Rated Museums in New York City

Ellis Island served as America's immigration depot from 1892 to 1954. Nearly 17 million people passed through its gates. After $156 million of restoration, it is now a national museum.

The Smithsonian's National Museum of the American Indian is home to over a million works and documents concerning Native American peoples and their customs. Much of the collection, most of which is in storage at any given time, was acquired by George Gustav Heye. The museum is housed in the neoclassical Alexander Hamilton Customs House. Exhibits change frequently.

One of New York's most unique museums, the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum is located aboard a decommissioned aircraft carrier. Ideal for families and kids, the museum has all kinds of interactive exhibits and displays.

The Frick Collection is currently closed for renovations to its skylights and other infrastructure projects. However, highlights of the collection can be seen at the Frick Madison, a temporary location at 945 Madison Avenue. The closure will be in effect until at least 2023.

The Whitney Museum of American Art is one of the premier showcases for American art. It was founded in 1930 by sculptor Gertrude Vanderbilt Whitney after the Metropolitan Museum of Art turned down her collection of works by living artists.

The Solomon R Guggenheim Museum is as famous for the building as it is for the collection. The unique structure was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright in 1943 and features a huge spiral ramp that joins, what he called, one continuous floor.

The American Museum of Natural History was founded in 1869 and is one of the largest natural history museums in the world. The museum's permanent collection contains millions of pieces related to human evolution, ocean life, fossils, and space.

Spread out over 110,000 square feet, this expansive museum explains the events and history of September 11th, 2001 through two main exhibitions: The Historical Exhibition and the Memorial Exhibition. In addition, the museum has a collection of over 70,000 artifacts, one of the most striking of which is the FDNY Ladder 3 firetruck.

The Museum of Modern Art, or MOMA as it's usually called, contains one of the world's largest and best collections of modern art. The museum features architecture, drawings, paintings, photography, and prints. Notable works by Picasso, Dali, Magritte, Wyeth, Warhol, Van Gogh, Toulouse-Lautrec, and Monet are on display.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art, known more commonly as The Met, is a world-class museum and one of the top tourist attractions in New York. It carries a diverse range of collections, with over two million works of art. In operation for over 150 years, this is one of America's most famous museums and among the finest in the country.