Museum of the City of NY

Our high school group had a wonderful time at the Museum of the City of New York this past weekend. We reviewed the most efficient travel route to the museum and decided to take the 6 train to 103rd street. Once on the train, we learned that it would be skipping the 103rd street stop. The group discussed our alternative travel routes and decided to get off at the 110th street stop and walk 7 blocks downtown to the museum. It was a great demonstration of flexibility by group members.

Upon arrival to the museum, members discussed what exhibits seemed the most interesting and compromised on three. We first visited the Timescapes exhibit. It is a 22-minute movie that traces the growth of New York City from a settlement of a few hundred Europeans, Africans, and Native Americans to its present status as one of the world’s great cities. It was very informative and fascinating to see pictures of the city over the centuries. We then visited the Activist New York Exhibit. Using artifacts, photographs, audio and visual presentations, as well as interactive components this exhibit explored the history of citizens of the city banding together on issues as diverse as historic preservation, civil rights, wages, sexual orientation, and religious freedom. Finally, we visited Roz Chast: Cartoon Memoirs. The exhibit features more than 200 works by the New Yorker cartoonist and included some of her books on iPad which members seemed to enjoy. There were only two working iPads so members had to use effective communication skills to assist them in taking turns using them.

We finished the trip with a stop at the museum cafe. Members enjoyed a warm beverage and snack while engaging in reciprocal conversation about the exhibits we had seen. We opted to walk downtown to catch the 6 train at 96th street on the way home. On the way home, members engaged in friendly conversation about their upcoming spring break plans. Next week, we will explore Little Italy.