The Museum of the City of New York

The Museum of the City of New York resembled a Georgian mansion with wide, marble steps and red brick walls. It was a museum completely dedicated to the history of New York City. The city known for its mesmerizing buildings, active election participation, and unique Broadway shows. These were some of the aspects that I explored in the museum about New York City.

Skyscrapers were one of the most important factors that constitute New York City. The first exhibition I went into was the “Paris/New York: Design Fashion Culture 1925-1940.” The exhibition seemed like a competition between the two cities to see who would be the dominant one. One section was for New York City and the other for Paris and then each city was separated into architecture, fashion, music, and art. I found the architecture most interesting in the exhibition. The angular art deco from the Paris Exposition of 1925 had a huge impact on New York skyscraper. Art deco was described as a modern, lustrous design that mixed in classic themes such as Aztec symbols, lightning, and fountains. Art deco was popular in Paris and spread to New York skyscrapers such as the Chrysler and Squibb building interior. Paris was in love with New York’s skyscrapers so they created architectural drawings emulating New York’s skyscrapers like the Woolworth Building next to the Notre Dame Cathedral.

Another exhibition on a New York building was “New York Fast Forward: Neil Denari builds on the High Line.” Unlike the first exhibition, this was about the future of New York City. The building was called HL 23, a fourteen-story luxury condo that is currently being built. It located in Chelsea in West 23rd street and expected to be completed in 2009. The museum contained a model of the HL23, historical pictures of the high line, a floor plan of an actual apartment in the condo, and photographs of various furnished rooms in the condominium. I was completely in love with the modern, sleek design of the condo. The shape of the building was truly unique and bold. The building was different because as the HL23 got higher it also got wider. This was due to the cramped area that the condo was supposed to be built on, so the lower floors had to be smaller. The HL23 was described as environmentally friendly with features such as reflective roofing, appliances that reduce consumption by 30%, and recycled material for construction. The HL23 adds to the transformation of Chelsea because it was an industrial area that has now changed into a trendy neighborhood with galleries and restaurants. This can be a leading step into creating more modern buildings that are environmentally friendly.

The following exhibition was “Campaigning for President: New York and the American Election” showing New York’s influence on the presidential election. From 1820 to the 1960s, New York was the most heavily populated state and from 1812 until 1972; New York had more electoral votes than any other state. There were eight presidents and twenty-five presidential and vice presidential nominees from New York. The mass media, mudslinging, and slogans were very important in the elections. The exhibit walls were filled with buttons of Republican and Democrat presidential nominees with the blue buttons for New York presidential nominees. Perfect for the 2008 presidential elections were the life size cardboard stands for Barack Obama, Hilary Clinton, and John McCain. The exhibition showed many humorous, yet corny propaganda and advertisements for various elections. The museum contained an assortment of souvenirs for elections: cut out masks, buttons, pins, car plates, stickers, plates, stockings, gloves, umbrellas, vests, suspenders, and toys of presidential nominees. This exhibition was extremely amusing showing the comical and scandalous side of American politics in New York.

Broadway shows were another defining feature of New York City life. The museum’s exhibition “Perform: A History of Broadway and theater in New York City” explored the history of Broadway shows and performing arts in the city with photographs, playbills, costumes, props, and drawings. Broadway had burlesque, musicals, and vaudevilles that entertained New Yorkers and surprisingly Time Square used to be the “center of vice” filled with shows that were popular only with men. The plays in the exhibition were truly unique and based on New York culture featuring themes such as class, race, and immigrants. The Hairy Ape was a play about class differences and portrayed the rich as faceless and mechanical indulging themselves in the beautiful luxuries in Fifth Avenue while people are going hungry. The Dutchman depicted the relationship of black and white individuals through New York subway stations. The Street Scene showed relationship between immigrants—German, Irish, Jewish, and Italians. The dominant element within the play was a tenement building bringing the different individuals together exploring their hopes and despairs for New York City.

The Museum of the City of New York was much more historical than art related. However, it was a great museum to learn about the culture of New York City and what made it unique and different from any other place in the world. New York City contains many distinct characteristics explored by the Museum of the City of New York. New York has many beautiful skyscrapers that dominate the city skyline and New Yorkers actively take part in the campaigning and election of presidential nominees. Broadways shows explore the countless problems in New York City. This was truly an enjoyable place to learn about the past, present, and future of New York City.