AT A CERTAIN point in every New Yorker’s life, he or she reaches a saturation level with tourist attractions. Either you’ve done the things everyone is supposed to do—the trips to the Empire State Building and the Met—or entertained out-of-state guests with those same trips. But for anyone who thinks they’ve seen it all, New York City still has a lot to offer—especially when it comes to museums. Here are seven of them worth checking out.
Museum: Alice Austen House Museum and Garden
Location: 2 Hylan Blvd. (at Edgewater St.), Staten Island, 718- 816-4506, www.aliceausten.org
Specialty: The life and work of pioneering female photographer Alice Austen.
Why You've Never Been: The 15-minute bus ride from the Staten Island ferry.
What you’ll see: Austen’s startling blackand-white images that reveal a finely tuned eye for composition. Located on the edge of New York Harbor, the restored Victorian cottage also includes several exact reproductions of rooms as they were during Austen’s life.The management is a bit scattered (I had to wander from room to room before I found someone in charge), but the chance to see Staten Island as it was almost 200 years ago is a can’t-miss experience.
Museum: City Reliquary
Location: 370 Metropolitan Ave. (at Havemeyer St.), Brooklyn, 718- 782-4842, www.cityreliquary.org
Specialty: New York City ephemera
Why You've Never Been: The archaic name and low-key profile.
What you’ll see: The attic contents of a hoarder obsessed with New York City. A collection of World’s Fair memorabilia sits in the same room as an actual cockroach and bottles filled with air collected in museums.
Museum: The Forbes Galleries
Location: 60 5th Ave (at E. 12th St.), 212- 206-5548, www.forbesgalleries.com
Specialty: The collections of a man with too much time and money.
Why You've Never Been: The free museum is located in the Forbes Building on the ground floor, which makes it unlikely for passers-by to pop in.
What you’ll see: More tin soldiers in evocative, intricate dioramas than you could ever possibly imagine playing with; model boats; various versions of Monopoly; bizarre and fascinating historical artifacts.
Museum: Merchant’s House Museum
Location: 29 E. 4th St. (at Bowery), 212- 777-1089, www.merchantshouse.com
Specialty: Life in 19th-century New York
Why You've Never Been: Named for the occupation of most of the residents in the area during the Tredwell’s time, Merchant’s House sounds more like a museum dedicated to salesmen than life in Edith Wharton–era NY.
What you’ll see: Equipped with instructional guidebooks, visitors wander from room to room, where they can examine the original furniture and learn about the customs of the period. A breathtaking drawing room, crammed with Duncan Phyfe chairs and ornate gilt mirrors, is the centerpiece, but all the rooms are so rich with juicy period details that one can almost smell the sewage in the street. It’s also allegedly the most haunted house in New York City, so sneak in a Ouija board and try your luck.
Museum: The Noguchi Museum
Location: 32-37 Vernon Blvd. (at 10th St.), Queens, 718-207-7088, www.noguchi.org
Specialty: The work of sculptor Isamu Noguchi
Why You've Never Been: The trip to Queens seems daunting, but there’s a weekend shuttle bus from Manhattan— and CostCo is just across the street.
What you’ll see: Everything from Noguchi’s towering sculptures to never-realized designs for city parks—many shot down by a hostile Robert Moses.The abstract works that greet you in the first room of the sprawling warehouse can be off-putting, but models for the various unrealized public spaces he almost obsessively designed over and over again quickly draw in visitors.
Museum: Theodore Roosevelt Birthplace Museum
Location: 28 E. 20th Street (at Broadway), 212-260-1616, www.nps.gov/thrb
Specialty: The 26th President of the U.S.
Why You've Never Been:Without a hearty interest in the man who inspired teddy bears, there’s little reason to bypass Gramercy Tavern for a trip through Roosevelt’s life.
What you’ll see: Guided tours take visitors through the second and third floors of Roosevelt’s rebuilt birthplace, filled with a few original pieces and a lot of period filler. My guide not only forgot what year Teddy was born, but also claimed that he became president when McKinley was stabbed to death in Buffalo. Reconstructed from blueprints and missing most of the original furniture, the rooms are interesting but never fully alive. Much better is the first floor gallery, filled with artifacts from Teddy’s life and career—including the shirt he was wearing when he was shot and the 20-page speech that saved his life.
