NYC has some of the best museums in the world, and they feature some of the best exhibits in the world.
Here’s what’s happening now at large and small NYC museums, including FREE or pay-what-you-wish admission on some days.
Anne Frank: The Exhibition – Center for Jewish History
This extensive exhibit about the history of the family of Otto Frank, including his daughter Anne, is compelling and mesmerizing, disturbing and inspiring.
It touched me deeply as a first generation American of two German Jewish immigrants who lost family on both sides, and a grandfather who served in the Kaiser’s army, one of 100,000 Jews in the military before, during and just after World War I. There is a huge photo of dozens of Jewish soldiers in uniform celebrating Yom Kippur during that war, and I found myself looking long and hard to see if my Opa was one of them.
Before you get to the re-creation of the small attic rooms in Amsterdam, where the family and some friends hid from the Nazis, there are displays of family photos and furniture and stories of their hometown, Frankfurt (also my father’s hometown) before they moved to Amsterdam.
The final area details Otto Frank’s escape from a German concentration camp, his eight-month odyssey to return to Amsterdam, learning about the deaths of his wife and daughters Anne and Margot, receiving Anne’s now immortal diary from one of those who had protected his family, and spending the rest of his life devoted to Anne’s memory and promoting peace and understanding.
The inspiration is a hallway filled with dozens of the “Diary of Anne Frank” in most of the 70 languages in which it has been published, inspiring millions and generations.
- Get tickets at annefrankexhibit.org
- FREE audio guide, which is excellent
- Center for Jewish History is at 15 West 16 Street. The building also houses a geneological library.
2 Exhibits at New York Historical
There’s a bumper crop of great exhibits at the New York Historical, which recently dropped the word “Society” from its official name.
Blacklisted: An American Story
In 1947, the House Committee on Un-American Activities called Hollywood figures to testify about allegations of communist propaganda in American films. Although the committee never found any evidence, it held 10 of the writers and directors in contempt of Congress. The Ten were fined and sentenced to prison.
Hollywood responded by creating a blacklist of those implicated in the proceedings, becoming the first mass employer to adopt a policy against employees whose political beliefs ran counter to prevailing orthodoxies.
The exhibit shows how Hollywood celebrities were implicated, Humphrey Bogart and wife Lauren Bacall – whose dress she wore to one of the hearings is on display – along with John Garfield, whose daughter long has said that hounding by the committee contributed to her father’s heart attack and death at age 47 at he height of his stardom.
Blacklisted: An American Story explores the intersection of politics, art, culture, and social dynamics during Hollywood’s Red Scare through photographs, objects, and film. Personal narratives of the blacklisted “Hollywood Ten,” including award-winning writers like Dalton Trumbo, who continued to work but under an assumed name, members of Congress, and film executives reveal different approaches to what it means to be a patriotic American – then or today.
Originally created by the Jewish Museum Milwaukee, this exhibition also explores how Broadway and New York’s theatre community responded at a time when art and creative expression were no longer protected.
- Through October 19
- The museum is at 76th St. and Central Park West, across the street from the larger American Museum of Natural History.
Dining in Transit
Step back into the first half of the 20th century and learn about the history of dining on planes, trains, and ocean liners which visited New York, including Cunard’s RMS Campania, whose 1905 menu is on display.
During a time when travel was becoming more popular and accessible, transit lines turned to luxury dining experiences to attract customers. Hiring famous chefs, creating beautiful painted menus, and sourcing delicious and local cuisine were just some of the trends that emerged during this time.
Dining in Transit looks at the luxury enjoyed by wealthy passengers along with those behind the scenes, from the Black porters on Pullman Company trains to female stewardesses aboard planes, also investigating deeper stories of race and gender that shaped the industry. That puts this exhibit at the intersection of food, travel and culture.
- Through October 26.
Sixties Surreal at the Whitney
Sixties Surreal is an ambitious, scholarly reappraisal of American art from 1958 to 1972, encompassing the work of more than 100 artists, including Diane Arbus, Lee Bontecou, Franklin Williams, Nancy Grossman, David Hammons, Linda Lomahaftewa, Mel Casas, Yayoi Kusama, Romare Bearden, and Louise Bourgeois,.
This revisionist survey looks beyond now canonical movements to focus instead on the era’s most fundamental, if underrecognized, aesthetic current—an efflorescence of psychosexual, fantastical, and revolutionary tendencies, undergirded by the imprint of historical Surrealism and its broad dissemination.
Sixties Surreal recontextualizes some of the decade’s best-known figures alongside those only recently rediscovered. In the 60s, many of these artists sought new strategies for connecting art back to a lived reality that seemed increasingly unreal due to rapid postwar transformation and the social, political, and technological upheavals of the later part of the decade.
- Opens to the public Sept. 24th
Whitney Museum 10th Anniversary Events
The Whitney Museum of American Art presents Decade Downtown, a series of on-site public programs and events spanning ten weeks, to celebrate ten years of the Whitney in the Meatpacking District.
Since May 2015, the Museum has called this neighborhood home in its Renzo Piano– designed building at 99 Gansevoort Street.
As part of a neighborhood rich in history, creativity, and cultural exchange, the Whitney has played an integral role in contributing to this vibrant cultural center on Manhattan’s west side by bringing art, ideas, and community together with its state-of-the-art exhibitions, education programing, free admissions initiatives, and strong engagement with partner organizations and neighbors.
There’s also a great restaurant with an outdoor terrace.
FREE Admission at the Whitney
- Every Friday evening from 5–10 pm and on the second Sunday of every month, admission to the Museum is free.
- Both offerings include free access to exhibitions, special programming, city views, and more.
- Visitors 25 and under are always free, every day
FREE Museum at FIT
The Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT) is the world’s top fashion design school with one of the world’s best collections of fashions – and a museum that’s always FREE.
- Through January 10, 2026
Rubin Museum Tibetan Buddhist Shrine Room
The Rubin Museum of Himalayan Art in Manhattan closed recently, to become a virtual museum and loan many of its treasures to other museums.
The Brooklyn Museum gets one of the Rubin’s most popular exhibits, the beautiful Tibetan Buddhist Shrine Room.
Starting June 11, visitors can get a major dose of Zen with ritual horns, butter lamps and the hum of chanting monks, on a long-term loan.
The Rubin Museum Tibetan Buddhist Shrine Room, one of the institution’s most beloved installations, will be on view inside the Brooklyn Museum’s Arts of Asia galleries as part of a six-year collaboration between the two museums.
- FREE with general admission, which the museum offers on a pay-what-you-wish basis.
Cosmic Splendor: Jewelry from Van Cleef & Arpels
Do your bling thing at the American Museum of Natural History.
For millennia, people have been moved by the grandeur of space to explore the workings of our universe—and to create captivating works of art such as this spiral clip that’s composed of rubies, diamonds, platinum, and rose gold.
This stunning assemblage of astronomy-inspired jewelry showcases more than 60 handcrafted jeweled wearables – that’s a modern description for jewelry – and celebrates our enduring fascination with the cosmos.
Visit the Museum’s Meister Gallery, part of the Mignone Halls of Gems and Minerals, to see this dazzling display.
- FREE with museum admission.
FREE Exhibit on A Century of The New Yorker Magazine
In this new major exhibition, The New York Public Library brings to life the people, stories, and ideas that made The New Yorker.
Opening to coincide with the 100th birthday of the magazine, “A Century of The New Yorker” draws on the Library’s collections, which include The New Yorker’s voluminous archives and the papers of many writers and artists who contributed to it, to survey a hundred years of life at the magazine—and show how it has informed our understanding of almost every aspect of society.
My favorite pieces from my visit include manual typewriters, like the ones I used as a news writer and reporter for Associated Press, CBS News and ABC News, and a large Rolodex like the ones we journalists used before cellphones.
- At the main branch of the NYPL, on Fifth Ave. Look for the two stone lions out front.
- More information here – https://on.nypl.org/newyorker100
- Through August 2026
New Yorker in Dog Years at AKC Museum of the Dog
Also in celebration of The New Yorker’s 100th anniversary, the AKC Museum of the Dog presents The New Yorker in Dog Years featuring more than 40 dog-themed covers from the magazine’s legendary history. The exhibit showcases the ongoing love affair NYC residents have with their pooches, large and small, as seen through the eyes of legendary illustrators like James Thurber, Charles Addams, Helen Hokinson, and Mark Ulriksen.
There’s also a special tribute to the Westminster Kennel Club’s 150th anniversary. For details, visit museumofthedog.org.
- AKC Museum of the Dog is located in Midtown East
- Through December 7.
FREE – New Yorker Magazine Posters About Commuting
Whether you love or hate commuting, whether it’s by subway, bus or car, you’ll love this exhibit that pokes fun at it.
“Commentary on The Commute: A Century of The New Yorker’s Transportation Cartoons,” explores how the magazine’s famed comical drawings have explored this subject over the past 100 years.
- Find it at the New York Transit Museum’s outpost inside Grand Central Terminal.
- Through Oct. 26th.
9/11 Memorial and Museum
Remembering Sept. 11, 2001 – The World Trade Center redefined the city’s skyline and developed modern New York. Learn the story in a new exhibition at the 9/11 Memorial & Museum.
The 9/11 Museum is currently open six days a week, 9am to 7pm (plus select Tuesdays). Explore at your own pace, and plan to spend at least 45-90 minutes.
Bring tissues. Some exhibits are not appropriate for very young children.
- The 9/11 Museum is adjacent to the FREE 9/11 Memorial Plaza, with the famous waterfalls. That is open to the public 8am to 8pm daily.
- The museum is not free. Tickets for the 9/11 Museum can be purchased here up to six months in advance.
The Frick Collection Re-Opens
The Frick Collection reopened in April after a two-year multi-million dollar renovation to its historic home, Henry Clay Frick’s ornate Fifth Avenue mansion.
It has taken that long for curators and designers to re-install the precious items, which includes works by Fragonard, Holbein, Rembrandt, Turner and Whistler, as well as significant sculptures, Chinese porcelain, Oriental carpets, bronzes, and other decorative arts objects.
Vermeer’s Love Letters
Devoted to the theme of writing in Vermeer’s work, this is the first special exhibition to be held in the Ronald S. Lauder Exhibition Galleries.
It unites three iconic paintings by the Dutch master: Woman Writing a Letter with Her Maid (National Gallery of Ireland), The Love Letter (Rijksmuseum), and Mistress and Maid (The Frick Collection). Their presentation together in a single gallery for the first time offers visitors an opportunity to consider Vermeer’s treatment of the theme of letters and his depiction of women of different social classes.
- Through August 31.
Tickets are available for purchase to experience the newly renovated buildings, garden and paintings and sculptures.
The temporary former space – known as Frick Madison at 945 Madison Ave. – is the Brutalist building designed by Marcel Breuer, which was the Whitney Museum of American Art before that moved downtown to new digs in Chelsea. The building has been purchased by Sotheby’s, to become offices and an exhibit area for auctions.
- The re-opened Frick Collection is at 1 East 70th St.
- Take a room-by-room walk-though, with lots of photos, in this NYTimes article.
- The museum is open until 9pm on Fridays, with live music and special programming.
FREE Weekly & Monthly Museum Admission 
FREE Monday Admission to the 9/11 Memorial and Museum
First Monday of the Month – This great opportunity is only for NYC residents. You will have to show proof of NYC residency for free admission.
Everybody can get FREE admission every Monday, from from 5:30pm to 7pm.
Simply log onto 911memorial.org from 7am on the Monday morning of your intended visit and book your free ticket.
Tickets are always free to 9/11 families, and the outdoor memorial plaza is always free.
FREE First Fridays at Museum of Modern Art (MoMA)
UNIQLO NYC Nights are the first Friday of each month, 4–8 pm.
New York City residents get free admission courtesy of UNIQLO, but everyone can enjoy an evening out in our galleries with paid admission.
See new art in the galleries, enjoy music by DJs from The Lot Radio, grab a drink at the pop-up bar, get creative with drop-in drawing sessions, see a film in the theaters, and enjoy the spring weather in the lovely outdoor sculpture garden.
FREE First Fridays at Neue Galerie
First Fridays at Neue Galerie offer free admission and extra hours to closing, the first Friday of the month.
Visitors are admitted free at 5 p.m. and the galleries remain open until 8 p.m. No registration is required, and admission is first-come, first-served.
The Book Store and Design Shop stay open late, too.
FREE First Fridays at Poster House
Poster House is the first museum in the United States dedicated to the global history of posters. First Fridays free admission is all day, 10am to 9pm
Every First Friday is different, with tours, workshops, performances, and activities, to further engage visitors with the exhibitions.
- Poster House is at 119 West 23 St. in Chelsea. tel. 617-447-7453
FREE Fridays & Sundays at the Whitney Museum of American Art
The Whitney Museum of American Art now offers free admission for all visitors 25 and under.
The new program builds upon the museum’s free admission on Fridays and the second Sunday of every month, which launched earlier in 2024, replacing its “pay-what-you-wish” system.
Now, admission is FREE for all visitors on Fridays from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. and on the second Sunday of every mont.
Second Sundays offers free all-day admission to visitors and special programming for families. On the second Sunday of every month, guests can enjoy all-ages arts & crafts activities, tours, classes, and other special events connected to exhibitions on view at the Whitney or significant community events like Earth Day or Pride Month.
Also on view will be the museum’s permanent collection exhibitions, featuring artists such as Edward Hopper, Kara Walker, Georgia O’Keeffe, Kevin Beasley, Faith Ringgold, Lee Krasner, Jasper Johns, Alexander Calder, Jacob Lawrence, Carrie Mae Weems, Andrea Carlson, and Clarissa Tossin.
The Whitney hopes free admission will make the museum more enticing to potential visitors and open the doors to a wider audience.
Free admission tickets must be reserved in advance.
FREE Saturdays at the Jewish Museum
There is FREE admission every Saturday.
My personal favorite is the ongoing “Scenes from the Collection” exhibit, with the delightful yellow sculpture shown here. From one side, it spells OY, the German and Yiddish phrase for “uh-oh”. From the other side, it spells YO, now used by multiple cultures in NYC as a greeting.
Which one do you use – OY, or YO, or both?
- The Jewish Museum is at 1109 Fifth Ave. at 92nd St., in the former Warburg Mansion
ecoXplorer Evelyn Kanter is a journalist with 25+ years of experience as a newspaper and magazine writer, radio & TV news producer & reporter, and author of guidebooks and smartphone apps – all focusing on travel, automotive, the environment and your rights as a consumer.
ecoXplorer Evelyn Kanter currently serves as President Emeritus of the International Motor Press Assn. (IMPA) and Editor of winter sports website SeniorsSkiing.
ecoXplorer Evelyn Kanter also is a member of the North American Travel Journalists Assn. (NATJA) and the North American Snowsports Journalists Assn. (NASJA).
Contact me at evelyn@ecoxplorer.com.
Copyright (C) Evelyn Kanter
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