Children's Museum of the Arts

New York City's only hands-on art museum for children, the CMA gives kids ages one to 12 a chance to dabble to their hearts' content in the visual and performing arts.

http://www.cmany.org
182 Lafayette Street
Phone: (212) 274-0986
Hours: Wednesday through Sunday, 12 to 5 p.m., Thursday, 12 to 6 p.m.
Admission: $10 per person (one to 65 years); pay as you wish on Thursdays from 4 to 6 p.m.

Ellis Island Immigration Museum

Visitors to this museum can see-through film, archives, photos, and recordings-what coming to America meant to the more than 12 million immigrants who entered the country through Ellis Island in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

http://www.ellisisland.org
Ticket booth/ferry at Castle Clinton in Battery Park
Phone: (212) 363-3200
Hours: Open every day of the year except December 25th from 8:30 a.m to 5 p.m.
Admission: There is no admission fee for Ellis Island.
Round trip ferry tickets cost $11.50 for adults, $4.50 for children ages four to 12, and $9.50 for senior citizens ages 62 and over.

Fraunces Tavern Museum

Located in a reconstructed 18th-century building that was the frequent gathering spot of American Revolutionary leaders, this museum is dedicated to the study and interpretation of early American history and culture.

http://www.frauncestavernmuseum.org
54 Pearl Street (at Broad Street)
Phone: (212) 425-1778
Hours: Tuesday through Saturday, 12 to 5 p.m.
Admission: Adults, $4; students and seniors, $3; children under six, free

Lower East Side Tenement Museum

In a tenement building that was home to an estimated 7,000 people from over 20 nations from 1863 to 1935, this museum presents a variety of immigrant and migrant experiences in an effort to promote tolerance and historical perspective.

http://www.tenement.org
90 Orchard Street (at Broome Street)
Phone: (212) 431-0233
Hours: Tuesday through Sunday for public tours; group tours available daily by reservation.
Admission: Adults, $15, students and seniors, $11

Lower Manhattan Cultural Council (LMCC)

Founded 30 years ago to develop Lower Manhattan's cultural life, the LMCC provides support for individual artists and art organizations and fosters public participation in the arts through free events in the performing, visual and new media arts. From competitive grant programs for working artists to performances of dance and theater to exhibits of photography and sculpture, the LMCC's list of programs and calendar of events should not be missed.

http://www.lmcc.net
1 Wall Street Court, 2nd Floor
Phone: (212) 219-9401
Fax: (212) 219-5028

Museum of American Financial History

Celebrating entrepreneurship and the free market tradition, this museum showcases the history of the financial district from Alexander Hamilton's founding of a national economy right through the dot com boom.

http://www.financialhistory.org
28 Broadway (at Bowling Green)
Phone: (212) 908-4110
Hours: Tuesday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.; closed federal and stock market holidays.
Admission: $2

Museum of Chinese in the Americas (MoCA)

This museum, the first of its kind, is fully dedicated to presenting the history and culture of the Chinese and their descendants in the Western Hemisphere through historical and visual arts exhibitions, walking tours, school and public programs, and extensive archives.

http://www.mocanyc.org
70 Mulberry Street, 2nd Floor (at Bayard Street)
Phone: (212) 619-4785
Hours: Tuesday through Sunday, 12 to 6 p.m.; Friday, 12 to 7 p.m.
Admission: Adults, $3, seniors and students, $1 (suggested); Fridays are free for all

Museum of Jewish Heritage: A Living Memorial to the Holocaust

The mission of this museum, which opened in September 1997, is to educate people of all ages and backgrounds about the 20th century Jewish experience before, during, and after the Holocaust.

http://www.mjhnyc.org
36 Battery Place (in Battery Park)
Phone: (646) 437-4200
Hours: Sunday through Tuesday and Thursday, 10 a.m. to 5:45 p.m.; Wednesday, 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.; Friday and the eve of Jewish holidays, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; closed Saturdays and Jewish holidays
Admission: Adults, $10; students, $5; seniors, $7, children under 12 admitted free. Free admission every Wednesday from 4 to 8 p.m.

National Museum of the American Indian, Smithsonian Institute

Masks from the Northwest Coast of North America, pottery and basketry from the southwestern United States, and archaeological objects from the Caribbean are just a few things on display here in celebration of the native populations of the Western Hemisphere.

http://www.nmai.si.edu
1 Bowling Green (between State and Whitehall Streets)
Phone: (212) 514-3700
Hours: Open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. every day except December 25th, Thursdays, 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Admission: Free

New Museum of Contemporary Art

This internationally renowned museum showcases key moments in the development of contemporary art and includes New York City's only museum space dedicated to digital art, experimental video, and sound works.

http://www.newmuseum.org
583 Broadway (between Houston and Prince Streets)
Phone: (212) 219-1222
Hours: Tuesday through Sunday, 12 to 6 p.m.; Thursday 12 to 8 p.m.
Admission: Adults, $6, students and seniors, $3; Thursdays, $3 for everyone 6 to 8 p.m.

New York City Fire Museum

Pre-Civil War hand-pumped fire engines and horse-drawn vehicles on display in this museum's collection highlight how very far the profession of fighting fires has come over the centuries.

http://www.nycfiremuseum.org
278 Spring Street (between Varick and Hudson Streets)
Phone: (212) 691-1303
Hours: Tuesday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to5 p.m., Sunday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Admission: Adults, $5; children 12 and under, $1; students and seniors, $2

New York City Police Museum

Weapons, police shields, and fingerprinting and forensic art stations are just a few of the things on display in this collection, capturing the past and present of the NYPD.

http://www.nycpolicemuseum.org
100 Old Slip (between Water and South Streets)
Phone: (212) 480-3100
Hours: Tuesday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Sunday 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Admission: Adults, $5; seniors, $3; children six to 12, $2; under six, free

Skyscraper Museum

Where else but in New York City would you expect to find a museum dedicated to the study of high rise buildings of the past, present, and future? Located in various public and office spaces since its founding in 1996, the museum moved to a new, permanent home in Battery Park City in early April 2004.

http://www.skyscraper.org
39 Battery Place
Phone: (212) 968-1961
Hours: Wednesday through Sunday, 12 to 6 p.m.
Admission: Adults, $5; children and seniors, $2.50

South Street Seaport Museum

Established to promote the preservation of ships, this museum offers historic ships on display, changing exhibits, tours, films, and harbor sails aboard 19th-century schooners.

http://www.southstseaport.com
South and Fulton Streets at Pier 16
Phone: (212) 748-8600
Hours: Winter hours, Friday through Monday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Summer hours, Tuesday through Sunday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Admission: Adults, $8; seniors and students with IDs, $6; children five to 12, $4, children under five, free

Tribute WTC Vistors' Center

The Tribute WTC Visitors' Center, scheduled to open in September 2006, houses five galleries and runs a Walking Tour program led by members of the September 11th Families Association. Together, the center and walking tours are designed to inform, educate, and form personal connections for visitors who come from across the world to learn about the 2001 and 1993 attacks on the World Trade Center.

http://www.tributenyc.org
120 Liberty Street (between Church and Greenwich Streets)
Phone: (212) 422-3520
Hours: The museum is open on Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and on Tuesday and Sunday from 12 p.m. to 6 p.m. Walking tours, which cost $10 for adults and are free for children under 12, are offered on weekdays at 1 and 3 p.m. and on weekends at noon, 1, 2, and 3 p.m.

Trinity Church Museum

A comprehensive collection of documents, maps, newspapers, burial records, sermons, and much more fills this museum and records the institutional life of Trinity Church, which has served as a center of Christian community since 1697.

http://www.trinitywallstreet.org
Broadway at Wall Street
Phone: (212) 602-0800
Hours: Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 11:45 a.m. and 1 p.m. to 3:45 p.m., Saturday, 10 a.m. to 3:45 p.m., Sunday 1 p.m. to 3:45 p.m.
Admission: Free