Today I explored the Museum of the City of New York. My friend Duff was my special guest star. I love going out with Duff because she knows so many fascinating things about New York City. We met for coffee at Maialino at the Gramercy Park Hotel, check it out if you get a chance. They make a mean cappuccino. Then we hopped on the 6 train at 23rd and Park and took it up to 96th street. The museum is located at 103rd and Fifth Avenue. This was my first visit to this museum and I loved it. Interesting fact, this museum used to be located in Gracie Mansion which would eventually become the Mayoral residence. It moved to its new home in 1932. The space is beautiful and filled with natural light with a gorgeous staircase in the main hall. It was not crowded, I am not sure if this is because people don’t know much about it or because it was a slow day. We started with the JACOB A. RIIS: REVEALING NEW YORK’S OTHER HALF exhibit. I knew very little about Jacob before this visit but as I soon discovered this was a man on a passionate quest to make the wealthy people of New York City understand the plight of those who are not as fortunate. It is something that still resonates in today’s New York. He didn’t consider himself a photographer but his photographs are moving and shocking. As Duff said Jacob Riis was giving the first “Ted Talks”. He used slides of his photographs to compel compassion and told stories of the people he met in the tenements. Many of the photos that Jacob Riis took had clotheslines in them. Riis said “the true line to be drawn between pauperism and honest poverty is the clothesline. With it begins the effort to be clean that is the first and best evidence of a desire to be honest.” The Jacob Riis exhibit will be up until March 20, 2016. We visited 4 more exhibits, GILDED NEW YORK, THE NEW YORK CITY MARATHON: THE GREAT RACE, which is near and dear to my heart having run it in 2014.

ACTIVIST NEW YORK which hi-lighted social activism in NYC from the 17th Century through the present. We finished our adventure by looking at CHRIS “DAZE” ELLIS: THE CITY IS MY MUSE. Chris was a street artist who became a studio artist in the 80’s. The beauty of this museum is that the exhibits are very manageable and enjoyable. We were able to visit 5 exhibits in about 2 hours. They have a nice cafe and the museum shop is well stocked. Admission to the museum was $14. After we popped into a fantastic Mexican Place, El Paso Tacqueria on East 97th Street for a quick lunch. I hope I have inspired you to put this museum on your list. Until next time…