The house, one of the first 20 buildings to be landmarked in NYC, was built in 1832 and became a museum … Look behind, in between and beyond the monumental marble walls of the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the American Musuem of Natural History for some of New York City’s more eccentric museums… North Carolina prides itself on being unique and eclectic. Impromptu record-setting pizza parties or L train flashmob meals (flashmeals?)? The museum is located in Washington Heights in Fort Tyron Park, so visitors can take in the amazing view of the Hudson River. Merchant’s House Museum Tucked into an unassuming block just south of Cooper Union is the only 19th-century family home in New York City that is preserved intact, both inside and out. No modern architect worth his or her salt cares more about form than function, and to that end, there's just as much discussion of what goes on inside these gargantuan buildings: newspaper publishing, finance, or some serious high-end living. 10 of the World’s Weirdest Museums. And before the Intrepid was the cool boat in town, there was the Lehigh Valley No. Museum of Sex. The storefront museum collects and preserves the ephemera of New York City's history. Sign up here for our daily NYC email and be the first to get all the food/drink/fun New York has to offer. A Victorian human-hair scrapbook, a two-faced kitten, and an exploded skeleton all number among the current "Collectors Cabinet" items alone. Museum of Sex. FlatironA popular ‘90s PBS show did not open with the phrase "math rules," but we don’t think Bill Nye would be too salty about the misquote; along with the cast of MythBusters, the Science Guy is one of MoMath’s highest-profile fans. The LES Tenement Museum starts off our list of top 5 most unusual museums in NYC. Facebook Twitter Email (CNN) — Not every museum is a shimmering beacon of … The story of New York City has always been driven by immigration. WilliamsburgNew York loves to talk about itself, and with good reason. There aren't a whole lot of other museums that house newspapers and photographs from Prohibition, bullets from major gang massacres, and John Dillinger's death mask. Censored Saudi Arabian pool toys, for instance. Coney Island itself feels like an archived testament to old New York, but the Coney Island Museum takes vintage a step further, highlighting the famed amusement park’s quirky history for only $5. GowanusYou don't have to be a necrophiliac or one of Harry Potter's Defense Against the Dark Arts professors to appreciate this Brooklyn nonprofit's objets d'art. Red HookBefore New York had those giant storage boxes you see along the highway, cargo was shipped around by barge. But sometimes the “uniqueness” can spiral out into downright weird. Here are our five favorites. The New Museum is a leading destination for new art and new ideas. The museum consists of two buildings that pay homage to the immigrants who lived there throughout the years. ChinatownSome things just belong in a modern natural history museum. But in one of those clarity issues your 10th grade english teacher warned you about, the "New York" part of the title here actually refers to the food, not the museum's location. At the, Learn what life was like for immigrants in the 19th and 20th centuries at, You won’t just stare at paintings on a wall here. Weird U.S. Promote Your Page Too It’s called the Empire State for a reason, for as all New Yorkers know, our state is the one all others are measured by. And so that on days you can't hop on a train, you can take a beautiful ride around the Red Hook Channel, because in addition to being both intact and open to the public, the old tugboat is still chugging away. Right up the stairs from a former speakeasy (which you can tour as part of museum admission), this two-room suite is probably the world's most organized introduction to American organized crime. 15 of the world's weirdest museums. Our top recommendations for the best museums in New York City, with pictures and travel tips. Courtesy of National Museum of Mathematics, Courtesy of Sony Wonder Technology Lab. Take a journey back in time at one of the four sites at the, Take your museum experience to the next level at the, You don’t need to break the bank to visit the, Most people stop studying math after high school, but math is constantly in our lives. This 7,000sqft historic bank on the middle of Wall St trades in, er, trading, with stations devoted to all things mercenary, from credit cards to mortgage rates, plus NYC-specific topics like Alexander Hamilton. Discover 689 hidden attractions, cool sights, and unusual things to do in New York City from City Hall Station to Frick Bowling Alley. 233 Fifth Ave. 212-689-6337. www.museumofsex.com. We have, after all, given the world a pretty special culture. Supervillain-fighting gear? Or New Delhi mosquitoes killed mid-bite. Midtown EastLong before 21st-century kids were regularly Candy Crushed into little iPad-gaming robots by parents who just want to finish posting this selfie, Peyton, they learned about technology in ways that actually inspired them to, you know, create things with it. 9 February 2017. These are the structures the museum profiles, pits against each other in a “World’s Tallest Buildings” competition, and replicates on a 1:500 3D scale (along with a model of Lower Manhattan on a 1:300 scale). New York City doesn't lack for world-class cultural institutions, amazing children's museums, or cool immersive art experiences, but sometimes you just. 4 Cortlandt Alley, New York, NY … Check and check. Less of museum than a tongue-in-cheek send-up of one, Mmuseumm offers a little something for the connoisseur of the weird in us all. New York's got museums with focuses so weird, even the most niche interests will be sated. The Cloisters is like other museums in NYC because it features art on the walls and sculptures throughout, but what makes it so unusual is its location and housing. Of course, there'd be a pretty big elephant in the room if the place didn't address a certain crisis that happened right down the street, so there's a whole station reviewing exactly what went wrong in '08. ©2020 Group Nine Media Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Morbid Anatomy Museum is part art exhibition of death-related artifacts, part 1,000-book strong research library. A Harry Potter vodka shot, ignited with a “magic wand” by a bartender in a Gryffindor scarf? can't. But they do, and one contractor in Queens has spent the better part of his life giving elevators the same amount of love. ... Pleasures and Perils of the Erotic Fairground” traveling exhibition in New York City. But the building worship here is more than, er, steel deep. In Pursuit of Fashion: The Sandy Schreier Collection at The Metropolitan Museum of Art. And while there are plenty of museums (The New York Historical Society and the Museum of the City of New York, among others) that showcase Tiffany lamps and Hudson River School paintings -- i.e., the higher-end examples -- not many explore our city's populist side. (Lanzilote, Anthony/ Freelance NY) What looks like a simple storefront in Williamsburg is … At night, when the "museum" is closed, you can peer into the small window on the door and still check out the 20-square-foot freight elevator-turned-museum. The Ten Strangest Museums in New York City The New York Transit Museum in Brooklyn Image from the Transport Workers Union Local 100 website Let’s be real: February in New York … 79. Whether it’s because they deal with unique subjects or because they’re situated in distinctive spaces, the following museums show how great it is to be unusual. At Sony Wonder, the air is always electric with the excitement of the tech boom of the early '90s -- the lab opened in '91 -- and exhibits like "How Devices Work" give visitors a meaningful look behind the screens. And then another station playing interviews with entrepreneurs like the Brooklyn Brewery founder -- you know, to win back your confidence. It doesn’t get much kinkier than New York’s Museum of Sex. Museum of Sex. The only metal kazoo factory in all of North America, the museum showcases the process of how a kazoo is made and the oddly fascinating history behind it all. The World's 10 Most Unusual Museums You Should Visit. Add to Plan. From splitting a check with friends at a restaurant to estimating the sale price at a retail store, knowing math is an incredibly useful tool. Find fun things to do, best places to visit, unusual things to … Upper East Side Considered to be one of NYC’s most significant museums, The … Check. When a city’s so big that one of its boroughs alone would be the fourth-biggest city in the country, there's gonna be something for everyone, especially if that something is super-weird stuff. But it’s just as educational – and VERY eye-opening! And while that may have changed, one museum responsible for the former wonder-imparting hasn't gone anywhere (OK, largely because its sponsoring corporation has started manufacturing the same tablets and phones used to sedate said children, but still). We have the Yankees, the Mets, the Giants, and the Jets, even if they are, for some weird reason, in New Jersey. The New York … (The event-throwing, film-screening, exhibition-sponsoring organization technically doesn't even have a location.) Prefer a cabinet of curiosity? When you think of visiting a museum, you are probably thinking about a serious and prestigious establishment in a beautiful building, a Tate, Louvre or Uffizi. Or the dress shoe that Iraqi journalist Muntadhar al-Zaidi threw at George W. Bush in 2008. Open Sunday-Thursday 10 a.m-8 p.m. and Friday and Saturday 10 a.m.-9 p.m. $17.50, students and seniors $15.25 . WHERE: New York City. (You can hang out in a room designed after his Bank of New York office.) It was an active housing facility dating back to 1863, and remained in use until 2011. In fact, there are 37 such exhibits here (we counted them, with numbers! Unless you were born before 1960, probably not. Location: New York, NY. Book effortlessly online with Tripadvisor! Make no mistake: NYFM is full-on niche; its purview is NYC food and only NYC food. The musical toy that no can deny has a museum right in New York! No physical locationIt sounds as generic as they come: a museum of food, the most basic of human necessities. But they've found one in this gallery, a shelved elevator off of Cortlandt Alley that somehow fits in all that and a bag of chips. At the, Did you know that there have been people fighting fires in New York since Peter Stuyvesant’s time in New Amsterdam” The history of firefighters and firefighting equipment is on display at the, It’s only around for a short time, NYC, but, Photos Courtesy of The Lower East Side Tenement Museum, The Tenement Museum on the Lower East Side explores the story of immigration in the USA, Museum of Food and Drink (MOFAD) Lab, New York, Courtesy of the Museum of American Finance, Cloister Arcades, French, early 14th Century, 233 5th Avenue, Manhattan New York, New York, 10016, USA, 29 East 4th Street, Manhattan New York, New York, 10003, USA, 103 Orchard Street, Manhattan New York, New York, 10002, USA, 441 Clarke Avenue, Richmond, Staten Island New York, 10306, USA, 62 Bayard Street, Williamsburg, Brooklyn New York, 11222, USA, 11 East 26th Street, Manhattan New York, New York, 10010, USA, 99 Margaret Corbin Drive, Manhattan New York, New York, 10040, USA, 278 Spring Street, Manhattan New York, New York, 10013, USA. ), all of which are interactive, and many of which involve cool equipment like those spinning chairs, WWII-era encryption machines, or even lasers. The gift shop is … We and our partners use cookies to better understand your needs, improve performance and provide you with personalised content and advertisements. 233 Fifth Ave. 212-689-6337. www.museumofsex.com. The gift shop is even more outlandish. Discover The Treasures in the Trash Collection in New York, New York: A New York garbage depot holds a secret collection of weird and wonderful refuse. Big ol' check -- we've got a dozen museums here with themes so weird, or weirdly specific, that even the most niche interests will be sated. And sometimes, let's face it, you and your hard-to-impress NYC kids might just be in the mood for something a little different or off the beaten path...a little weird, even. Immerse yourself into world-class art, exciting history, and mind-bending science. Samuel Spencer. 21. Or you, walking around the skyscraper museum. And when not in court, he's educating the public about how elevators work and what they look like, using plaques, push stations (the dashboards with the floor buttons), and enunciators taken from the very source, as far back as 1881. Not entirely, though: thanks to this Surf Ave gallery, you can still check out vintage funhouse mirrors, retro Thermoses, and a 3D printed scale model of beautiful Luna Park. Along with Ellis Island, the Tenement Museum is one of the best museums in NYC to learn about the city’s unique history of immigratio… Book an appointment at the library, which catalogs them along with books of anatomical art and the history of medicine. Today, it's the only barge left that's still intact and hasn't been bought by a boat club. And, regardless of this city's 99 problems, that's something that anyone can love. Sunday Dec 6th, 7pm NYC time 2020 7pm - 9pm all ages Live or virtually whatever you prefer click here for details. New York’s Museum of Sex is a lot kinkier than the other coolest museums in NYC on this list. In New York City, a place filled with weird and strange displays, the Morbid Anatomy Museum is by far the strangest. 2. Open Sunday-Thursday 10 a.m-8 p.m. and Friday and Saturday 10 a.m.–9 p.m. $17.50, students and seniors $15.25 . Enter the City Reliquary, which is exactly what it sounds like: a sanctuary for the everyday items that have made New York New York, from Statue of Liberty postcards to a subway passenger grip to a chain from City Hall. The next Museum Secret Speakeasy is the Puppetoon Secret Speakeasy, and things too! Coney IslandRemember when Coney Island was a deliciously seedy resort town for tourists from all over the world? But what if you want some culture with your weird? IMPORTANT! 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