Almost five years ago, I started a project to document my visits to every single museum across New York City. When I was furloughed from my entertainment job during the pandemic and was desperate to leave my house, museums became places for me to get out and see the city in a new way.
And through the popularity of the series, I realized that many New Yorkers were similarly excited to see what institutions exist past Museum Mile.
I’ve now visited 150 museums across the five boroughs and people keep asking, “When will you be done visiting them all?” I tell them I think that’s up to the city: New museums keep opening!
Of the 28 museums I went to for the first time this year, at least eight weren’t on my radar in January. And four were reopened after relocation or renovation (looking at you, the Frick and Studio Museum in Harlem).
And while the fatigue is real (there was a museum outing that had me in four boroughs in one day), this project really is a testament to the variety of art and history there is in this city.
Going to a museum is great motivation to leave the house as the city empties out after the holidays and as seasonal depression kicks in. And no matter where you live or what you're into, there's a museum for you.
On that note, here are eight museums I visited for the first time this year that I found particularly fascinating and may be worth adding to your 2026 must-see list.
Red Hook Pinball Museum (Red Hook, Brooklyn)
The Red Hook Pinball Museum began as a small air-conditioned haven that opened in the back of a Red Hook bar during the exceptionally hot summer of 2025. It was founded by friends and pinball enthusiasts Kevin Murray and Wesley Michalski, who wanted to share their passion for restoring vintage pinball machines with their neighborhood.
When I first visited during one pop-up day in July, the collection consisted of five pinball machines from the 1970s and earlier, along with a century-old Whiffle game. Unlike traditional museums, visitors are encouraged to play and interact with the objects and machines, and locals were having the time of their lives. If you’re into history, each machine has a description of its backstory and how it played a role in the New York City pinball and gambling world. Pinball was banned in the city in 1946 and the law was not officially off the books until 30 years later.
Thanks to interest from New Yorkers, Murray and Michalski were able to move the museum into a larger and permanent space. When I went for the grand opening, they had more than eight machines and space for many more.
The museum is now open every weekend. It requests a donation for entry, but all games are set to free-play and you can play to your heart's desire.
Might I suggest my favorite: Diamond Lill, a wooden 1954 machine with reverse flippers? You can learn more and see which machines you can play on the museum's website.
Museum of Street Art (The Bowery)
Located in a stairwell at the citizenM Bowery hotel, the Museum of Street Art is a tribute to 5 Pointz, the late and iconic graffiti haven in Queens that was painted over and demolished. The museum gathered 19 of those artists (one for each floor of the hotel) to paint a tribute to the city in their street art style. There’s a floor dedicated to the Bowery Boys street gang, murals of famous residents such as RuPaul and Allen Ginsberg, and art celebrating Puerto Rican pride.
To visit, go to the front desk of the hotel and tell them you want to see the Museum of Street Art. They’ll swipe you into the elevator to the top floor and tell you to take the stairs down.
Chinese Scholar’s Garden (Snug Harbor, Staten Island)
The Chinese Scholar's Garden is nestled inside the Snug Harbor Center and Botanic Garden (I consider botanic gardens to be plant museums) and is one of just two authentic, classical outdoor Chinese gardens in the United States. After arriving, checking in and entering the garden, you feel like you've been transported to another world as you're greeted by 10-foot bamboo stalks. There are also eight pavilions, a koi pond and waterfalls.
It's also quiet and peaceful. Part of Staten Island's beauty is that there are spaces like this where you don’t hear the honking of cars or see a skyscraper above. I felt the same about another Staten Island institution, the Jacques Marchais Museum of Tibetan Art, which is a replica of a Tibetan monastery. Both spaces allow visitors to connect with nature in a way that can be difficult in the other four boroughs.
The Chinese Scholar’s Garden is closed for the winter, but will reopen in the spring. You can check out the Snug Harbor website for updates.
Maritime Industry Museum at Fort Schuyler (Throgs Neck, The Bronx)
I was pleasantly surprised by this remarkable and unexpected museum located in the Bronx at Fort Schuyler on the campus of SUNY Maritime. The Maritime Industry Museum was created as a resource for the academy's students and has more than 2,000 items on display covering every inch of the maritime industries.
It felt like being a kid in a candy shop, if your candy shop is a pre-Civil War fort filled with model ships. The museum’s curator mentioned that, at one point, the museum accepted any maritime artifact dropped on its doorstep, so it has a wide collection featuring fine China from the SS Andrea Doria, a full-scale model of the Brooklyn Navy Yard, and model ship model made of ivory. There is also a corner dedicated to SUNY Maritime graduate and astronaut Capt. Scott Kelly.
You could spend hours here, and you'll probably get lost like I did. The museum doesn't have an online catalogue, so the only way to discover what’s inside is to take a trip to Fort Schuyler and find out. You can get more info on visiting online.
Museum of Nostalgia (Astoria, Queens)
Museum owners Phebe Taylor and Jeff Zappala have been toy collectors for most of their lives. People visiting their apartment would often tell them “your apartment is like a museum,” so they turned that premonition into a reality in summer 2023 with the Museum of Nostalgia.
The space is part museum and part toy store, and has an exhibition space featuring items from Taylor and Zappala’s personal collection. It gives 1980s basement den vibes with shelves covered in toys, a TV playing classic cartoons, and a plastic covering on the couch to protect it from the messes we would make as kids.
If there’s something in the exhibit you want to take home, there’s a chance you can buy something similar. Once you step outside of that museum space, you enter a store full of classic toys from pretty much every decade so you can turn your home into your own Museum of Nostalgia.
The museum's hours change so check Instagram to find out when you can stop by and play.
Museum of Contemporary African Diasporan Arts (Fort Greene, Brooklyn)
After it closed for relocation, I was excited to visit the Museum of Contemporary African Diasporan Arts, or MoCADA, when it finally reopened in a new space near BAM.
MoCADA is dedicated to the art and culture of Africa and its diaspora. It showcases everything from paintings to collage to mixed media about Black identity and African-American culture. In the fall, I saw a show of poignant and political paintings by neo-expressionist artist Esteban Whiteside that was unlike any work I have seen in major art institutions.
In addition to curated exhibitions, they showcase their Artists in Schools program, which sends teaching artists to Brooklyn public schools to offer free after-school arts classes.
Their new space also features a cafe and a performance space. In the warmer months, they expand their reach to Governors Island offering extended programming at the MoCADA Abolition House.
Find out more about their exhibits and programming online.
Marlene Yu Museum (Long Island City, Queens)
In August, I received an email inviting me to an opening reception to a museum that neither I, nor anyone I know, had heard about, dedicated to an artist I had never heard of. But I went, and I’m so glad I did.
The Marlene Yu Museum was originally based in Louisiana but is now in Long Island City, and consists of three floors of giant paintings by artist Marlene Yu. The museum was founded and is managed by Marlene and her family, and showcases her beautiful and vibrant abstract works inspired by natural phenomena and movements. The scale of these pieces is breathtaking, and it's a worthy collection of nature-inspired pieces located in the concrete jungle.
Yu, now in her late 80s, is still painting and making new works. It was a treat to meet her and celebrate her accomplishments. The museum is open every weekend and you find more information here.
Autophoto Photobooth Gallery + Museum (Lower East Side)
Autophoto, the city's newest museum, seemed to pop out of nowhere and has become one of those fascinating niche spaces that you can only find in New York City. It was opened in October 2025, during the centennial of the invention of the analog photobooth, and operates as both a museum and also a photobooth hot spot.
There is an exhibit section that explores the founding of the photobooth, how it works and how photobooth technicians have kept the analog photobooth alive. After learning the history and fragility of this nearly extinct medium, I gained a newfound appreciation for it.
And then there are about seven operating analog photobooths for visitors to try out. Few things are as exciting as the delayed gratification of getting your photo strips. Like the Red Hook Pinball Museum, Autophoto shows that New Yorkers of all ages are fascinated by old technology and want to keep it alive.
The museum is open six days a week on a walk-in basis. You can find more details on Autophoto's website.
