If you can only do one or two in a week which museums/ art galleries are not to be missed in NYC with teens?

[N0rdicStar]

Kids always moan when I drag them round museums and art galleries so don’t want to over do it.That said I know in the long run they appreciate it and some things are unmissable.

Def doing Tenement Building, Ellis Island and potentially 9/11 and Nat History Museum.

Enough or others preferable?

Thoughts on Guggenheim( staying near), Moma etc

Loved the MET but could spend a week there alone.
Also recommend Broadway show.
Have fun

I loved the Met, the Egyptian part is better than the British Museum in London. The Moma is personal taste, I hate it.

The Morgan Library is free on Fridays between 7-9pm, you can see beautiful books, incl. a Guttenberg bible.

The Whitney Museum down in Chelsea is great. Not too big, a modern building and a good terrace with views of SOL. It's about 5 - 10 mins walk to Chelsea Market which is an interesting mix of shops and restaurants and has the advantage of being at the start of the HighLine walk.

Statue of liberty and Ellis Island.

The Tenement museum is absolutely brilliant- definitely do that!

Guggenheim is exhibition dependent, moma was great. We just drag them to all to be honest - they thank you later (dd is studying history and goes to them on her own now!)

We loved the Met (although look at the map,first and plan a route, it’s enormous)

Nat History- not a patch on the one in London. Lots and lots of dusty stuffed animals, felt like we’d timewarped to the 60s. Although the Space part was brilliant

Ellis island - I was soo looking forward to this and was very disappointed. You’ve got to like reading lots of display boards for this one.

I think if I went again I’d skip some of the big museums and spend more time outside looking at skyscrapers. Best day was a trip on the East River ferry and a walk across Brooklyn Bridge

Oh, and Grand Central Library is lovely, free, and has the original Winnie the Pooh toys in the children’s section

If you have time to head to Queens, this place is amazing. www.movingimage.us

I would skip 9/11. Too miserable! They might like Radio City Music Hall. It’s a fine Art Deco theatre and we don’t have anything like it. Definitely do the Tenement Museum and the Guggenheim. We liked MoMa. The Met is huge. I think Thursday is pay what you like. So a good day to pick out a theme for a couple of hours and combine with Central Park.

INTrepid Air Sea and SPACE museum
Ripleys Believe it or Not
Luna Park in Coney Island
Yankee Stadium game or tour

Thanks all, that’s really useful. Should I miss out 9/11 too?

Would prob end up doing it on my own if the kids didn’t go as dh has said he doesn’t want to go.

Why would you take them to 9/11? For a fun day out? I don't think so. It's an upsetting place by all accounts.

Can't believe the comments about 9/11. Would you avoid a Holocaust exhibition or Anne Frank's house?
I second the Whitney. Great area and fabulous views

Yes I avoided taking my children to Anne Frank's house. Ive been myself though. My children have seen it from the outside, they know what it is. But they are a bit you g to go in I think. Don't know how old the ops kids are but is 9,/11 really a fun family day out? 😕

Yes, not the 9/11 museum but the 9/11 monument is very moving indeed and we often refer to it.
Guggenheim is fantastic and they'll never forget it - take the lift to the top and spiral back down.
Met and AMNH (Nat. Hist.) both brilliant but I think more important to do other stuff given time, what you have planned already etc.
Other top tips: top of Empire State at night, Top of the Rock in the day, walk across Brooklyn Bridge for pizza at Grimaldi and walk back (amazing skyline views from Brooklyn Bridge park and the bridge itself), Staten Island Ferry (fun, free, go there and straight back for the ride and views), Ellen's Stardust Diner for milkshakes and singing wait staff (no need to have full meal), walk the Highline ending up at Chelsea Market, Grand Central station, yes to the original Winnie to Pooh, Tigger etc at the New York Library (sob!). Enjoy!!!

I don’t think it’s a ‘fun’ day out but I think it’s important to help them understand where we are as a world now. Never been to the museum but I would take my kids if we ever went to New York.

The met!

I don't know how you can go to New York and not go to the 9/11 museum. And no, you don't go there for a 'fun' day out, but interesting, educational and very moving. It's not depressing. My dc were 9 and 11 when we went and a lot went over their heads but that was fine. Dh and I really wanted to go so the dc had to come. I think teens would be really interested op.

Why would you take them to 9/11? For a fun day out? I don't think so. It's an upsetting place by all accounts.

Because the OP is interested in museums, and this is a brilliantly-conceived museum about a key event in recent NY and world history? No, it's not a laugh a minute, but then neither is the (brilliant)Tenement Museum, Ellis Island, the Museum of the American Indian and countless others in NY.

OP, look at what exhibitions are on at the Guggenheim and Whitney. The Met will give you a general, giant, British-Museum-but-with-paintings experience, with a lot of impressive things like an entire Egyptian temple with a view of Central Park that are good even for the least museum-minded. If you want something smaller, there's the Frick, which is a small, wonderful art collection in the original family townhouse just across Fifth from Central Park.

Be aware that you can only go into the Tenement Museum on a tour, so go on the website and pick one that interests you -- they also offer foods of the Lower East Side tours. There's also Economy Candy, which is an astonishing sweet shop, close by on Rivington St, which was more enthusiastically received than the museum by a student group I was with.

Best museum I've been to in the world was the Cooper Hewitt in NYC. They do have rolling exhibits so it might just have been the exhibit they had on at the time, but having been once I definitely plan to go every time I'm in NYC in the future.

We took our kids aged 13, 11 and 7 to the 9/11 museum. They were thoughtful and considerate and asked lots of questions. Might have been a bit much for the 7 year old to grasp but she still asked questions and took things in. This is such a huge part of recent history I don't know why you wouldn't take teenagers there. Take them to the top of the new building as well to grasp the importance of moving on.

My dc read Anne Frank’s Diary in primary school and visited her house at 12 and 11. They were fine. It wasn’t meant to be a fun day out but educational. We did the bog people in Copenhagen too and they were fine with that. 9/11 wouldn’t be a fun day out either but also educational. That said I don’t want to traumatise them as we’ll be getting back on a plane a month later. They’re 15 and 14. Wouldn’t force them to do 9/11 if they really didn’t want to.

I think 9/11 is a personal choice. I just dont think it is suitable for all families. We have taken our children to the History Museum in Berlin that deals with Nazi History and is a very stimulating and educational museum. I do not feel children here are studying recent American and war history. The 9/11 museum reflects the recent history of NY and that is fine, of course. Just not for us when there are so many other things to see. DH and I have been to the Memorial and I felt that was what we should do. I felt we paid our respects to the dead people in our way. Children can also be told about the events via the Memorial. It was, of course, not the only catastrophe on that day.

I am not entirely sure I agree that younger children should be shocked and worried about a museum because parents think it is good for them. My DD was very affected by being in the Ann Frank House and I really did not expect this. At the time she was the same age as Ann Frank when she was taken away. I think you have to make a judgement on how your child will react, and we got that one wrong, but we are still glad we went. To some extent, the Nazi era and Jewish memorials seem more relevant to our school children in that they are aware of it through the school curriculum and the fact it is a recurring era of history on TV another outlets. I think 9/11 in NY is more American and less European. However, no decision is right or wrong. Base it on what your children feel. Not everything for children has to be fun and visits can be thought provoking. It just depends what tour interests are and how upset your children might be. Its also fairly expensive. I assume DH would do something on his own? That seems a shame.

I don’t know how you can go to NY and not go to the 9/11 museum

I’ve lived here in NY for years and I’ve never been and neither have my children. It’s a personal
choice whether it’s somewhere you want to
go or not. I’ve been uo the new WTC many times though and would highly recommend that.