The Museum of Modern Art, Midtown

The museum and its history

The Museum of Modern Art occupies a large site on West 53rd Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues, in the heart of Midtown. It was founded in 1929 by three collectors, Lillie P. Bliss, Mary Quinn Sullivan and Abby Aldrich Rockefeller, who wanted a permanent home in New York for the art of their own time. It opened that year in rented rooms on Fifth Avenue and moved to West 53rd Street in the early 1930s. The collection has grown ever since, through purchases, gifts and bequests.

The building has been rebuilt and extended several times. The sculpture garden, designed by Philip Johnson and opened in the early 1950s, is a quiet open-air room of trees, water and sculpture, and one of the most restful places in Midtown. A renovation by the architect Yoshio Taniguchi reopened in 2004, and a further expansion opened in 2019, adding gallery space and a new entrance on 53rd Street. Today the museum shows modern and contemporary art across painting, sculpture, photography, film, design and architecture.

What to see inside

The collection follows a roughly chronological route, so a walk upward through the building moves from the late nineteenth century to work made now. The painting and sculpture galleries hold the works most visitors come for: Vincent van Gogh's The Starry Night, Pablo Picasso's Les Demoiselles d'Avignon, Henri Rousseau's The Dream, Claude Monet's Water Lilies and Salvador Dalí's The Persistence of Memory. Later rooms carry Pop art, including Andy Warhol's Campbell's Soup Cans, and large abstract canvases by Jackson Pollock and Mark Rothko.

Beyond painting, the museum holds strong collections of photography, architecture and design, drawings, prints and film. Temporary exhibitions change through the year and often draw the longest lines, so check what is on before choosing a day. Film screenings run in the museum's theaters, and the design galleries cover furniture, posters and everyday objects. The museum also runs MoMA PS1, a contemporary art space in Long Island City, Queens, which has its own ticket.

• The Starry Night by Vincent van Gogh, one of the most reproduced paintings in the collection.
• Les Demoiselles d'Avignon by Pablo Picasso, a landmark of early twentieth-century painting.
• The sculpture garden on the ground floor, with trees, water and seating in good weather.
• The photography and design galleries, usually quieter than the painting floors upstairs.

Getting there

The museum sits on West 53rd Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues, a short walk from Rockefeller Center and about fifteen minutes on foot from Times Square. Subway stations stand at Fifth Avenue and 53rd Street and at Rockefeller Center, and several lines run along the nearby avenues. Check current service before traveling, since weekend work often closes lines or changes routes. The entrance is on West 53rd Street, a few steps from the sidewalk.

From Penn Station and the Port Authority Bus Terminal the walk takes about fifteen to twenty minutes, or a short taxi ride. From Grand Central Terminal it is a few blocks west along 53rd Street. If you arrive from JFK or Newark, allow 45 to 75 minutes to reach Midtown depending on traffic and connections, then finish by subway or on foot. Taxis and ride apps drop on the avenues rather than on 53rd Street itself, where traffic is slow.

When to go and how long

The museum is busy all year, and weekends, school holidays and the December season are the most crowded. Weekday mornings after opening are usually the calmest, and the last two hours before closing often thin out. Spring and autumn bring the most visitors to the city as a whole, while January and February are quieter. Timed tickets are standard; booking ahead secures a place on popular days. Check the museum's own site for opening hours, closed days and late nights, which change through the year.

Allow at least two to three hours for the permanent collection, and half a day if special exhibitions are part of the plan. The building is large and the floors add up, so a break in the sculpture garden or at a café helps. With less time, pick two floors and leave the rest for another visit. A floor plan from the entrance desk shows where the best-known works hang, and audio guides give context without a guide.

Nearby sights

Rockefeller Center is a three-minute walk away, with its plaza, roof observation deck and seasonal ice rink. St. Patrick's Cathedral faces Fifth Avenue just north of 50th Street, and Fifth Avenue itself is the city's main shopping street, with department-store window displays from late November into early January. Times Square and the Broadway theaters of the Theater District are about fifteen minutes on foot to the west. Central Park begins at 59th Street, a short walk north.

The surrounding blocks are dense with Midtown offices, so sidewalks are busiest at lunchtime and calmer in the evening. Bryant Park, behind the New York Public Library, is a good place to sit after a museum morning, and the library's main branch is worth a look. Grand Central Terminal is a short walk east for its concourse and architecture. The Metropolitan Museum of Art and the American Museum of Natural History lie further north, a subway ride or a long walk away.

• Rockefeller Center, for the plaza, the roof deck and the winter ice rink.
• St. Patrick's Cathedral on Fifth Avenue, open to visitors outside service times.
• Central Park, entered at Grand Army Plaza at 59th Street.
• The Theater District around Times Square, for an evening curtain after a museum day.

Practical tips and where to stay

Dress in layers, since galleries run cool in summer and warm in winter, and wear shoes for standing and walking. Large bags usually have to be checked, and food and drink stay outside the galleries. Photography without a flash is generally allowed in the permanent collection; special exhibitions often restrict it, and staff will tell you the rule at the door. Sketching with a pencil is usually fine, but pens and wet media are not.

Midtown is the most convenient base. Hotels cluster around Rockefeller Center, Times Square and the blocks between Fifth and Seventh Avenues, putting the museum within a short walk. Theater District hotels suit evening plans, while the streets around Grand Central and Murray Hill are quieter at night and still close. Hotels fill up in the holiday season and during large events. Check the total price with taxes and fees, since city and state taxes and a per-night occupancy charge are added to the quoted room rate.