NYC's smaller museums

I discovered a couple of small museums in NYC. The first one is the Tenement Museum. It's located in the Lower East Side, where tenement buildings are primarily located. Living in a tenement was a fact of life for just about any immigrant to NYC in the late 1800's. Every immigrant group has had a stronghold in this neighbourhood. The Museum is a reconstructed tenement and they use historically accurate objects, as well as research on actual families who have lived in the building where the Museum is located. Visits to the Museum are by scheduled tours which are thematically arranged around specific populations who have lived in the building over the years. The area is currently being gentrified (as is most of working class NYC). A wonderful ice cream shop, Il Laboratorio del Gelato, is right next door.

The second museum is the Noguchi Museum and Studio in Queen's, just on the other side of the East River. It's in a so-so neighbourhood across the street from a Costco. Isamu Noguchi was a Japanese American sculptor who is probably best known for his unique paper lanterns and iconic mid-century coffee table. The studio includes many of his rock sculptures in a serene little concrete building with a Japanese garden. When I was there, there was an interesting exhibit on his friendship and collaboration with Buckminster Fuller (of geodesic dome fame). The little shop inside has many mid-century classics and many books, and a fascinating video showing how the paper lanterns were made.