular feature. Additionally, Garden Tours are offered Tuesday through Sunday at 1pm in May, June, September, and October; lectures and other special programming are always on Sunday from noon to 2pm; and medieval music concerts are regularly held in the stunning 12th-century Spanish chapel. For an extra-special experience, you may want to plan your visit around one.

Our Local Expert Says:

P.S. 1 makes the most of its eccentric space--exhibits are displayed in the basement boiler room, as well as some bathrooms, hallways and stairwells.

Description:

Located in a former public school in Long Island City, Queens, this spacious art center provides a production and exhibition space for a variety of artistic works. The center is now part of the Museum of Modern Art, though it retains its own identity. Exhibits here range from video and sound projects to painting, photography and sculpture, but everything has a bit of an edge. Artists whose work is featured in P.S. 1 range along the more experimental end of the spectrum; prominent past exhibitors include Jack Smith, Julian Schnabel and James Turrell.

Our Local Expert Says:

Visitors seeking a respite from the dark, art-filled interior of the museum will enjoy a stroll or a sit-down in the beautiful outdoor Garden Court area.

Description:

The robber baron and steel magnate Henry Clay Frick had this mansion built in 1914 in the 18th-century French style; it was designed by the same architects behind the New York Public Library. Frick declared that his impressive art collection remain on display there after his death, and this museum is the result. In addition to masterpieces by Vermeer, Goya and Rembrandt, this extensive collection goes above and beyond, with works from Degas, Turner, Van Dyck, Velazquez and Whistler, among others.

Our Local Expert Says:

The museum cafes, Cafe Sabarsky and Cafe Fliedermaus, offer up Viennese specialties (emphasis on pastry, such as strudels and Linzertorte) in a cozy, refined atmosphere.

Description:

This museum is dedicated to German and Austrian art and design, with a particular focus on the early 20th century. Displayed on two floors, the collection features painting, works on paper, decorative arts, and other media from such artists as Klimt, Kokoschka, Kandinsky, Klee, and leaders of the Wiener Werkstätte decorative arts and Bauhaus applied arts movements, such as Adolf Loos and Mies van der Rohe, respectively. The gallery made headlines in 2006 when it acquired Klimt's Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I -- dubbed the Golden Adele -- for a record-setting $135 million. The museum floated the idea of adding a high premium (up to $50) to view its new masterpiece, but the outcry caused the management to reconsider. You can see the Golden Adele for the $15 admission fee, without extra charge. In Fall 2008 through early 2009, you can see the work of Alfred Kubin, and Spring 2009 brings the exhibition "The Birth Of Expressionism: Brücke In Dresden And Berlin, 1905-13" through the end of June. Once occupied by Mrs. Cornelius Vanderbilt III, the impeccably restored, landmark-designated 1914 Carrère & Hastings building (they built the New York Public Library as well) is worth a look itself. Cafe Sabarsky is modeled on a Viennese cafe, so museumgoers in need of a snack break can expect a fine Linzer torte.