Where the past informs the future.
(1544)
Operating as usual
Today, we take a moment to honor NYC-born, ground-breaking actress, Cicely Tyson, who died Thursday at the age of 96. Her legacy lives on in her powerful body of work.
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📸 [Louis Gossett and Cicely Tyson in "Carry Me Back to Morningside Heights".], Friedman-Abeles (Firm), 1968, ©The New York Public Library, Museum of the City of New York 81.54.308781.54.3087
Closing out the week with this crisp & clear #MuseummomentofZen.
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📸 Samuel H. Gottscho, [The pond and Central Park South],. c. 1930, Museum of the City of New York, 8.1.5.102
"Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary..." Those words--written by Edgar Allan Poe in his poem, "The Raven"-- were first published on this day in 1845 in the New York Evening Mirror.
📸 unknown, Edgar A. Poe, 1845-1880 Museum of the City of New York, F2012.56.195
Hold on to your hats (literally) -- it's windy out there today, NYC. (And layer up, too. Brrrr.)
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📸Arthur Rothstein/John Vachon, LOOK Magazine, [Woman modeling on the sidewalk.] 1952, Museum of the City of New York X2011.4.11919.115
Need a creativity break? Caption this image in the comments below.
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📸 Arthur Rothstein /Frank Bauman/Look magazine, Changing New York, 1957, Museum of the City of New York, X2011.4.7552-57.155A
#Onthisday in 1936, M*A*S*H star Alan Alda is born in #NYC.
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📸 Martha Swope, [Alan Alda as Jake and Talia Balsam as Sheila in "Jake's Women".], 1992, ©The New York Public Library Museum of the City of New York X2013.42.669
Streetscape adaptations during the pandemic have demonstrated both possibilities and pitfalls. Now it’s time to move from improvisation to planning. How can New York plot a wholesale reorganization of the way we use streets, more than a quarter of the city’s land, less as a grid of channels to sluice vehicles around and more as a collective outdoors where eating, commuting, playing, selling, working, and innumerable other activities all coexist. For the third session in our series, Our Fair City: Building a More Equitable New York, critic and editor Justin Davidson talks to urban designer Justin Garrett Moore, landscape architect Kate Orff, and transit expert Shin-pei Tsay about how we can reimagine all those vital public spaces "in between" home and work.
From “The Age of Innocence” to “Catcher in the Rye,” “Just Kids” to “The City We Became,” there are so many incredible books set in & written about #NYC. 📚
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What are some of your favorites? We want to hear your recos plus any tips on how to getting reading done these days.
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📸: Mitchell Hartman
Elevated (5 Pointz), Long Island City, Queens, 2014
Archival pigment print
Museum of the City of New York, 2018.34.1
Row houses, brownstones, townhouses -- this residence of many names can be found in cities up and down the eastern seaboard, as well as internationally. These common sites, rarely given a second thought by city dwellers, have a deeper history behind them than meets the eye.
On Wednesday, February 17 at 7:00pm, join us for a virtual conversation between author, planner, & historian Charles Duff discusses his latest book, "The North Atlantic Cities" with Monxo López, the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Post-Doctoral Fellow at the MCNY. The two will consider the role of row houses in developing the modern city -- and compare New York to other metropolises like Boston, Washington, and Baltimore.
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López, an owner of a row house in the South Bronx will bring his own personal experience as a row house dweller to the conversation and consider how his experience has helped him define community, forge friendships (and make adversaries!), and beyond. #allinnyc. Sign up at https://bit.ly/3a6jzkp.
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📸 Right from top to bottom, Charles Duff, Monxo López
Mark your calendars and put on those headphones! 🎧
On Tuesday, February 2, we're launching @yourhometownpodcast -- a new podcast created with producer/historian Kevin Burke and exec produced by Robert Krulwich-- all about how where you grow up shapes who you are.
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The bi-weekly podcast features never-before-heard stories from high profile New Yorkers including Darryl "DMC" McDaniels (premiere episode); Sigourney Weaver; Neil deGrasse Tyson; Glenn Ligon; Al Sharpton; Sewell Chan, Danielle Guizio, and more, talking about coming-of-age in this amazing city.
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We're kicking off the series with a special live virtual event that evening (Feb 2) at 7pm featuring a Q&A with Kevin & guest @kingdmc as they discuss spending his formative years in Big Apple & how it influenced on his famed hip-hop group #RUNDMC, life, & family. Go to MCNY.org/yourhometown for more info.
Hug your honey -- it's National Spouse Day!💕 💑 👩❤️👩 👩❤️👨 👨❤️👨 💕
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📸 John Vachon (1914-1975) /Look magazine, Bicycle Wedding--Kelly, 1952, Museum of the City of New York X2011.4.11902
A few seats just opened up for our Mar 19-20 “Find Your Vision” virtual workshop with photographers Alex Webb & Rebecca Norris-Webb. Snag your spot at https://www.mcny.org/findingyourvision
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📸 Alex Webb, "Williamsburg"; Rebecca Norris Webb, "Mute Swan, Prospect Park"
Who's hungry? 🙋🙋♀️🙋🏽♀️ NYC Restaurant Week® To Go kicks off today. From now ➡️ 1/31, order takeout or delivery from #NYC restaurants for $20.21. Support your fave local spots from the warmth and comfort of your home. More at nycgo.com.
📸 Look magazine/Stanley Kubrick, The 5 & 10, 1947, Used with permission from SK Film Archives/Museum of the City of New York, X2011.4.10254.7C
Simple. Beautiful. #Starlightsunday (📸@julio.a.c)
![#OnThisDay in 1862, #EdithWharton was born in a brownstone at 14 West 23rd Street in Manhattan. 📸 : West 23[d Street] [N...](https://scontent.fymy1-2.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/141668820_10158372768337690_4546550007562436754_n.jpg?_nc_cat=108&ccb=3&_nc_sid=da1649&_nc_ohc=iy43wToJu6UAX-Em-nu&_nc_ht=scontent.fymy1-2.fna&oh=965289c8185f0fbea410f4cb8881c763&oe=605F1BA3)
#OnThisDay in 1862, #EdithWharton was born in a brownstone at 14 West 23rd Street in Manhattan.
📸 : West 23[d Street] [Ninth Avenue to Twelfth Avenue, West 3rd Street to 23rd Street], 1890-1934, X2012.61.33.68
#OnThisDay in 1867, the East River freezes solid -- leading to the approval of a bridge from Manhattan to Brooklyn. Here's the Brooklyn Bridge under construction.
📸 : J. A. LeRoy, [Brooklyn Bridge under construction.], ca. 1870-1883, 34.275.1; 34.275.12; 34.275.9; X2010.11.8384, Brooklyn Bridge under construction, ca. 1880
What does your handwriting say about you? #NationalHandwritingDay
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📸 : Stanley Kubrick, Look magazine, Palisades Amusement Park [Handwriting analysis booth.], 1946, X2011.4.11294.314, ©SK Film Archives/Museum of the City of New York.
Closing out an eventful week with this #MuseumMomentofZen.
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📸 : Edmund Vincent Gillon, The Chrysler Building and the East River, ca. 1979, 2013.3.1.431
2020 brought a newly revitalized focus to the connections of sports and activism, but for WNBA champion and Olympic medalist Tina Charles, this year simply amplified her ongoing commitment to social justice and activism.
Queens born and raised, Charles' support for the Black Lives Matter movement received national attention in 2016 and she is the founder of non-profit organization Hopey’s Heart. Just this fall she partnered with Queens-based community organization Together We Can to provide diapers and food to families in need. Charles, whose WNBA career has included a stint on New York Liberty, will discuss her perspective as a New Yorker, her basketball career, and her activism with historian Theresa Runstedtler.
This program is presented in conjunction with our exhibition City/Game: Basketball in New York (on view through May 23, 2021) and with Activist New York.
While recent scholarship has revealed that Americans were playing something they called “base ball” by 1791, historians agree that the modern game emerged in the 1840s among New Yorkers who played in Manhattan and at the Elysian Fields in Hoboken, New Jersey. The latter site, within easy reach via ferry, was long considered the location of the first organized match game, in which the New Yorks (or New York Nine) beat the Knickerbockers by a score of 23 to 1 in four innings on June 19, 1846. ⚾
But evidence has also surfaced of earlier games in 1845, and of a form of baseball being played in Manhattan by the early 1840s. The Elysian Fields remained a popular location for baseball games. By 1866, when Currier & Ives published this lithograph of a game in the Elysian Fields, the printmakers hailed baseball as the “American National Game.”
📸 : Currier & Ives, The American National Game of Base Ball, 1866, 58.300.34
#RIPHankAaron #HankAaron
#OnThisDay in 1904, New York City Ballet co-founder George Balanchine was born. Do you have a favorite ballet? Create it with emojis below and we'll see if we can guess it!
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✏️ : William Auerbach-Levy, George Balanchine, co-founder of the New York City Ballet, ca. 1959, 64.100.213
2020 brought a newly revitalized focus to the connections of sports and activism, but for WNBA champion and Olympic medalist Tina Charles, this year simply amplified her ongoing commitment to social justice and activism. Queens born and raised, Charles' support for the Black Lives Matter movement received national attention in 2016 and she is the founder of non-profit organization Hopey’s Heart. Just this fall she partnered with Queens-based community organization Together We Can to provide diapers and food to families in need. Charles, whose WNBA career has included a stint on New York Liberty, will discuss her perspective as a New Yorker, her basketball career, and her activism with historian Theresa Runstedtler.
![Anyone else missing hugs? #NationalHuggingDayStanley Kubrick, A Dog's Life in the Big City [Boy hugging dog.], 1949, X20...](https://scontent-yyz1-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/140308399_10158364862617690_7178055411810076981_n.jpg?_nc_cat=110&ccb=3&_nc_sid=da1649&_nc_ohc=0rYH4QKIArAAX8pIZ9I&_nc_ht=scontent-yyz1-1.xx&oh=51dbc448c92c90417b828198502d8fac&oe=605F4DC0)
Anyone else missing hugs? #NationalHuggingDay
Stanley Kubrick, A Dog's Life in the Big City [Boy hugging dog.], 1949, X2011.4.12306.8
The WNBA has been at the forefront of activism for social justice. The New York Times wrote recently that "challenging the status quo is a hallmark of the league’s players." Tonight, Queens-born WNBA star Tina Charles joins us -- along with historian Theresa Runstedtler -- for a live, virtual conversation on what's next for her, the league, and the fight for equity and justice.
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Register: https://bit.ly/362UrJZ
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📸 : WNBA basketball signed by the inaugural New York Liberty team, 1997
Museum of the City of New York, gift of the New York Liberty, 98.31.3
"Gouda" news: Today happens to also be #NationalCheeseLoversDay. Don't worry, brie happy! 🧀 😄
📸 : Bob Hansen, Look magazine, Cheese Shop, 1948, X2011.4.11518
Today is #InaugurationDay, and the ceremony will include performances by two New Yorkers, Lady Gaga and Jennifer Lopez, as well as many historic moments. In 1957, Marian Anderson also broke barriers when she became the first African American to perform at a presidential inauguration, when she sang the National Anthem at Eisenhower’s inauguration ceremony. She also seems to be the only performer to appear at two inauguration ceremonies, when she sang the National Anthem once again at John F. Kennedy’s swearing-in in 1961.
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Museum of the City of New York has undertaken a project to examine, photograph, and digitize a collection of Anderson's garments, which were donated to the Museum in 1993 by Bette Midler.
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By exploring Anderson's clothing and her career, we've seen the power of music to bring people together. We're looking forward to sharing more with you soon...stay tuned!
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📸 : Carl Van Vechten, Marian Anderson, January 14, 1940, 42.316.240, ©️ VanVechtenTrust
Have you checked out this week's #MCNYLive virtual programs? From Trivia Night (a special curator-led edition!) to a discussion with WNBA star Tina Charles to workshops exploring civil rights leaders, there's so much to learn and discover. Visit mcny.org/events to register.
Happy Birthday to writer and poet #EdgarAllenPoe, who was born #OnThisDay in 1809. His home, the Poe Cottage, still stands in the Fordham neighborhood of the Bronx.
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🎨 : Louis Oram, Residence of Edgar Allen Poe,1845, 29.100.2428
More than fifty years after his assassination in 1968, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. remains one of the most important figures of the 20th century. A pastor and civil rights activist known for his inspirational oratory and organizational leadership, King was also an accomplished scholar, a prolific writer, a fierce egalitarian, and a crusader for peace.
Beginning in the 1950s, King was a frequent presence in New York, where he delivered sermons and speeches, worked behind the scenes on civil and human rights campaigns, and met with local and international political leaders. The city, headquarters of many of the nation’s political organizations, media, and a bevy of activists—including many trusted advisors to King—functioned as a key site for his work and political evolution. Indeed, Mayor Robert F. Wagner, awarding King the city’s Medallion of Honor in 1964, proclaimed him “an honorary New Yorker.”
King also worked alongside New York activists to connect racism against African Americans with other social issues, especially the scourges of poverty and war. Want to learn more about New Yorkers’ participation in the long and expansive Black freedom movement? Our series of virtual workshops, as well as our online exhibition Activist New York, provide interactive ways to experience King's legacy.
https://bit.ly/3swpCXV
📸 : Benedict J. Fernandez, untitled [Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.], April 15, 1967, 99.150.3
Happy birthday to star of stage and screen, James Earl Jones. 🎭🎬⭐️
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📸Martha Swope, James Earl Jones in the title role of "Othello".:1982 :©The New York Public Library, Museum of the City of New York 82.31.3
You have a couple of weeks left in #NationalSkatingMonth. ⛸ So strap on those skates & take a spin around the rink. And, be sure to check out our crafting workshop video with Amanda Kingloff/Project K!d to learn about NYC’s skating history & to create this adorable ice skating penguin project. https://www.mcny.org/event/lets-skate-build-your-own-ice-skating-rink
📸 @amandakingloff /ProjectK!d
You have a couple of weeks left in #NationalSkatingMonth. ⛸ So strap on those skates & take a spin around the rink. And, be sure to check out our crafting workshop video with Amanda Kingloff/Project K!d to learn about NYC’s skating history & to create this adorable ice skating penguin project. More info: https://bit.ly/3qwTe6p
📸 @amandakingloff /ProjectK!d
Bringing you a little #StarlightSunday sparkle, thanks to @nystepbystep
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There are over seven million horses in America – not only in rural areas, but also in many cities across the country -- including New York City and Los Angeles. Two journalists who have explored the surprising world of horses, Sarah Maslin Nir (New York Times) and Walter Thompson-Hernández (New York Times and host of new NPR podcast “CALIFORNIA LOVE”), will sit down for a virtual conversation about their recently published books. Horse Crazy: The Story of a Woman and a World in Love with an Animal (August 2020) explores life-long rider Nir’s personal connection to these animals and profiles of some of the little-known yet intriguing figures involved in the riding world. In The Compton Cowboys: The New Generation of Cowboys in America’s Urban Heartland (April 2020) Thompson-Hernández takes a look at the Compton Cowboys, a group of Black horseback riders in Compton, CA who continue the little-known western tradition of Black cowboys, while defying stereotypes and forging new connections to their community. The two will discuss the place that horses hold in the American canon -- past, and present -- and the powerful and surprising stories that horses led them to uncover.
"There's nothing like New York City basketball," according to Albert King. See why in City/Game: Basketball in New York, now on view. Book your timed tickets: https://www.mcny.org/exhibition/citygame
Join curator Sean Corcoran and artists Alex Webb and Rebecca Norris Webb for a discussion about their work, which is the focus of the exhibition The City Within.
Celebrate the end of summer with a virtual conversation inspired by the now-classic film Love & Basketball (2000), one of the few portraits of a pro woman basketball player ever to hit the big screen. The film's director and writer Gina Prince-Bythewood will join former NCAA and WNBA star Chamique Holdsclaw and Harlem native, playground powerhouse, player and coach/mentor Priscilla Edwards for a lively discussion about the film -- and how women in pro basketball (and beyond) navigate issues of power, representation, activism, and equity. Author and sports journalist William Rhoden moderates.
The NYC basketball scene has made, and broken, the dreams of kids who play both on the city's legendary street courts as well as its prestigious high school teams. Back in the 1990s, Dominican immigrant Felipe López was a New York City high school basketball prodigy. The recent documentary, The Dominican Dream (2019), explores López's journey to stardom, and his life after his star-studded high school days were behind him. Join López and the film's director Jonathan Hock for a conversation about the making of the film, López's experiences as a player and after his Pro career ended, and the power of basketball to shape young lives and fortunes in New York City.
“We must not only vote but fight to vote. The voting booth really is the one place on earth where the least powerful equal the powerful.”- @gloriasteinem #womensequalityday
Te invitamos a ver THE DOMINICAN DREAM, presentado por el Museo de la ciudad de Nueva York, Miércoles 26 de agosto a las 7pm, ¡No te lo pierdas! #thedominicandream #MCNYLive https://es.mcny.org/event/moonlight-movies-dominican-dream-live-q
Join Sarah Seidman, Puffin Foundation Curator of Social Activism, and scholars Allison Lange and Mary Phillips for a discussion connected to our exhibition Activist New York and the 100 years since the 19th Amendment's ratification.
Let's get ready to BOUUUUNNNCCEEEEE! Join us on August 19 at 7PM for Uptown Bounce - a free virtual block party for the ages. More details at https://www.mcny.org/bounce2020.
🎵 "These streets will make you feel brand new.....Big lights will inspire you....Hear it for New York, New York, New York." 🎵 Absolutely ❤️ these sentiments from the amazing @AliciaKeys from her song "Empire State of Mind" about #NYC. Check out what she has to say about the #Census and what it means for our beloved city-- & then go to My2020Census.gov to fill out your forms. New York City is counting on YOU to be counted!
Inspired by the traveling exhibition City as Canvas, join curator Sean Corcoran who sits down with John "CRASH" Matos and Lee Quinones to discuss their work and the resurgence of graffiti and street art in the city.
Build your very own model of the Coney Island Wonder Wheel using materials found at home. Celebrate the 100th birthday of this iconic amusement park ride with historic facts about Coney Island and vintage images from the Museum’s photography collection. In this virtual video, Amanda Kingloff, founder of PROJECT KID, will teach you the basics for creating this 3-D model Ferris wheel. Craft projects are geared toward families and kids ages 7 and up. Younger children may require adult supervision, and all families are encouraged to craft together.
A quintessential New York City sport, basketball has connected New Yorkers for decades. Played in over 1800 public outdoor courts across the five boroughs, the game has traditionally bridged ethnicity, race, class, and language and has long embodied the diversity of NYC. Beyond the five boroughs, New York players have served as ambassadors for this spirit of inclusivity and for the promise of basketball to forge connections. Nuyorican Basquet (2017, 108 min.) highlights the 1979 Pan American games in San Juan where many of the supremely talented players on Puerto Rico's national basketball team were Nuyorican (born in New York) and their participation in the games was an integral factor in building unity among Puerto Ricans at a politically tenuous moment.
The Museum of the City of New York celebrates and interprets the city, educating the public about its distinctive character, especially its heritage of diversity, opportunity, and perpetual transformation. Founded in 1923 as a private, nonprofit corporation, the Museum connects the past, present, and future of New York City. It serves the people of New York and visitors from around the world through exhibitions, school and public programs, publications, and collections.
Learn more about the Museum of the City of New York on our About page: http://bit.ly/2IuRqUx
Education Programs at the Museum of the City
1220 5th AveThe Jewish Museum Travel Program
1109 5th Ave
The Bronx African American History Project
441 East Fordham Road Dealy Hall Room 641
81st Street – Museum of Natural History (IND
West 81st St & Central Park West, New York, NY 10024
Lipper Internship for Holocaust Education
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Historic House Trust of New York City
The Arsenal, Central Park 830 Fifth Avenue, Room 203
Seventh Regiment, New York State Militia (Nat
643 Park Ave