The Corner of History and Culture: 6 Must-See New York Museums

From Manhattan's famed "Museum Mile" to the many underrated museums in the outer boroughs, visiting all the top museums in NYC, in a single visit is a tall order, but well worth it.

Founded in 1869, the American Museum of Natural History offers the greatest representation of the natural world, human culture and the cosmos that can fit under one roof. Its collection of artifacts, exhibits and displays is staggering, from the vast hall dedicated to marine life to a collection of rare meteorites. And no visit to New York is complete without a trip to the fourth floor dinosaur exhibit, which is home to one of the world's greatest fossil collections.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art is like a city unto itself—two million square feet—with artwork that spans everything from ancient Greek sculpture to contemporary photography. It's the largest art museum in the world that exists under one roof, and you could spend days exploring it all. Even if you manage to see the museum's entire permanent collection, special exhibits every year make return visits more than worthwhile.

Dedicated to the immense impact immigrants had upon New York City in the 19th and early 20th centuries, the Lower East Side's Tenement Museum is one of a kind. When you tour this five-story brick walkup built in 1863, its rooms furnished to reflect the often harsh living conditions of the time, it's impossible not to feel the presence of the 7,000 immigrants who once called it home.

More than 150,000 works of modern and contemporary art beckon visitors to the vast Museum of Modern Art. It's a staggering collection, one that includes works by the likes of Van Gogh, Dali and Picasso. But the Museum of Modern Art—often called MoMA for short—houses equally compelling works by lesser-known painters, sculptors, photographers and filmmakers.

The only museum in America dedicated solely to the history of public transportation, the New York Transit Museum in Brooklyn preserves a vast collection of memorabilia from all eras of New York's public transit system, including several vintage subway cars dating back to 1907. Housed in a former subway station that was decommissioned in the '40s, the museum offers a truly immersive experience. If you've ever wanted to know how subway tunnels are made, or see what it was like to ride the earliest subway cars, this is your chance.

Though better-known for his financial empire, J.P. Morgan was also an avid collector of art and manuscripts. What he collected over a lifetime is now open to the public at the Morgan Library & Museum. A visit to Morgan's splendid library alone is worth the visit, with its fresco-covered ceilings and gilded decorations, but the original sketches by Rembrandt and manuscripts by Charles Dickens are truly amazing.

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