Museum of the City of New York

, the mayor's official residence, was the museum's first location The museum was originally located in Gracie Mansion, where available space was limited. The success of the project led to a search for a new, permanent headquarters for the museum. A design competition was held between five invited architects, The original plans for the museum's building were scaled back as a result of the Wall Street crash of 1929, nevertheless, the building was dedicated on January 11, 1932. El Museo del Barrio would then have moved across the street to occupy the current Museum of the City of New York building. This decision was overturned by the incoming administration of Michael Bloomberg, which decided to use the Courthouse as the headquarters for the new New York City Department of Education, causing MCNY's then-director Robert R. McDonald to resign; and it was completed in February 2008 with a ribbon cutting later that same year. The pavilion gallery, designed by the Polshek Partnership, In late 2011, the museum temporarily took over operation of the South Street Seaport Museum which reopened in January 2012. ==Collection==

The museum's collection of over 1.5 million items Among the rare items in the museum's collection is a chair that once belonged to Sarah Rapelje, daughter of Joris Jansen Rapelje of Nieuw Amsterdam, and said to be the first child born in New York State of European parentage. The chair was donated by her Brinckerhoff descendants. The museum is known for its comprehensive collection of photographic images, which includes works by noted photographers Percy Byron, Jacob Riis and Berenice Abbott, as well as many Depression-era Federal Art Project photographs. The collection also includes still photography by film director Stanley Kubrick. MCNY was also the longtime home to recreations of two furnished rooms from the house of John D. Rockefeller, donated by the Rockefeller family. Notable as well is a model of New Amsterdam based on the Castello Plan of 1660. Image:JunkKeyingView70.jpg|"The Bay and Harbor of New York" by Samuel Waugh (1814–1885), depicting the arrival of the Junk Keying in New York harbour in July 1847 (watercolor on canvas, c.1853–1855, Museum of the City of New York). File:Henry G. Marquand House Conservatory Stained Glass Window.jpg|Henry Gurdon Marquand House Conservatory Window (around 1883–1884), designed by Richard Morris Hunt (1827–1895) and made by Eugène Stanislas Oudinot (1827–1889) ==Notable exhibitions==

From October 2004 through July 2009, Perform was the only permanent exhibition in New York City focused on theater in New York. It included objects ranging from Bill "Bojangles" Robinson's tap shoes to advertising materials from Avenue Q. Until September 15, 2019, the exhibition "In the Dugout with Jackie Robinson: An Intimate Portrait of a Baseball Legend" was on display. In honor of the centennial of Robinson's birth, the exhibition featured memorabilia, rare footage, and published magazines of the Robinson family. In February 2020, the exhibit "City/Game: Basketball in New York" opened. The exhibit explored the history of basketball in New York City, including players like Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Bob Douglass. In 2026, the museum hosted a handmade model of New York City made by truck driver Joe Macken, which had gone viral on TikTok. ==See also==