Press

New Interactive Gallery Puts Children in the Center of the Hustle and Bustle of NYC’s Urban Landscape NYC + ME also launches CMOM’s “Gateway to the Arts”

NEW YORK, NY – Only in New York, kids! The Children’s Museum of Manhattan (CMOM) today announced the opening of NYC + Me: A Little Bite of the Big Apple, a new interactive gallery that captures the quintessential sights, sounds, flavors and spirit of New York. In this immersive experience at CMOM (212 West 83rd Street) children take over the Big Apple’s sidewalks, streets, parks, plazas, public transportation, air rights and underground world as they playfully explore the city that never sleeps. NYC + Me will run from Sept. 25 through Jan. 18, 2015.

Inside the 3,000-square-foot gallery, children drive taxis and police cars, issue parking tickets and building permits, learn to parallel park, build little skyscrapers, create their own public art, pretend to be street performers, run an international food cart, ice-skate in their socks and even imagine they’re mayor. Visitors to the gallery, which will be covered with large-scale children’s drawings of NYC, will see the Big Apple through the lens of children as city streets come alive with the details that reflect their interests – from the local pizza place to toy stores, from pigeons to subway rats!

According to Andrew Ackerman, executive director of the CMOM, NYC + Me is designed specifically to help children develop important cognitive, social, emotional and motor skills. By providing opportunities to explore the real-life context of the city, children learn to make sense of the world around them. Additionally, as children relate to one another from the perspective of their different city roles, they develop communication and language skills as well as creativity and imagination.”

The gallery will be a welcoming gateway into the cultural riches of New York City. Visitors will learn about the city’s vast collection of public art and work together to create public sculpture. Additionally, a full range of complementary weekend workshops, programs and performances will occur throughout the gallery’s four-month run to introduce children to the best of the city’s arts through CMOM’s Gateway to the Arts initiative, which supports cultural equity.

CMOM’s cultural partners include Lincoln Center, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, El Museo del Barrio and 92Y, among others.

NYC + Me is full of fun and inspiration for New Yorkers and tourists alike. Visitors to the gallery can, among other things:

• Put on uniforms and take over the city, becoming traffic officers, bus drivers, taxi drivers, food cart vendors, park rangers, construction workers – and even mayor. Whether they are directing traffic, handing out building permits, adding traffic cones or cleaning up dog poop and trash, there’s always something to do in this busy city.
• Add to the city skyline as a construction worker – move blocks to an elevated construction area via conveyor, walk on I-beams, and slide to the ground when done. Beneath the construction site, tiny utility workers crawl past miniature dioramas of the city’s support systems, a network of walls, columns, cables and pipes maintained by a whimsical team of city rats.
• Act as chefs as they serve up their own New York specialties at the international Taste of NYC Food Cart.
• Ice skate in socks to seasonal music! The Rink in Central Park is a winter tradition for New Yorkers and tourists alike.
• Dance inside a soundproof laser tunnel behind Times Square to create music from the ambient sounds of the city.
• Explore NYC stories from the steps of the NY Public Library, between Patience and Fortitude. The library collection will feature great children’s books about city life.
• Sing, dance and perform as a street performer. Let the budding musicians and dancers shine!
• Take the NY Minute Challenge – Get the most out of every minute. The challenge will turn the city into a uniquely New York obstacle course where kids can choose among crazy challenges, such as issuing a speeding ticket while schlepping pizza boxes.

NYC + Me is funded by The Laurie M. Tisch Illumination Fund.

“We are grateful for the generous support of The Laurie M. Tisch Illumination Fund and to Laurie Tisch for her long-standing commitment to providing access to the arts for all New York City children,” said halley k harrisburg, chairman of CMOM’s Board of Directors.

About Children’s Museum of Manhattan
The Children’s Museum of Manhattan (CMOM) is the vibrant home to 350,000 visitors a year from all segments of the NYC community and tourists from around the world. The museum’s educational mission in early childhood education, creativity, health and culture thrives within our home on 83rd Street and in dozens of communities across the city as well as through national initiatives with leading authorities and government agencies. Child development is at the core of CMOM’s values and mission and our vision is to be the bridge that connects children and adults in the community, school and home in order to prepare our children for the global world in which they live. For details regarding all of CMOM’s programs and initiatives, please visit www.cmom.org