Cheap New York: Affordable New York museums and exhibits
Even starving-artist types can afford admission to these inexpensive shows on view at New York museums.
Thu Feb 28 2013
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Cheap New York: Brooklyn Historical Society Photograph: Allison Auldridge
So you’d rather not drop $25 to peruse art? Hey, us too! Discover affordable shows currently on view at New York museums in our guide.
RECOMMENDED: Full list of cheap things to do in NYC
"Touch Tunnel"
- Price band: 1/4
A new version of the museum's labyrinthine Touch Tunnel is back due to popular demand. Now visitors can once again crawl through the pitch-black maze, finding their way using only their sense of touch. (No need to worry: Infrared cameras allow museum staff to see and talk to little ones if they get stuck.) Kids are bound to appreciate their
- Liberty Science Center 222 Jersey City Blvd, between Philip and Wilson Sts
- Wed Jun 19 - Tue Dec 31
"Tracking the Credit Crisis"
- Price band: 1/4
- Critics choice
Who really knows what’s going on with the current economic crisis? If you’re as confused as we are, this exhibit—which features an enormous timeline outlining the key moments of this financial nosedive, including bank failures, the collapse of the housing market and the implementation of President Obama’s stimulus package—may help.
- Museum of American Finance 48 Wall St, at William St
- Wed Jun 19 - Tue Dec 31
"Junior Officers Discovery Zone"
- Price band: 1/4
This permanent interactive exhibition allows kids to get their mitts all over NYPD-inspired activities and paraphernalia. Preschoolers can mix and match city sounds (like wailing sirens and the distinctive trot of police-horse hooves) while older children can learn how to decipher radio codes. And of course, no tyke will want to miss climbing into
- New York City Police Museum 100 Old Slip, between South and Water Sts, 10005
- Wed Jun 19 - Tue Dec 31
Science Playground
- Price band: 1/4
Tots learn about technology as they slide and seesaw, climb a giant spiderweb, romp in sand pits and wind their way around big trees. Ages 1 to 6.
- New York Hall of Science 47-01 111th St, at 47th Ave, 11368
- Wed Jun 19 - Tue Dec 31
"Totally Tots"
- Price band: 1/4
This play space for kids five and under includes a water station with levees, pumps and streams; a dune-like sand zone strewn with mounds of varying heights for kids of different ages; a small theater with costumes; and a baby hub, where the 18 months-and-under set can play with soft sculptures and squishy barriers. Ages 1 to 5.
- Brooklyn Children’s Museum 145 Brooklyn Ave, at St. Marks Ave
- Wed Jun 19 - Tue Dec 31
"World Brooklyn"
- Price band: 1/4
The museum's star permanent exhibit consists of a maze of kid-sized shops, each containing a fun activity. The boutiques—a Chinese stationery store, a Mexican bakery and a West African import store, to name a few—are modeled after real Brooklyn businesses. The miniaturized community also houses an international grocery store equipped with conveyer
- Brooklyn Children’s Museum 145 Brooklyn Ave, at St. Marks Ave
- Wed Jun 19 - Tue Dec 31
"Neighborhood Nature"
- Price band: 1/4
Children get firsthand experience with the borough's resident critters in this exhibit, which presents diverse ecosystems and their inhabitants. Little visitors look at a pond from the perspective of a resident fish, and observe reptiles, fish, amphibians and assorted other small animals in terrariums and a tide-pool touch tank.
- Brooklyn Children’s Museum 145 Brooklyn Ave, at St. Marks Ave
- Wed Jun 19 - Tue Dec 31
"PlayWorks"
- Price band: 1/4
The entire floor—4,000 square feet, to be exact—is dedicated to tots four and under. Floppy-headed infants can enjoy gazing in the mirrors, while more-mobile babies play with foam blocks. Toddlers can't seem to resist the firefighter costume box, full of overalls coats and hats to don while sitting in the driver's seat of a bright red truck. Ages
- Children's Museum of Manhattan 212 W 83rd St, between Amsterdam Ave and Broadway
- Wed Jun 19 - Tue Dec 31
"Adventures with Dora and Diego"
- Price band: 1/4
Preschoolers flock to this exhibit based on the popular Nickelodeon show. Hands-on activities have little ones pretending to cook Latin American foods for a big fiesta at Dora's house, and exploring caves, beaches and a rain forest while helping Diego rescue endangered animals. Ages 2 to 6.
- Children's Museum of Manhattan 212 W 83rd St, between Amsterdam Ave and Broadway
- Wed Jun 19 - Tue Dec 31
"ElectriCity: Powering New York’s Rails"
- Price band: 1/4
- Critics choice
Commuters who take the subway for granted got a taste of the system’s complexities during Hurricane Irene, when the MTA revealed that it would take eight hours to power down the system, and another substantial chunk of time to get the trains back up and running. The massive effort to keep mass transit moving is explored in this exhibit, where
- New York Transit Museum Boerum Pl, at Schermerhorn St, 11201
- Wed Jun 19 - Tue Dec 31
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