I love NYC – Part Two

New York has always played a prominent role in terms of art and culture. With it’s many galleries, street art, performing arts and museums it’s the epicenter for people interested in culture. So this week, I’d like to tell you about some of the top museums in the Big Apple. 

9/11 Memorial & Museum

The 9/11 Memorial & Museum consists of a historical and memorial exhibition. 
The historical exhibition is divided into three parts: the Day of 9/11, Before 9/11 and After 9/11. It tells the story of what happened that day, including the events at the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and on Flight 93. The exhibition explains the background leading up to the events and examines the aftermath and continuing implications.

The memorial exhibition, remembers the lives of those who perished on September 11, 2001 and gives you the opportunity to learn about the people who died during that awful day. In one of the rooms you can listen to the telephone calls that the people stuck in the towers made to their loved ones. I once saw a documentary about that as well, but being there at that place and hearing those calls really broke my heart.

9/11 Memorial and Museum is the most interesting museum I have ever been to, and also the most heartbreaking one. The people of the museum did an amazing job of creating a sincere, beautiful and informative place. But still, being in that spot, where al those people died, gave me a very strange en sad feeling. Because of that I would recommend to visit the museum upon your first day in New York, so you can do the fun stuff afterwards. But’ it’s really something you should do while you’re in town. The website of the museum says that 2 hours is enough time to explore the city, but we spent the entire morning there. If you want the time to watch the movies and read everything, you’ll need more than 2 hours in my opinion.

Metropolitan Museum of Art (Met)

Spotted on the steps of the Met: an S. and B. power struggle… Well I wish…

All gossip girl fans like myself are familiar with the Metropolitan Museum of Art, right?! In case you’ve forgotten, remember the steps onto which Blair & Serena sad everyday to rule their kingdom?? Yes, those stairs! Well in the building, to which the stairs belong to lays one of the biggest and most important museums in the world. The Met’s permanent collection contains over two million works of art: amongst pieces from the classical antiquity, ancient Egypt, paintings and sculptures from European masters and an elaborate collection of American and modern art. Besides that the museum is home to encyclopedic collections of musical instruments, as well as antique weapons and armor from all over the world. I guess you can spend days at the museum without seeing everything, so it’s important to check in advance what you would like to see. We limited our visit to the classical antiquity, ancient Egypt and some European masters, and already spent a couple hours there. I really liked the Egyptian art. In one of these rooms, they built a replica of an Egyptian temple. There was water all around it, and some soft lightning to create the illusion you where there at night. Truly amazing!

American Museum of Natural History (AMNH)

The American Museum of Natural History is one of the most famous scientific and cultural institutions in the world. The museum collections contain over 33 million specimens of plants, animals, fossils, minerals, rocks, meteorites, human remains and cultural artifacts. Again, you can spend days in this museum, so it’s better to check in advance upon the website which collections you would like to see. The fossil collection with the dinosaurs (think Night at the Museum!) is probably the best known collection, so in my opinion you can’t miss out on that one during your visit. We also saw the Mammal collections, the Hall of Ocean life and the Rose Centre for Earth and Space. I found it all pretty impressive, so it’s really hard to say which collection I prefer.

Museum of Modern Art (MoMA)

I’m not really a fan of modern art, bus as the entrance to MoMA was included in our New York Pass we also visited that museum. I have to say that the museum pleasantly surprised me, and I actually had a real good time during my visit. MoMA is considered one of the most influential museums of modern art worldwide. They say that the museum holds the best collection of modern, Western masterpieces. And well, with Monet, Picasso, Liechtenstein, Magritte, Matisse, Mondriaan, Van Gogh and Warhol, all present, who can argue with that?

Ellis Island Immigration Museum

The Ellis Island Immigration Museum is situated in the main building of the former immigration station complex. Between 1892 and 1954, millions of immigrants entered the United States through Ellis Island. Unfortunately not all immigrants were treated the same way. First and second class passengers often got a preferential treatment, when they were healthy and didn’t have any legal problems. They were often already examined on the boat, so that once arrived, they were able to continue their journey. Third class passengers had to pass through Ellis Island, where they were brought into the Registry Room for medical and legal inspections, to determine if they were fit for entry into the United States. About 80% successfully passed through in a matter of hours, but others could be detained for days or weeks in the hospital.

The museum is divided into several expositions, which all show different aspects from the immigration. One of the rooms explains how Ellis Island came to be. In another space they tell the stories from the immigrants themselves, using pictures and personal belongings like, luggage, clothing, tickets from the passage, etc… In the American Family Immigration History Centre you can access the passenger records of the ships that arrived in Ellis Island. This way you can find out if one of your family members integrated to the US through the ports of Ellis Island. 
A trip to New York isn’t complete without a visit to Ellis Island. I find it a very empowering experience to read and try to understand how people travelled across the world for a new and better life in the USA. Statue Cruises is the only company allowed by the National Park Service to provide ferry service to Ellis Island in combination with Lady Liberty. Boats depart from Battery Park in New York and Liberty State Park in New Jersey multiple times a day.

Like I said in The NYC Adventure part 1, I was in New York for 5 weeks, so I’ve had plenty of time to see the museums. In 2011 we saw Ellis Island, the Met, MoMA and AMNH divided over several days and that was a lot! (9/11 Museum only opened in 2014, so I went there during a second trip to NYC).  Don’t get my wrong I’m really happy I’ve seen them, but if you are in New York for a short period only, I wouldn’t do that. It’s hard to say, which one of the museums I liked the best, as they’re al so different and unique, but 9/11 Museum is just something else! There is also a Guggenheim Museum in New York, but as I’ve only seen it from the outside I can’t share any thoughts on that. I’ll know what to do, next time I’m in town! 

Next week, I’ll be telling you all about my favorite NYC area’s!

Sharing is caring!