Category: Walking Around Manhattan

Merchant’s House Museum 29 East 4th Street New York, NY 10003

Merchant’s House Museum

29 East 4th Street

New York, NY 10003

(212) 777-1089

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Open: Sunday 12:00pm-5:00pm/Monday-Wednesday Closed/Thursday-Saturday 12:00pm-5:00pm

Admission: Adults $15.00/Seniors (over 65) and Students $10.00/Members are free/ Special Guided tours are $20.00

My review on TripAdvisor:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g60763-d285699-Reviews-Merchant_s_House_Museum-New_York_City_New_York.html

The Merchant House at 29 East 4th Street in NoHo

The Historic Plaque

The house is part of the NYCParks system

(from the museum’s pamphlet):

The Merchant House Museum, the former home to four generations of the Treadwell family, was built in 1832 and is designed in the late Federal style of brick and marble. When the house was built, elegant Greek Revival style rowhouses of red brick and white marble flanked the tree lined streets of this fashionable residential enclave, known then as the Bond Street Area.

The house was the home of wealthy merchant, Seabury Tredwell, his family and their four servants. Over the next 98 years, the family lived there and saw the neighborhood and the city grow, change and prosper. In 1936, after the death of the last living relative, the house opened as a museum, complete with Tredwell family’s original furnishings and personal possessions.

At the Midcentury, cast iron made its first appearance and commercial buildings and factories came to dominate the area. By the century’s end, it would be a commercial district with the Tredwell’s being the last holdouts of the area. The house was saved by the last relative’s grand nephew who bought the home to preserve it as a museum.

The home is now part of the NoHo Historic District that includes about 160 buildings, 11 of which are distinguished as individual NYC landmarks

The Entrance Hallway where you would be greeted when you enter the house

The Merchant House Kitchen ready for dinner to be prepared

the Dining Room was set for the Dutch New Year gathering

The Christmas holidays were not a big tradition in the early 1830’s when the house was built. The Dutch tradition of visiting on New Year’s Day and making calls to your friends was what many fashionable families would do to socialize with their neighbors. Tea, Coffee and punch would be served along with cakes, sweets and savories. These calls would only last about ten to fifteen minutes before you would move onto the next house. This tradition continued until Victorian times when homes were spread further apart and the family Christmas celebrations with gift giving and a Christmas tree came into fashion due to Queen Victoria and the spread of English and German traditions.

The punchbowl ready for guests on New Year’s Day

Refreshments ready for the New Year’s Day gathering

The broken pieces of the china collection of the Treadwell family. There is not a full collection of china that the family had to entertain with for formal affairs. They also did not have any china or silver of the family’s. I think that this might have been passed down to the heirs.

The Parlor of the Merchant House Museum

The piano in the Parlor of the home

The fireplace in the Parlor

The Parlor is where the family would gather after meals for entertainment and to converse with guests. This would be the main part of the house for socializing as the formal dining room and living rooms would be used for more formal affairs.

The Living Room in the Merchant House

The stairs are rather narrow and steep when you are heading upstairs to the bedrooms so you have to hold on to the rails. The bedrooms are normal size by today’s standards but back then they were pretty big plus people had their own rooms. They were nicely furnished with family heirlooms and antiques.

Mr. Treadwell’s bedroom

The portrait of Mr. Treadwell in his bedroom

Mrs. Treadwell’s bedroom

In Victorian times, the wealthy would have separate bedrooms for the husband and wife. Bedrooms would not just be a place to sleep but they were also a place of business where the family members would do their paperwork, write correspondence and arrange social events. Also, in the case of birthing, the child would be in the bedroom with their mother.

The “Valentine’s Day Card” exhibition “19th Century Valentines: Confections of Affection” on the second floor is part of the house’s extensive collection. ‘Delicate and lacy, these expressions of love celebrate the whimsy and romance of the Golden Age of Valentines’ (from the pamphlet).

The Children’s bedrooms on the third floor were closed off and used as offices for the staff so I made my way up to the Servant’s Quarters on the top floor. These people really got their exercise climbing those stairs up and down every day. The stairs seemed to get more narrow as you headed higher and God forbid there ever be a fire. You would be trapped up there with no way out.

The Servants Room on the fourth floor

The Servants Room on the fourth floor was pretty spare

Looking for the paranormal

Looking for a ghost on the fourth floor

During October, the museum hosts “Gaslight Ghost Tours”, where you tour the home by candlelight. There have been strange noises in the house ever since Gertrude Tredwell passed in 1934. She had been born in the house in 1840 and lived here until she was 93. She had never married and now it is said that her spirit is still part of the home (museum pamphlet).

After viewing the Servants Quarters and not finding any ghosts, I headed back downstairs to the main hallway leading into the house. There I saw the timeline of the family and all the family members that had lived in the house. It seemed that the last living relative, Gertrude, died in the house in 1934 and her grand-nephew bought the house and all its debts at the height of the Depression to preserve the home as a museum. Talk about insight! The nephew knew how important this home would be one day.

The Treadwell family tree in the hallway downstairs

The last part of the tour was the gardens in the back of the home. It was not a formal yard but a well landscaped walled in garden with a small fountain in the back of the gardens. The flowers were just starting to come up and there were crocuses and daffodils One of the curators was the Master Gardener for the property and did a nice job landscaping the property.

The back of the Merchant House Museum in the late Winter in the Gardens

The Gardens of the Treadwell house in the late Winter

The fountain at the gardens was off but now means to come back in the late Spring

There is a more formal tour a couple of times a day of the home but that is by reservation only and there is a separate fee. The holidays offer more themed tours on Halloween and Christmas. The Candlelight tour of the hour for Halloween is really intriguing.

The Merchant House Museum at night before Halloween

I recently went on the Haunted House tour at the Merchants House for Halloween in 2023 and that was interesting. We walked the first two floors of the house in the dark by candlelight hearing stories about the family.

Costumed characters greeted us in every room but none of us saw a ghost. Still the house had a creepy feeling to it as we walked room by room discussing the lives and deaths of the Treadwell family. We started off in the Parlor on the first floor with displays of seances and ghost pictures dotting the displays.

The display of seances and ghost pictures.

It can be a bit spooky walking through a house by flashlight, but the docents made the conversation interesting and fun. We got to hear about all the haunted tales of the house. A highly suggestive tour around Halloween.

The Parlor at night on the Candlelight tour of the house on Halloween.

The home is very engaging at Christmas time as well as you are welcomed into the Treadwell Home for the Christmas holidays with their annual Christmas Eve Reception and preparations for Christmas lunch. The house was decked out in garland and bows with several Christmas trees in the room. The house was very festive for the holidays and you were welcomed into the world of 19th century New York City at the holidays.

The Merchant House at the Christmas Holidays.

The outside of the house decked out for the holidays.

You are welcomed to the home at Christmas time.

We started our tour in the gardens which had gone dormant for the season but still you could see the greens in the bushes and the pine trees. It had been a warm morning in the low 50’s with a treat of rain but later that afternoon. For now, it had just been gloomy. We had a nice conversation about the house and its history even though we could barely hear the tour guide as he talked so softly.

We next toured the kitchen where the cooks were busy cooking and baking for the Christmas holidays. The 19th Century was all about manners, traditions mostly Dutch and entertaining. The Treadwell’s were people who both entertained the neighbors and their family as well. So there would be teas, receptions, open houses and then the formal Christmas Eve festivities and then Christmas lunch after church service the next day.

The holiday meal being cooked in the downstairs kitchen.

Christmas dinner with the Treadwell’s must have been special.

We moved next to the upstairs parlor that was set for receiving guests from the neighborhood. The Treadwell’s like most families at that time received guests for New Year’s Day punch and refreshments as the men of the neighborhood made their social calls during the holiday season. This tradition stopped around the time of the Civil War when families during the Industrial Revolution acquired money and people did not want to ‘entertain just anyone’.

The Parlor by the front door ready to received guests for the holiday season.

The Parlor on the first floor receiving guests for New Year’s Day.

The mantle was beautifully decorated for the holidays.

We next toured the formal Dining Room and Living Room on the second level where the family entertained relatives and friends for the holidays. It must have been some celebration as the Dutch traditions disappeared and the Victorian rules and elaborate traditions started some still practiced today. Now we call it the “Norman Rockwell” and “Martha Stewart” standards.

The formal Living Room with the Table Tree decorated for the holidays. The Table Tree was the precursor for the modern Christmas tree.

The tree is the focal part of the room.

The fireplace was decked out for the holidays as well.

The Dining Room was set for the Christmas Eve Open House and in preparation for receiving guests in the formal room. The finest silver, china and crystal would have been used to show off the family position in the neighborhood and was meant to impress.

The Dining Room was set for receiving guests for the Open House.

The Dining Room set for a feast.

The family would receive guests all day, replenishing foods so that there was plenty for everyone who visited. Women would be busy all day entertaining neighborhood men who would be calling all day long.

The bannisters were beautifully decorated with garland.

During the Victorian Age gift giving during the holidays became very important.

Christmas presents of the Victorian Age.

Gifts of the Victorian Age.

We then toured the upstairs bedrooms and saw how they decorated. The rooms were nicely decorated for Christmas. I have never seen rooms decorated like this for the holidays.

Mrs. Treadwell’s bedroom

Mrs. Treadwell’s Bedroom

Mr. Treadwell’s bedroom

Mr. Treadwell’s portrait in the bedroom standing guard.

It was an interesting look at both Edwardian and Victorian times in New York City.

The New Year video on celebrations on the “New Year’s Day Visiting” day

During the Summer months, the Merchant House Museum is hosting a series of “Music in the Garden” concerts. The first one I attended was in June 2024 with Flutist Cheryl Pyle. What a nice relaxing evening in the gardens that were all in bloom.

The gardens were in full bloom that June evening

Flutist Cheryl Pyle performing in the gardens that evening

https://cherylpyle.bandcamp.com/

The Concert that evening for everyone to enjoy too!

The gardens are this hidden gem in the neighborhood. The volunteers have done such a beautiful job taking care of this marvelous historic site.

The gardens looking at the back of the house with the wine and snacks and information table

The gardens closer to the back entrance of the house

The left side of the back garden

The right side of the gardens

The entrance to the gardens from the park next door

The fountain staring back at us in the gardens

This little bird even joined us in the garden for the concert and stayed and listened contently

The museum is currently having a fight to keep construction away from the home. The ten-year battle to keep a hotel from being built has been a problem for the museum. The foundation and structure of the home are in danger due to the fragile state of the building. The Landmark Preservation Commission of New York is researching and looking over the proposal.

The museum now has to defend itself from building next door

The museum is a perfect way to see how residents of a Upper Middle Class family lived in Pre-Victorian times and show the last vestiges of the neighborhood when it was a fashionable section of the City.

Museum of the City of New York 1220 Fifth Avenue New York, NY 10029

Museum of the City of New York

1220 Fifth Avenue

New York, NY 10029

(212) 534-1672

https://www.mcny.org/

https://www.facebook.com/MuseumofCityNY

Open: Sunday-Monday 10:00am-5:00pm/Tuesday-Wednesday Closed/Thursday 10:00am-9:00pm/Friday-Saturday 10:00am-5:00pm

Admission: Adults $20.00/Seniors over 65 $14.00 (with ID) and Children under 19 and Members are Free; please check website for updates.

My review on TripAdvisor:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g48236-d15855802-Reviews-Museum_of_the_City_of_New_York-New_City_New_York.html?m=19905

The Museum of the City of New York at 1220 Fifth Avenue

I have been a member of the Museum of the City of New York for almost twenty years and what I love about the museum is that its concentration is to be everything about New York City and what makes the City so great. Its development from a Dutch Colony to the Modern Metropolis that it is today. It covers the history so well that they created a permanent display entitled “New York at its Core”, an extensive history of the City from its start as being colonized by the Lenape Indians as a fishing and hunting set of villages on the island.

The “New York at its Core” exhibition (MCNY)

Each display takes you through a different point in the history of the development of the City and how each era brought dramatic changes to the fabric of the City from immigration over the years to the fires that leveled the original City and the raise of Wall Street and the Arts to make New York City the Capital of the World. The almost bankruptcy of the City in 1975 to the attacks on 9/11 have really shaped the direction and change in the City to the COVID-19 pandemic reshaping it again. We see how New York City continues to survive. The exhibition is now updated to add the COVID pandemic to the fabric of what is happening in New York City now. This exhibition will continue to evolve over the coming years.

The entrance to “Timescapes”

The film “Timescapes” in the basement theater again tackles the issues of a changing City since its development and the City continues to morph over time. The movie narrated by Stanley Tucci tells the story of New York from the time of the Dutch settlement to the attacks of 9/11 and like “New York at its Core” the issues that come about after every event. The film is shown five times a day and do take the time to see it when visiting the museum.

A tiny clip of “Timescapes” from the Museum of the City of New York

Just recently I attended a special event at the Museum to honor the Founding Members of the “Talking Heads” Chris Frantz and Tina Weymouth and their groundbreaking film “Stop Making Sense”. I was lucky to get tickets because the second I saw this on the museum listing I bought the tickets immediately. The event sold out quickly.

‘Talking Heads’ founders Chris Frantz and Tina Weymouth

The event was discussion with the creators of the group and how the Talking Heads emerged as a popular group through the 1980’s and 90’s. I have to admit that the two of them have not changed much but looking a bit older. They enchanted the audience with their time with the group and some new things they have in the works. After a quick Q & A, we watched their popular concert film “Stop Making Sense”.

We had such a good time at the event, the I wrote about it for my blog, “MywalkinManhattan.com”:

Day Two Hundred and Eight: Private Members nights at the New York Museums:

https://wordpress.com/post/mywalkinmanhattan.com/20227

On another recent trip, I visited the exhibition “New York New Music 1980-1986” which was an exhibition on the development of the music scene after the Disco era was over and the rise of MTV. You had a combination of Club Music, Hip Hop, New Wave and the English Wave from Australia and New Zealand coming into the United States plus a resurgence of Rock and Roll after years of the “Disco Duck”. The exhibition highlighted the music of Debbie Harry and Blondie, Run DMC, Cyndi Lauper and Madonna and the rise of music videos. The exhibition brought me back to my last years of high school and my college years as I remembered all these groups.

The “New York-New Music 1980-1986” exhibition

Over the years I have seen exhibitions on everything from the Bankruptcy exhibition of New York City and the rise of crime, the Gilded Era with Alice Claypoole Vanderbilt’s “Electric Light” dress that she wore to Alva Vanderbilt’s famous ball and the wonderful toy exhibitions of early playthings. I have also been to many lectures at the museum with guests such as former Brooklyn President Marky Markowitz.

In 2023, I visited the museum for the first time in months and was able to see the “Gingerbread House Bakeoff” exhibition of well-known and amateur bakers in New York City. The exhibition was a hold over from Christmas and it was interesting to see the detailed gingerbread houses that were on display.

There two that I really liked. One was of Madison Square Park at Christmas time and looked like the pictures I had just taken of the park.

Bryant Park at Christmas time in gingerbread

Christmas scene in New York City

The next exhibition I wanted to see before it closed was the “Food in New York” exhibition. It could have been a little more detailed than what I saw. I thought it was going to have more of the development and history of food in New York and how it pertains to today. It was more artwork related to modern food industry trends. It was interesting but not what I thought it was going to be.

‘Food in New York’ exhibition

Some of the artwork really stood out on the display. I like the Hispanic Ice Carts which you see all over Washington Heights and East Harlem during the warmer months.

Ice Cart “Pimp My Piragua” byt artist Miguel Luciano

Artist Miguel Luciano

“Twilight” by artist Suzanne Anker

The effects of pollination of crops and the loss of bees shown here.

Artist Suzanne Anker

The latest exhibition that I visited on a Members walking tour was the “New York Now: Home” exhibition that opened in the Spring of 2023. The exhibition is based on what the photographers perspective of what a ‘home’ is and how you live through it. There were photos of family events, life outside the home, what a family is, is it your birth family or friends that have become family? There were also some great shots of people taken during the COVID lockdown and how the home became the center point of their lives and sanity. Each photographer gave a different way of looking at these points.

‘New York Now: Home: A Photography Triennial’

The exhibition write up

There were many terrific artists displayed in the exhibition but these are the five that I thought stood out the most:

Photographer and Artist Anders Jones work on the loss of bodegas in his neighborhood due to gentrification.

Artist Anders Jones work at the Museum of the City of New York

http://www.andersphotography.net/

Artist and Photographer Maureen Drennan

Artist Maureen Drennan’s work

Artist Maureen Drennan

Maureen Drennan

Artist Gail Halaban works

Artist Gail Halaban’s work is a peek hole into peoples lives

https://www.gailalberthalaban.com/

Artist Gail Halaban

Artist and Photographer Neil Kramer

Artist Neil Kramer’s work during the COVID lockdown and life with his mother and Ex-wife

Artist Neil Kramer

https://www.thepictorial-list.com/2021-photographers/neil-kramer

Artist and Photographer Paul Moakley

Artist Paul Moakley’s works

https://www.paulmoakley.com/

Artist Paul Moakley

I think the museum was looking for a more political and environmental view of food in New York City as opposed to the history and development. It still was an important issue. It also showed all the urban, community and roof gardens that are becoming part of the urban landscape. It is interesting how people are using space to grow food for the benefit of everyone. It was an interesting perspective.

The museum is really all things New York.

The museum also has a series of talks in movies shot around or about New York City. On a recent trip to the museum I attended the retrospect of director Walt Stillman and his 1998 film “The Last Days of Disco”, which had been a huge hit when it came out. The director talked about the change in times from the 1970’s to the 1980’s and the shift in behavior of the population. There was a moment of time when “Disco was King” and going out was all the rage after years of Vietnam era. Studio 54 led this charge and when it closed in 1980, the party was over.

In conversation with director Walt Stillman the night of the retrospect.

The original trailer for the film.

The Q & A at Lincoln Center for the 20th anniversary of the film.

The series of films deal with the subject matter of New York City and what makes it a special place.

I recently went to see the new Art Deco City-New York exhibition on a private tour. The curator for the show toured us through the era after WWI and during the Depression. Things got more simplistic and cleaner.

You had a youth revolution that wanted to get away from Victorian values and with the lack of resources and money during the Depression, everything became more clean lines, less embellishment and more modern looking.

The exhibit ‘Art Deco City New York’

The bulk of the exhibition came from the collection of Cosmetic owner, Ronald Lauder, who contributed his Art Deco post card collection. Years of collecting showed all of us the changes not just in architecture but attitudes in travel and living. Gone were the bulky and elaborate in was simplistic and clean designs with a fresh approach.

The main gallery with Art Deco post cards

This perspective was shown in the 1939 World’s Fair, where a look to the future showed optimism and a look at new possibilities.

The 1939 World’s Fair

The outfits of that era also represented women and their freedoms from the Victorian era and the excesses. Gone were the days of corsets and bustles and in was the freedom of movement to the modern working woman who have to work to support her family. This reflected in the social life too.

Dresses from the 1930’s

Rockefeller Center and the Empire State Building were the big projects of that era. It showed the optimism and show of the possibilities of the modern era during the Depression and kept people working.

Models of Rockefeller Center

The exhibition was very interesting and informative and shows up in the modern era today.

The latest exhibition I attended was “Songs of New York”, a tribute to the rich music scene of the five boroughs through the ages.

The Exhibition sign for “Songs of New York”

The exhibition delves into the rich history of everything from New Wave to Hip Hop to Rock and Jazz. The interactive exhibition has you stepping on a Borough symbol and you hear its rich history of music.

The interactive display on the third floor

The opening remarks from the curator at the opening night

The reception with drinks and snacks for members

Pictures from ‘Look Magazine’ from the collection

Photographs from Allan Tannenbaum

The career of Allan Tannenbaum

The photos of Janette Beckmann of the ‘Hip Hop’ scene with the start of the careers of LL Cool J and Run DMC

The exhibition packs a lot of information into a small space where the members were able to enjoy the music of New York City.

I went to an Educator’s Night for the new ‘Above Ground’ exhibition on the street art collection of Artist Matin Wong. The artist collected the street art of the 1980’s after the Crash of 1987 slowed the demand for this art.

The ‘Above Ground’ exhibition

The sign from the exhibition

The works in the exhibition

The work ‘Futura’

The sign for ‘Futura’

The works by artist Keith Haring

The works in the galleries were creative and colorful. These artists sending a message with their works.

The art of the exhibition

The art of the exhibition

The gallery displaying the works

The work by artist Quik

The artist’s write up

The exhibition works were from the period of the mid to late 1980’s and these works Martin Wong bought after the Crash of 1987 to help sustain his artist friends whose sales dried for street art. The collection was donated to the museum after the artist’s passing in 1994 (Museum pamphlet).

I recently returned to the museum for a special evening event for photographer Ebet Roberts

The special event for music photographer Ebet Roberts

The evening was a discussion of the artist’s works from the 1970’s and 80’s. What I thought was interesting is how she seemed to fall into it as an artist with newspapers interested in seeing her photographs.

The photographer, Ebet Roberts with the museum curator

The photographer discussing her work

One of her well known works of a musician couple from the 1970’s

The talk was very interesting as she fell into the profession of just taking pictures of bands while attending the events as reporting. Then the papers wanted to see what pictures she had taken. Liking how she captured the groups in a more human fashion, she continued to take more pictures. This led to private sessions and behind the scenes works, capturing the events before and after a concert. It was a very interesting talk.

These are the types of events that make the museum unique and special.

The History of the Museum of the City of New York:

(From the Museum of the City of New York website/Wiki):

The Museum of the City of New York is a history and art museum that was founded in 1923 by Henry Collins Brown. The red brick building with marble trim was built between 1929-30 and was designed by architect Joseph H. Freedlander in the neo-Georgian style with statues of Alexander Hamilton and DeWitt Clinton by sculptor Adolph Alexander Weinman, which face Central Park from niches in the facade (Wiki).

The museum was originally located in Gracie Mansion, where available space was limited. One of the first exhibitions was “Old New York” in 1926. This took place in the Fine Arts Building on West 57th Street. The success of the project led to a search for a new, permanent headquarters for the museum (Wiki).

A design competition was held between five invited architects and the Colonial Revival design by Joseph H. Freelander was chosen. The City donated the site on Fifth Avenue and the funds for the construction of the museum was raised by public subscription. The original plans for the museum’s building were scaled back as a result of the Wall Street Crash of 1929. The building was finished and dedicated in 1932.

In 2000, there was talk by then Mayor Rudy Giuliani to move the museum to the historic Tweed Courthouse near City Hall but that was over-turned by the incoming Mayor, Michael Bloomberg. In protect the museum director, Robert R. McDonald resigned.

In coming new museum director, Susan Henshaw Jones, planned an extension to the museum and it was completed in 2008. The extension including renovating the existing gallery spaces and adding a new pavilion. New displays and a remounting of valuable artifacts were done to give the museum a refreshed look. In 2011, the Museum of the City of New York temporarily took over operation of the South Street Seaport Museum which itself reopened in 2012 (Wiki).

The museum has a collection of over 1.5 million objects including many items from the 19th and early 20th centuries including paintings, prints, costumes, decorative objects, furniture and an extensive collection of toys. There are also extensive collections of police and fire items as well as shop models, rare books and manuscripts (Wiki).

The Museum of the City of New York in the early Spring

$The National Museum of Mathematics 225 Fifth Avenue New York, NY 10010$

The National Museum of Mathematics 225 Fifth Avenue New York, NY 10010

The National Museum of Mathematics

225 Fifth Avenue

New York, NY 10010

(212) 542-0566

https://momath.org/

https://www.facebook.com/MoMath1/

Open: Sunday-Saturday 10:00am-5:00pm

Fee: Adults $25.00/Seniors-Children-Students $20.00/Members are Free

My review on TripAdvisor:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g60763-d3726207-Reviews-National_Museum_of_Mathematics-New_York_City_New_York.html?m=19905

The Museum of Mathematics at 225 Fifth Avenue

https://momath.org/

In 2020, COVID had closed this unique little family orientated museum when I visited the NoMAD neighborhood earlier last year and it finally reopened for business right before the holidays. I could see the reasons why in that the museum is very interactive and there are a lot of activities and displays that warrant families touching objects and getting involved with the exhibitions.

The entrance to the new museum at 225 Fifth Avenue

Like most museums in Manhattan, the MoMATH or the Museum of Mathematics is quite pricey at $25.00 ($26.00) for an adult and for students, children over 12 and seniors over 60 it is $20.00. While it may be lot for an average family, a trip there is an eye-opening experience at least to me it was that day.

The sign welcoming you on Fifth Avenue

In 2021 when it reopened, the museum was two full floors of exhibitions with a spiral staircase separating the floors and a gift shop at the entrance. On the main floor there are interesting interactive exhibitions such as the Shapes of Space that show how different shapes fit together on a curved surface. I was not too sure what the point of it was, but the kids seemed to enjoy it and it was interesting to see how they connected. The Square wheeled Trike was interesting as you rode a square wheeled type of bike on a bumpy surface to check velocity. The kids and young parents really liked this.

The “Shapes of Space” exhibition

In 2024, the museum was moved around the corner until the permanent location could be finished. The museum was on one floor with a art gallery in the front of the museum and the back of the museum was all the interactive activities.

The Math “Fractorals” Gallery Exhibit at the Museum of Math

The “Fluids and Fractals” exhibition of artist Karl Sims

The Art Gallery exhibition

The art in the Gallery

The art gallery at the Museum of Mathematics

‘Light Grooves’ by artist Matthew Brandt

Artist Matthew Brandt

https://matthewbrandt.com/

Matthew Brandt is an American born artist. Matthew Brandt received his BFA from Cooper Union and MFA from UCLA. Brandt has been the subject of institutional solo shows at the Newark Museum, the Columbus Museum of Art, Virginia Museum of Contemporary Art and SCAD Museum of Art, Savannah (Artist bio).

“Light Grooves”

The interactive display

The interactive display

The displays I enjoyed in the old museum were Motionscape, where you had to walk as fast as you could on the track to check the relationship between velocity, your position and acceleration. It was interesting to see how your body movements when walking affects the way you react. The other display that was really popular was Hoop Curves which was always busy. The exhibit used statistics and a robot arm to shoot the basketball. The kids got a real kick out of this when trying to make a basket.

In 2021, the museum was two stories but in 2024, the museum moved to the new Fifth Avenue location and all the interactive displays were on the first floor, along with an explanation of the math along with the creators of the theory. I found that interesting because you could see who all the mathematicians were who the projects were based on or who had contributed to them.

I started with the “Self-Reflections” exhibit where shapes and sizes mattered, and the use of symmetrical patterns shaped our faces and observations. I got to see how the shapes altered my reflection in the mirrors.

The use of mirrors and shapes

The use of shapes and colors in the experiment

The signage

How we look at ourselves in the mirror

Taking pictures in the ‘mirror’

One of the first interactive displays that I enjoyed was the Tessellation Station, where you could create displays with magnetic tiles on a large board. Later I learned about Tessellation as a form of making shapes fit together in a pattern and then the theory behind that. It was a fun way to use your creativity. This exhibition was very popular in the old museum as well but had been a much bigger interactive display.

The “Tessellation Station” exhibition is a lot of fun

Another was the Tree of Life, where the computer copied the movements of myself and then used them to show the how I moved my arms and legs in a pattern. It was funny to see myself repeated over and over again like a tree with branches. It really did measure the movement of my body. This was a lot of fun because you got to see smaller versions of yourself attached to you.

Me playing with the Tree of Life

Me having fun by the Tree of Life exhibition

The Twist and Roll display showed how to put different shapes and sizes together and show their movement on the board.

The Twist and Roll hands on display

The one display that all the kids got a kick out of was the Math Board, where the colors and shapes of the section of the floor lit up when you walked on them and was controlled by the way you walked on them.

The “Math Morphing-Formula Morph” replaced the “Math Board”

The Museum of Mathematics is a great museum for younger children who want to get physical and have a good time and like the interaction. I learned a few things too about the fundamentals of math and some of its background theories.

The geometrics of the Museum of Mathematics

Still, it is a great museum for kids under the age of twelve and their younger parents. I think anything over that age would warrant a trip to the American Museum of Natural History or the Liberty Science Center with more exhibits that are age appropriate. It is a museum you should visit once or twice with small children who are at the learning stage and just want to have fun.

The Gift Shop

The Museum Gift Shop

The History of the National Museum of Mathematics:

(From the museum website)

The National Museum of Mathematics began in response to the closing of a small museum of mathematics on Long Island, the Goudreau Museum. A group of interested parties (the “working group”) met in August 2008 to explore the creation of a new museum of mathematics-one that would go well beyond the Goudreau in both its scope and methodology. The group quickly discovered that there was no museum of mathematics in the United States, and yet there was a incredible demand for hands0n math programming.

Interactive objects at the Museum of Mathematics

Accomplishments to date include: opening Manhattan’s only hands-on science center, welcoming more than one million visitors; creating the popular Math Midway exhibition, which has delighted millions of visitors at museums throughout the United States and internationally; leading math tours in various U.S. cities; running dozens of Math Encounters and Family Fridays events; delivering a broad array of diverse and engaging programs for students, teachers, and the public to increase appreciation of mathematics and creating the largest public outdoor demonstration of the Pythagorean Theorem ever.

The “Monkeying Around” exhibition at the museum

The Museum Mission:

(From the Museum website)

Mathematics illuminates the patterns that abound in our world. The National Museum of Mathematics strives to enhance public understanding and perception of mathematics. Its dynamic exhibits and programs stimulate inquiry, spark curiosity and reveal the wonders of mathematics. The Museum’s activities lead a broad and diverse audience to understand the evolving, creative, human and aesthetic nature of mathematics.

The “Weights and Balances” exhibition at the museum

Math Geographics

Video on the displays

The displays are so interesting

The Morgan Library & Museum 225 Madison Avenue New York, NY 10016

The Morgan Museum & Library

225 Madison Avenue

New York, NY 10016

(212) 685-3484

Open: Sunday 11:00am-6:00pm/Monday Closed/Tuesday-Friday 10:30am-5:00pm/Saturday 10:00am-6:00pm

Fee: Adults $22.00/Seniors (over 65) $14.00/Current Students with ID $13.00/Free to Members and Children under 12 accompanied by a parent. Free on Friday Nights from 7:00pm-9:00pm. Discount for people with disabilities $13.00-Caregiver Free.

https://www.themorgan.org/

My review on TripAdvisor:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g60763-d107356-Reviews-The_Morgan_Library_Museum-New_York_City_New_York.html?m=19905

The Morgan Restaurant:

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g60763-d502683-Reviews-Morgan_Cafe-New_York_City_New_York.html?m=19905

What I love about the Morgan Library & Museum is the level of sophistication and quality of their exhibitions. The museum really makes you think when you tour their galleries and attend their lectures and gallery talks. Their docents and curators bring an exhibition to a whole new level. I always feel like I am taking a college course and will be graded afterwards. They really make you think about the work or what the author or artist is trying to say.

Two of my favorite exhibitions were the “150th Anniversary Celebration of Alice in Wonderland”, which is why I joined the Morgan Library & Museum. I loved the novel and I wanted to get some ideas for our library’s own celebration. They had the original manuscript written by Lewis Carroll, some original prints and memorabilia from various times including posters, books, artwork and decorative items.

The entrance to the “Alice in Wonderland” exhibition

Another wonderful and interesting exhibition was on Mary Shelley’s “Frankenstein” which was a celebration of her life, her works and of the novel through the ages in both context of the novel and in Hollywood. There were various copies of the books in the exhibition as well as the history of the author’s life.

The Frankenstein print

The exhibition showed the clips of the original silent version of the film, the 1931 version with Boris Karloff and the modern version “Young Frankenstein” with Gene Wilder from 1974. I learned from the exhibition that the set used in the 1974 version of the film was from the original 1931 film and it had been in the director’s basement all those years.

The entrance to “It’s Alive: Frankenstein at 200” exhibition at the museum

Another exhibition that was very interesting was the recent American artist Al Taylor with an showing of his drawings. The works were unusual but really stood out was his time in Hawaii and the drawings that inspired him.

Duck Bondage Study by Al Taylor

Untitled by Al Taylor

American artist Al Taylor

A YouTube video on the “David Hockney” Exhibition:

The recent David Hockney Exhibition that I missed.

I rejoined the museum after a long COVID absence and the first exhibition that I attended was the “Beatrix Potter” exhibition on her work on Peter Rabbit. It had many of the early drawings of her children’s books as well as some of her merchandising. The exhibition discusses her life before and after her books were published and then her second act as a farmer and conservationist.

The “Beatrix Potter: Drawn to Nature” exhibition in April 2024:

The entrance to the gallery

The gallery opening

Here work included the initial drawings to the actual books.

The gallery of the exhibition

The exhibition is broken into two parts. The first part is on her early life in London with her family and her personal life as a child and an early adult. The second half of the exhibition is on her early books, manuscripts and letters. Then her later life as a ‘gentle farmer’ who ended up preserving and donation over 4000 acres of Lake District land for later generations to enjoy.

These are the original drawings for the book “The Tale of Peter Rabbit”

Other pieces of her works.

Some of the original drawings.

All the wonderful novelty items that she helped create. She had a real hand in merchandising way before this became the norm in publishing. She created all the cards, stuffed animals and small books that would become her collection.

The original drawing from the exhibition.

The stuffed animal of Jeremiah Puddle Duck

The sign as you enter the exhibition.

The end of the exhibition with the author holding one of her pets.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beatrix_Potter

https://www.hop-skip-jump.com/

The other exhibition that I saw that day which will be closing soon is the Walton Ford exhibition. Mr. Ford’s works are a reflection on his relationship with nature with works being influenced by trips to the American Museum of Natural History. His works draw from nature.

The entrance to the exhibition

Artist Walton Ford

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walton_Ford

https://www.kasmingallery.com/artists/63-walton-ford/

The main gallery of Mr. Ford’s works.

The works with the Black Tiger

I recently visited for the “Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Treasures from the Mozarteum Foundation of Salzburg” exhibition on a private Members Night and it was an interesting look at his life and how his career progressed until his untimely death at an early age.

The entrance to the exhibition in March of 2026

The Mozart family picture in the exhibition of the artist’s work

(From the Morgan Museum website):

The exhibition focuses on the two family chapters of Mozart’s life: his youth with his father, Leopold, and sister Nannerl in Salzburg, and his adult life with his wife, Constanze, in Vienna. After Mozart’s death in 1791, Nannerl and Constanze returned to Salzburg, where they, with the composer’s two sons, preserved and built his legacy. Their collection became the foundation of the modern-day Mozarteum (Morgan Library).

The ceiling display at the exhibit

Evoking the cities, homes, and people that shaped the composer, the exhibition highlights Mozart’s many travels, continual quest for employment and renown, family tensions, and constant creative output amid frequent illness and other challenges. It also illustrates Mozart’s existence under aristocratic patronage, a context both foreign and familiar to modern viewers (Morgan Library).

It is nice to walk among the permanent collection of prints in the lower level and to visit the former private areas of Mr. Morgan’s home. It adds to who he was as a financier and as a homeowner. The home was not as elaborate as you would have thought.

I also enjoy the Morgan Cafe on the main level of the museum in the courtyard area of the first floor. The food is a little pricey and a limited menu but the service is wonderful and the quality of the food is very good. You will enjoy the meal and I have heard from other patrons that the Afternoon Tea is very nice as well.

They also have a Dining Room in the Library area that I have heard is very nice as well.

They have a nice selection of books, cards and gifts in their Gift Shop just beyond The Morgan Dining Room. I really like their selections at the holidays and their theme books to the exhibitions especially for the “Alice in Wonderland” exhibition.

The Morgan Library giftshop

It is a nice place to take a gallery talk, then a light lunch in the main hall and then a lecture at night. It’s a great way to spend the day.

The History of the Morgan Library & Museum:

(from the Morgan Library & Museum website)

The Museum is a complex of buildings in the heart of New York City and began as the private library of financier Pierpont Morgan, one of the preeminent collectors and cultural benefactors in the United States. As early as 1890, Mr. Morgan had begun to assemble a collection of illuminated, literary and historical manuscripts, early printed books and old master drawings and prints.

Mr. Morgan’s library was built between 1902 and 1906 adjacent to his New York residence at Madison Avenue and 36th Street. Designed by Charles McKim of the architectural firm McKim, Mead & White, the library was intended as something more than a repository of rare materials. Majestic in appearance yet intimate in scale, the structure was to reflect the nature and stature of its holdings.

The side view of the Morgan Library

The result was an Italian Renaissance-style palazzo with three magnificent rooms epitomizing America’s Age of Elegance. Completed three years before McKim’s death, it is considered by many to be his masterpiece. In 1924, eleven years after Mr. Morgan’s passing, his son, J.P. Morgan Jr., known as Jack, realized that the library had become too important to remain in private hands. It what constituted one of the most momentous cultural gifts in the United States history. He fulfilled his father’s dream of making the library and its treasures available to scholars and the public alike by transforming it into a public institution.

Mr. Morgan’s private areas are part of the museum

Over the years, through purchases and generous gifts, The Morgan Library & Museum has continued to acquire rare materials as well as important music manuscripts, early children’s books, Americana and materials from the twentieth century. Without loosing its decidedly domestic feeling, the Morgan also has expanded its physical space considerably.

The Middle Eastern exhibit in the Library.

In 1928, the Annex building was erected on the corner of Madison Avenue and 36th Street, replacing Pierpont Morgan’s residence. The Annex connected to the original McKim library by means of a gallery. In 1988, Jack Morgan’s former residence, a mid-nineteenth century brownstone on Madison Avenue and 37th Street was added to the complex. The 1991 garden court was constructed as a means to unite the various elements of the Morgan campus.

JP Morgan II home which is now part of the Morgan Library.

The largest expansion in the Morgan’s history, adding 75,000 sq ft to the campus was completed in 2006. Designed by Pritzker Prize winning architect Renzo Piano, the project increases exhibition space by more than fifty percent and adds more important visitor amenities, including a new performance hall, a welcoming entrance on Madison Avenue, a new cafe and a new restaurant, a shop, a new reading room and collections storage. Piano’s design integrates the Morgan’s three historical buildings with three new modestly scaled steel and glass pavilions. A soaring central court connects the buildings and serves as a gathering place for visitors in the spirit of an Italian piazza.

The Morgan Library & Museum expansion by Renzo Piano

The Morgan Library & Museum Mission:

The mission of The Morgan Library & Museum is to preserve, build, study, present and interpret a collection of extraordinary quality, in order to stimulate enjoyment, excite the imagination, advance learning and nurture creativity.

The Dorothea Maria Gsell painting “Heron Encircled by a Snake with a worm in his Bill”

A global institution, focused on the European and American traditions, the Morgan houses one of the world’s foremost collections of manuscripts, rare books, music, drawings and ancient and other works of art. These holdings, which represent the legacy of Pierpont Morgan and numerous later benefactors, comprise a unique and dynamic record of civilization as well as an incomparable repository of ideas and of the creative process.

(From the Morgan Library & Museum website and history)

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