It’s too hot to actually go out today – so in the spirit of the virtual trip to the Cayman Islands I took on my personal blog, I thought I’d do a quick “No need to leave the comfort of my own home” tour of the museums of Manhattan. ((Obviously I haven’t included every museum in Manhattan. That would involve the longest post in the history of my blog (and quite possibly any of yours). Plus, in all the years I’ve lived here, I am absolutely sure I haven’t even done half of them. I didn’t even mention some of the ones I have been to and loved. Did you see me mention The Cloisters? You did not. Did I touch upon the New York Transit Museum, Folk Art Museum, The Whitney, the Cooper-Hewitt? OK, the Cooper was an oversight of mine – I should have. It’s marvelous. But you get my point, right? Museums are thick on the ground here. Imagine what it would take to do all five boroughs!))

My museum of choice here in Manhattan is the Metropolitan Museum of Art. I know it’s not an edgy choice. It’s practically cliché. But I can’t help it. I love the Met. . I love the shop. I love the almost senseless layout of the place. I love accidentally rediscovering areas I’d forgotten about (since the senseless layout doesn’t lend itself to being able to find things on a regular basis). I love the rooftop garden, the Temple of Dendur hall (far more than the Temple itself which is merely OK), the Costume Institute (and the really remarkable way they do all that elaborate hair with paper), the studiolo, the decorative arts halls, etc.So you get the point, right? Me and the Met, perfect together. But every now and then, I wander into other museums.

I have been know to spend a delightful afternoon at The Frick (one of those “it was a house and it now houses their collection” type places – only the collection has expanded and like all “it started as a house” museums” it is struggling for more room). I’ve gone twice the Museum of the City of the New York and – honestly? I was utterly underwhelmed the first time and merely whelmed the second. It feels – not quite done or that it’s being housed there temporarily. It seems like a city such as New York (with the attendant attitude it has about being New York and all that convey) would have a much more diverse, much deeper collection housed and displayed better. Not flashier necessarily. Just better. I don’t know. It seemed – well, it wasn’t great.

I’ve been to Ellis Island (I know that strictly speaking it doesn’t describe itself as a museum but yes, it is) and enjoyed it each time. Other things that aren’t listed as museums – but which I can’t help categorizing as such for my purposes are the Morgan Library (which I used to love more than I do) and the New York Public Library (where they present exhibits extremely well – I just wish they’d do more I personally wanted to see).

I’ve been to the Police Museum which suffers from lack of planning, rather anemic collections and little or no understanding on use of space that they d have. In fact, it feels like it used to be a really robust Hall at the Museum of the City of the New York and got left behind in the move – both would benefit from being reunited. The same could be said for the NYC Fire Museum except that I love the space it’s in – a renovated 1904 firehouse.

MOMA is OK but I can’t go too often. It’s a bit like walking into IKEA on a Saturday late morning – sensory overload and too much to take if you are not in just the right mood. But if you are in the right mood – it is fantastic. The idea of Bic pens being on display sounds ridiculous out of context and on it’s own. You might even think, “Hold on – they aren’t even good pens!” and you’d be right. They aren’t the best pens and in the real world, they don’t look so hot. Half the ones I see have been chewed or otherwise mangled. But new ones – unsullied by the frustrated or worried teething of students or people at tax time? They do have a rather pleasing line about them. And they are there with other things with the same. Right now, I’m loving Graumans’s 85 Lamps. Still, it’s never one of my first choices when I venture out for a day o’ museums.

I’ll you what they do an really outstanding job on though – their online exhibitions. Those have clearly been put together but someone who understands that people to do read of view things on line like they do in real life. They have clearly chosen themes and projects that will make the best use of the online medium. Other museums also have things they call online exhibits but what they really are is photo albums of individual and small groups of items from actual exhibits.

The Lower East Side Tenement Museum is one people rave about constantly. As a result, I intend to go myself quite soon. It is small but very well done and doesn’t get nearly enough attention. And hey, you can go to Katz’s afterwards for lunch. Reason enough if you ask me. They also have given some real thought to their online features. They have a digital recreation of the tenement (very much in keeping with the whole of the collection and clearly something they’ve spent time mapping out) and – unexpected but marvelously – something called “Visit Gods of Chinatown” which is a virtual tour of Manhattan’s Chinese temples. It’s got photos, video, TXT messages you can retrieve.

I’ve never been a fan of the American Museum of Natural History. I can’t explain it. I’m sure all those people who love it have their reasons but it’s ALWAYS such a cacophony of noise and so many of the exhibits feel so dated (yes, the Met has some exhibits that have remained unchanged for decades as well but they don’t feel dusty and out of synch with me, the viewer). The Guggenheim Museum – I feel about the Guggenheim much the same way I feel about MOMA. Am I in the mood? And what specific exhibit to they have on that I want to see.

What started this musing on museums, you may ask (if you’re still around after the brain dump of cultural thread-gathering). A mailer from the Jewish Museum. Considering that’s really so close by and that I do enjoy it whenever I go (I especially love the Sarah Bernhardt exhibition a little over a year go), I don’t go nearly as much as you would think. Anyway, the upcoming season looks pretty good so I’m making a note to go back and it got me thinking about what else I wanted to see once summer is over (I’m not a “museum in summer” kind of girl).