Culture, Culture, Everywhere.

Take the museum less traveled by

By Joe P. Hasler
Published: Apr 14, 2008

In the hierarchy of museums, four institutions lord over the hearts and minds of New York’s culture seekers: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, MoMA, The American Museum of Natural History, and the Guggenheim. With all due respect to these venerable champions of New York museumship, sometimes it’s refreshing to swap the massive crowds for the elbowroom and intrigue offered by more obscure collections. Here are six spots worthy of consideration:

The Cloisters
Appeal: Escape from Manhattan, without leaving Manhattan.
How to get there: Take A to 190th St.

At the very northernmost tip of Manhattan, atop a hill with a magnificent view of the decidedly un-Jerseylike New Jersey Palisades, sits the Cloisters. Though officially an off-shoot of the Met, the Cloisters exists in its own world: Part art museum, part garden district, and part historic, straight out of the Middle Ages. The building itself is comprised of several authentic cloisters, taken from five locations in France, and reassembled in Fort Tryon Park. If medieval tapestries and 13th century religious artifacts are your passions—and let’s face it, they are—then make for Cloisters. But remember: it’s far away, so pack a lunch, perhaps some suckling pig and a cask of mead.

The City Reliquary
Appeal: Junk with a back-story.
How to get there: Take L to Bedford Ave.

A relative newcomer to the game, the Reliquary is arguably the most bizarre museum in the five boroughs. (Though the Queens Farm Museum could make a strong case for that honor.) What started back in 2002 as a window display of random New York memorabilia in the curator’s apartment has blossomed into a full-fledged celebration of ephemera hoarding. Where else can you find a collection of giant pens or vintage thermoses? Unless you’ve got one of those crazy uncles who never throws anything out, the answer is nowhere.

The Costumes and Textiles Collection, Museum of the City of New York
Appeal: Fashion inspiration from the past.
How to get there: Take 6 to 103rd St.

With an assortment of clothing and accessories that dates back over 150 years, this collection is your one-stop shop for understanding the ebb and flow of New York fashion. Among countless items, one can behold the designs of Charles Frederick Worth, who overcame an absurd mustache and penchant for silly hats, to become the father of haute couture, dressing many fashionable New York ladies along the way.

Socrates Sculpture Park
Appeal: Art unleashed outdoors.
How to get there: Take N to Broadway

Only one museum in the city can claim this formula for success: Sunset views of Manhattan, an ever-changing array of outdoor sculpture, plus free tai chi and yoga. As if that isn’t enough to draw you to Long Island City, the sculpture garden has an alluring back-story. As recently as 1986, it was a landfill and dumping site on the East River. Twenty-two years of rejuvenation has cleansed the park of its toxic history, so you can safely leave the hazmat suit at home. Unless you always do yoga in your hazmat suit.

Museum of Arts and Design
Appeal: A celebration of Goblets!
How to get there: Take N to 49th St.

Six years ago, the American Craft Museum changed its name to earn more cred in the art world—where “craft,” it seems, is a dirty word. It’s now known as the Museum of Art and Design. MAD will be relocating to plush new digs at 2 Columbus Circle in the fall of 2008, so now is your last chance to celebrate the artistry of everyday objects in this lovely Midtown setting. The current exhibits include “Pricked: Extreme Embroidery” and “Cheers! A MAD Collection of Goblets.”

Queens Art Museum
Appeal: Travel to the future (as imagined in 1968)
How to get there: Take 7 to Willets Point-Shea Stadium

In a land far away, where the 7 train terminates and people occupy houses with lawns, lies a magical place few New Yorkers visit: Flushing Meadows Corona Park, site of the 1968 World’s Fair and the Queens Art Museum. There’s a lot to see here—the 120-foot Unisphere and the World’s Fair Ice Skating Rink—but it’s the museum’s Panorama exhibit that makes the train ride worthwhile. The tennis-court sized installation represents the entire city on a miniature scale—every building, road and park in the five boroughs.
JFK even has tiny airplanes that take off at regular intervals.