New York, NY

The Museum of the City of New York
1220 Fifth Avenue
New York, NY 10029
(212) 534-1672

Fall in love with New York City all over again. Start with a date on the first floor where the exhibits change from time to time. Recently they featured the Glory Days of Baseball and the role of New York in The Spanish Civil War.

Climb up the winding staircase for a second date with their permanent collections of toys and Broadway shows. Also stop by the galleries of paintings and sketches.

Seal the deal by watching a film that shows how the city became The City.

Small enough to finish in under two hours and suggested admission is a pittance. Go once and then you’ll have to keep going back to keep that passion alive.

new york city, nyc, museums, history

Usually, museum security people bask in the fun of telling people to move away from the artwork. Now through September 5th, all that changes at the Guggenheim.

The Shapes of Space highlights pieces from the permanent collection that focus on space as an elastic entity. The exhibit groups pieces together based on theme rather than a timeline. Themes include psychological space, imagined space, and infinite space.

What better space to install the Shapes of Space than Frank Lloyd Wright’s rotunda, a famous museum and art space named after a man who played with shapes.

Now onto that whole touching the art thing. Some of the exhibit is interactive; it DEPENDS on you to touch it. For example, Piotr Uklański’s Untitled work is a disco-reminscent-of-Saturday-Night-Fever dance floor). Pretty cool, huh? People strut their stuff and boxes of color move and flash and change.

Also at the Guggenheim under the category of Things You Aren’t Allowed To Touch:

Arcadia and Anarchy: Divisionism and Neo-Impressionism, ends August 6th

Solomon’s Gift: The Founding Collection of the Guggenheim, ends January 9th, 2008

As well as the permanent collection of ongoing exhibits.

NYC, New York City, museums, Guggenheim, art

Okay, I’m back on my pig thing….
One, two, three little piggies make five.
OR
1, 2, 3 Little Piggies Make 5.
OR
1, 2, 3 Little Piggies Make 5.
OR
1st Ave, 2nd Ave, 3rd Ave, Lexington Ave, Park Ave, Madison Ave, 5th Ave.
OR
1st, 2nd, 3rd, Lex, Park, Madison, 5th.
This is the latest trick I’ve learned to keep the city straight. While the whole “city is a grid” mantra persists, we know that certain parts don’t hold true to the grid theory. To remember which order Lexington, Park, and Madison are in, just remember the pigs. Sure, the saying doesn’t make much sense, but still, you’ll remember it. Then once you say it a few times, you won’t be able to get it out of your head for a while.