1230 Fifth Avenue, El Museo del Barrio

Housed in a neo-classical building that shares space with offices and a school, El Museo del Barrio (“The Museum of the Neighborhood”, often shortened to “El Museo”) was founded in 1969 and moved to its current location at 1230 Fifth Avenue in 1977.  A significant collection of pre-Columbian and traditional Native and Latin American art… Continue reading

1220-1227 Fifth Avenue, the Museum of the City of New York

A graceful Georgian Revival design by Joseph H. Freedlander, the Museum of the City of New York was founded in 1923 by the Scottish-born American historian Henry Collins Brown to preserve the city’s (even then) fast-disappearing history. Along with The New-York Historical Society, located on Central Park West and founded in 1799, the Museum of… Continue reading

1216 Fifth Avenue, The New York Academy of Medicine

A spectacular design by the firm of York & Sawyer, 1216 Fifth Avenue is one of the city’s greatest Neo-Renaissance buildings.  Designed and built in 1925-1926, it houses The New York Academy of Medicine, one of the world’s preeminent medical libraries and research centers.  Open to the public, its collections include original manuscripts by Sigmund… Continue reading

2 East 91st Street, The Cooper Hewitt National Design Museum

One of the most remarkable survivors on Fifth Avenue, 2 East 91st Street, the Andrew Carnegie Mansion, was designed by Babb, Cook & Willard for Andrew Carnegie, who requested “The most modest, plainest and roomiest house in New York.”  One may assume that Mr. Carnegie was speaking ironically as the house is one of the… Continue reading

1071 Fifth Avenue, the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum

One of the last masterpieces by Frank Lloyd Wright and one of only two buildings by Wright in New York City, the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum is one of the city’s preeminent art collections with a focus on Impressionist, Post-Impressionist, Expressionist and other early Modern Art.  Founded under the auspices of the Solomon R. Guggenheim… Continue reading