Formerly known as the South Street Seaport Museum, this organization preserves vestiges of the time when Lower Manhattan was a thriving seaport ringed by a forest of masts, when its narrow cobbled streets were lined with counting houses, ship chandleries, tobacconists, sailors bars, flophouses and fishmongers. In 1967 the museum was chartered to reclaim an area of neglected buildings, many of which were slated for demolition.
Berthed nearby on Pier 16 are several historic ships including the Peking, a steel four-masted bark; the Wavertree, an iron full-rigged ship; the Pioneer, a cargo schooner; and the Lettie G. Howard, a wooden fishing schooner. Several of the ships have on-board exhibitions. For architecture enthusiasts there are tours of adjacent buildings that feature an eclectic mix of styles, from the 19th-century Federal rowhouses to neoclassical and Greek Revival-style buildings. The museum's indoor galleries are closed until further notice.
See more at NYCkidsArts
Ongoing This exhibition, seen at the Museum of the City of New York in 2009, explores what the island of Manhattan (or Mannahatta, as it was known by the Native Americans) looked like when Henry Hudson arrived with his crew in 1609.
Occupy Wall Street: A Photographic Document
Fri, March 23, 2012 – Mon, May 28, 2012 An exhibition of images by 76 photographers taken during the 2011 New York protests. The pictures were selected from the thousands of images submitted in response to an open call via the Museum of the City of New York.
Widely Different: New York City Panoramas by Jeff Chien-Hsing Liao and Sylvia Plachy
Fri, March 23, 2012 – Mon, May 28, 2012 In an exhibition organized by Elisabeth Biondi, artists Jeff Chien-Hsing Liao and Sylvia Plachy show panoramas of the eccentric side of NYC.