New York Things to Do

This is an exceptional museum showcasing artifacts from throughout the world on topics including ocean life, forests in North America, primates, reptiles and amphibians, human origins, meteorites and mineral and gems.

The Rose Center for Earth and Space houses the Hayden Planetarium. Exhibits showcase the stars, galaxies and planets including earth.

The... More

This is an exceptional museum showcasing artifacts from throughout the world on topics including ocean life, forests in North America, primates, reptiles and amphibians, human origins, meteorites and mineral and gems.

The Rose Center for Earth and Space houses the Hayden Planetarium. Exhibits showcase the stars, galaxies and planets including earth.

The building is an architectural landmark. Of special interest are a number of halls:
• Arranged in evolutionary order, the Fossil Halls, complete with dinosaurs - 85 percent of the 600 fossils are real versus casts - has the world's largest collection of vertebrate fossils.
• The Culture Hall features the peoples of Asia, Africa, North and South America and the Pacific, with emphasis on the Northwest Coast, Eastern Woodlands and Plains Indians.
• In the Mammals Hall, visitors are invited to learn about mammals past and present in Asian, North America and Africa.
• The Bird Hall highlights local, regional and world avian.
• The Hall of Biodiversity seeks to increase awareness of the cycle of life and importance of preserving the environment.
• The Theodore Roosevelt Hall memorializes New York's native son who went on to become the president of the United States.

Going to the theater is one of the most popular activities for New York City visitors. See plays, musicals and even productions of movies re-created for the stage on, as well as off, Broadway.

Tickets can be purchased in advance for adult and family audiences. Broadway shows typically are scheduled Wednesday to Sunday with evening performances at 8:00 p.m. and matinee performances on Wednesday and Saturday at 2:00 p.m. Sunday hours are slightly earlier for both shows.... More

Going to the theater is one of the most popular activities for New York City visitors. See plays, musicals and even productions of movies re-created for the stage on, as well as off, Broadway.

Tickets can be purchased in advance for adult and family audiences. Broadway shows typically are scheduled Wednesday to Sunday with evening performances at 8:00 p.m. and matinee performances on Wednesday and Saturday at 2:00 p.m. Sunday hours are slightly earlier for both shows.

The 265-acre Bronx Zoo is managed by the Wildlife Conservation Society, a group that oversees the largest system of urban wildlife parks in the world; the Bronx Zoo being its flagship. Through science, global conservation and education, they save wildlife and wild places worldwide.

The zoo is comprised of a number or realistic habitats: the African Plains is home to lions, storks, zebras, gazelles and giraffes; take a safari through the Congo Gorilla Forest (fee) and discover these... More

The 265-acre Bronx Zoo is managed by the Wildlife Conservation Society, a group that oversees the largest system of urban wildlife parks in the world; the Bronx Zoo being its flagship. Through science, global conservation and education, they save wildlife and wild places worldwide.

The zoo is comprised of a number or realistic habitats: the African Plains is home to lions, storks, zebras, gazelles and giraffes; take a safari through the Congo Gorilla Forest (fee) and discover these creatures from the treetops; in JungleWorld discover native species of Asia such as a tapir and gibbons; Sifaka showcases Madagascar with its crocodiles and lemurs surrounded by unique vegetation; Tiger Mountain highlights the magnificent Siberian tigers, also known as the Amur tiger from the Far East; the Baboon Reserve is home to an inquisitive band of geladas; Big Bears features, the grizzly of North America and the polar of the Artic Ocean and neighboring bodies of water; the Himalayan Highlands brings visitors to Nepal to see snow leopards, red pandas and cranes. Other exhibits include reptiles, monkeys, sea and aquatic birds, a children's zoo (fee) and the butterfly garden (fee).

Just off the north entrance at Fordham Road, near historic Rainey Gate with bronze sculptures, is the Rockefeller Fountain, designed by sculptor Biagio Catella in Como, Italy, in 1872. Its sea horses, dolphins, swan, caryatids, mermaids and mermen provide a perfect backdrop for photos.

Beyond the Italian garden, visitors can take two sets of stairs to Astor Court. Built at the turn of the last century, it is surrounded by Beaux-arts architecture and is a city landmark.

Other New York City wildlife parks of the Wildlife Conservation Society include New York Aquarium, Central Park Zoo, Queens Zoo and Prospect Park Zoo.

The Gothic-style Brooklyn Bridge spans the East River, connecting lower Manhattan with Brooklyn. Designed by John Roebling and built over a 13-year period beginning in 1870, it was the world's first steel suspension bridge and at the time it was completed was the largest suspension bridge. When Roebling died unexpectedly, his son took over the project. After his illness, the younger Roebling's wife oversaw the project's day-to-day construction.

On the Manhattan side,... More

The Gothic-style Brooklyn Bridge spans the East River, connecting lower Manhattan with Brooklyn. Designed by John Roebling and built over a 13-year period beginning in 1870, it was the world's first steel suspension bridge and at the time it was completed was the largest suspension bridge. When Roebling died unexpectedly, his son took over the project. After his illness, the younger Roebling's wife oversaw the project's day-to-day construction.

On the Manhattan side, visitors can view of the majestic bridge from the top of Pier 17 at the South Street Seaport, southwest of the bridge. From Brooklyn, Pier 1 at the Empire-Fulton Ferry State Park landing provides a beautiful sunset view of the bridge and downtown Manhattan.

This is the world's first museum for children, founded in 1899, from which 300 other museums around the world were developed. The museum, housed in an eco-friendly green building, offers learning experiences for pre-school to high-school age children. It maintains 30,000 cultural and natural-history specimens in its collection.

Children are provided interactive opportunities to learn about space, their own backyard, the natural environment, and the world past and... More

This is the world's first museum for children, founded in 1899, from which 300 other museums around the world were developed. The museum, housed in an eco-friendly green building, offers learning experiences for pre-school to high-school age children. It maintains 30,000 cultural and natural-history specimens in its collection.

Children are provided interactive opportunities to learn about space, their own backyard, the natural environment, and the world past and present.

The museum is a founding member of Heart of Brooklyn, a partnership among five other of Brooklyn's most treasured cultural institutions: Brooklyn Botanic Garden, Brooklyn Museum, Brooklyn Public Library, Prospect Park, and Prospect Park Zoo.

Created by Calvert Vaux and Frederick Law Olmsted, this was the first landscaped public park in America.

Nearly 850-acres, Central Park is comprised of open fields, lakes, wooded areas and paths. The park is home to Central Park Zoo and Wildlife Center, the Children's Zoo, a fort, Wollman (ice skating) Rink, tennis center, the Central Park Reservoir with a 1.58 mile running track, playgrounds, ball fields, monuments and sculptures, the Henry Luce Nature Observatory housed in... More

Created by Calvert Vaux and Frederick Law Olmsted, this was the first landscaped public park in America.

Nearly 850-acres, Central Park is comprised of open fields, lakes, wooded areas and paths. The park is home to Central Park Zoo and Wildlife Center, the Children's Zoo, a fort, Wollman (ice skating) Rink, tennis center, the Central Park Reservoir with a 1.58 mile running track, playgrounds, ball fields, monuments and sculptures, the Henry Luce Nature Observatory housed in Belvedere Castle, the Loeb Boathouse with restaurant and bicycle and rowboat rentals, a carousel, the Charles A. Dana Discovery Center with environmental education, the often photographed Bow Bridge and The Mall lined with benches, and the Swedish Cottage Marionette Theater.

Philip and Mary Van Rensselaer built this 1787 home in downtown Albany. It was the home of several generations of their family. They were descendants of one of the Dutch Hudson River manor lords who owned a vast amount of land. Miss Emily Rankin, the last surviving Cherry Hill Van Rensselaers family member, died here in 1963. The kitchen is equipped with different eras of ovens and stoves; the colonial-era oven was kept for bread baking. More

Philip and Mary Van Rensselaer built this 1787 home in downtown Albany. It was the home of several generations of their family. They were descendants of one of the Dutch Hudson River manor lords who owned a vast amount of land. Miss Emily Rankin, the last surviving Cherry Hill Van Rensselaers family member, died here in 1963. The kitchen is equipped with different eras of ovens and stoves; the colonial-era oven was kept for bread baking.