New York’s best off-beat museums

New York’s premier repository for ephemera and curios, the City Reliquary is a storefront located in Williamsburg that includes a gift shop modeled after a vintage dime store, a rotating exhibition hall and a permanent collection of only-in-New York odds and ends. 370 Metropolitan Ave, Brooklyn, NY (cityreliquary.org, 718-782-4842)

There’s no shortage of tall, impressive skyscrapers in Gotham: the Flatiron Building, the Empire State Building, the Chrysler Building, the Woolworth Building, Rockefeller Center and One World Observatory are just a few of the massive structures recognizable the world over. At this Battery Park museum exhibit, explore the design, technology, real investments and construction techniques that make these towering beauties possible in our vertical metropolis. 39 Battery Pl (skyscraper.org 212-968-1961)

On Surf Avenue, the main drag of New York’s most famous beach, you’ll find this colorful museum dedicated to America’s playground: Coney Island. Here, the Brooklyn neighborhood’s past is celebrated with fun house mirrors, vintage bumper cars, a collection of coolers and thermoses from the ’50s and ’60s and examples of particularly unique postcards. Check out a 3-D printed scaled model of the original Luna Park (1903–1944) and other special exhibits. 1208 Surf Ave (coneyisland.com, 718-372-5159)

Mathematics are made fun at this NoMad venue, which features cool interactive installations that allow you to explore the prinicples behind geometry, algorithms, optics and physics. There’s even a corrugated track that lets kids ride a square-wheeled tryke as smoothly as a conventional one. 11 E 26th St (momath.org, 212-542-0566)

The Hebrew Home at Riverdale has assembled a marvelous trove of Jewish antiquities from before the Holocaust, along with a modern art collection with pieces by Alex Katz, Ben Shahn and Andy Warhol. Currently on view: the nightmare-reminiscent work of Slovakian Surrealist Vincent Hložnik. 5901 Palisade Ave, Bronx, NY (riverspringhealth.org, 718-581-1787)

Housed in a 1904 Beaux-Arts firehouse on Spring Street, the New York City Fire Museum is a dream come true for anyone who ever fantasized about being a fireman as a kid. From the bucket brigades of old New Amsterdam to the latest equipment and fire-fighting techniques, the museum charts the history of New York’s bravest and their never-ending battle against the city’s conflagrations. 278 Spring St, New York, NY (nycfiremuseum.org, 212-691-1303)

A National Historic Landmark and a New York City landmark, this relatively modest brick house in Queens was home to the jazz legend from 1943 until his death in 1971. It houses Louis Armstrong’s personal collection of 1,600 recordings, Armstrong memorabilia donated by his legion of fans, and the furnishing left in the house after the death of Armstrong’s wife Lucille in 1983—who, as the home’s official interior decorator, was partial to opulent wallpaper and robin-egg-blue kitchen cabinets. 34-56 107th St, Corona, NY (louisarmstronghouse.org, 718-478-8274)

This perfectly preserved late Federal-Greek Revival house, complete with its original furniture, takes visitors back to elegant world of New York’s 19th-century upper-middle class. Though it’s a museum now, the house was occupied for nearly a century between 1835 and 1933 by the family of hardware purveyor Seabury Tredwell and his descendants. 29 E 4th St, New York, NY (merchantshouse.org, 212-777-1089)

If the masters refuse to show you their tricks, head to this research library and dig through their collection of more than 11,000 books on magic, ventriloquism and slight of hand. Whether you’re an aspiring sorcerer or just curious about card tricks, the knowledgable research aides will be able to help you find your grimoire. 11 W 30th St, New York, NY (conjuringarts.org, 212-594-1033; it’s currently closed)

For those who consider a visit to a New York restaurant a major cultural experience, full of discovery and wonder, America’s first-ever museum dedicated to eating, dining, cooking and food culture is for you. MoFAD exhibits rotate seasonally, plus there are special talks and tastings that take place at MoFAD after hours. 62 Bayard St (mofad.org, 212-542-0566)

A Boerum Hill institution since 1986, Micro Museum has held steadfast at its Smith Street address even as the neighborhood has been radically transformed by the influx of hipsters and Wall Street types. The brainchild of interdisciplinary artists Kathleen and William Laziza, the museum celebrates “American ingenuity, invention and artful innovation” with a wacky assortment of interactive video displays, computer games, audio tricks, special effects and musical props. 123 Smith St, Brooklyn, NY (micromuseum.com, 718-797-3116)

Located aboard a refurbished 1914 Lehigh Valley Railroad barge, The Waterfront Museum is dedicated to preserving New York’s maritime history, with classes, performances, photos and vintage objects that harken back to the city’s nautical heyday as the most important port in the country. 290 Conover Street (waterfrontmuseum.org, waterfrontmuseum.org)

A self-described “modern natural history museum devoted to the curation and exhibition of contemporary artifacts that illustrate the complexities of the modern world” Tribeca’s Mmuseumm’s exhibition program has included such oddball presentations as “Toothpaste Tubes from Around the World,” “Hand Modified Russian Watches” and “Personal Possessions found in the Pacific” (which strangely includes a Georgia driver’s license). Less of museum than a tongue-in-cheek send-up of one, Mmuseumm offers a little something for the connoisseur of the weird in us all. 4 Cortlandt Alley, New York, NY (mmuseumm.com)

If you’ve never seen a $10,000 bill (featuring a portrait of Salmon P. Chase, Secretary of the Treasury from 1861 to 1864), let alone had one in your wallet, check out this institution dedicated to the history of Wall Street and America’s financial markets. The bill is there along with ticker tape from the morning of the 1929 stock-market crash and a couch made of $30,000 worth of nickels. Situated in the old headquarters of the Bank of New York, the museum is a reminder that New York without Wall Street is a bit like a peanut butter sandwich without the bread. 48 Wall St, New York, NY (moaf.org, 212-908-4110)

Rabbi Shaul Shimon Deutsch has transformed his enormous Brooklyn brownstone into a preserved catalog of all the animals on Noah’s Ark and in the rest of the Old Testament. Besides the jauntily-arranged taxidermy, the museum features fantastic artifacts like 2,300-year-old Greek dreidels and 6th-century throwing daggers. If you’ve got the chutzpah, you’re welcome to touch the treasures. 1603 41st St, Brooklyn, NY (torahanimalworld.com, 877-752-6286)

This museum serves as a love letter to the enigmatic street artist known only as Banksy. The Lower Manhattan venue features the largest collection of Banksy’s life-sized murals and artwork in the world. 

After passing through an industrial door, you'll see a city of walls a.k.a. Banksy's ideal canvas. By its nature, street art is impermanent, but this museum offers a long-term space for the ephemeral. Many of the re-creations at the museum no longer exist on the street. Expect to see more than 160 works on display in this celebration of the artist.

Just a programming note: The production at the museum is unauthorized and unaffiliated with the artist.

A collection of vintage train cars spanning the 20th century is the main attraction in this ultimate shrine for train buffs, or anyone else interested in the transit system that is the lifeblood of New York City. Housed since 1976 in a former IND subway in Downtown Brooklyn, the museum displays historic artifacts dating from the opening of the subway in 1904 and its expansion through all five boroughs to today. Boerum Pl & Schermerhorn Street, Brooklyn, NY (nytransitmuseum.org, 718-694-1600)

Ice cream is at the center of this 20,000-square-foot museum that’ll make the cold treat even more fun (who knew it’d even be possible?). Across 13 multi-sensory installations, visitors to the museum will be able to interact with fun elements like a three-story indoor slide, the all-pink Celestial Subway, and a new add-on where guests can build their own edible slime. Even better: The sweet treats along the way. Yes, we’re talking about unlimited ice cream throughout the museum. For adults, check out some fun themed cocktails as well. 558 Broadway
New York (museumoficecream.com)