NYC Arts: The Complete Guide to Art and Culture

Prospect Park Zoo

Brooklyn

This 12-acre zoo houses nearly 100 species, many interactive exhibits and three major areas that provide close-up views of animals ranging from sheep to weaver finches to gar fish to the ever-popular baboons.

Queens Zoo

Queens

This 11-acre zoo in Flushing Meadows-Corona Park is home to some 300 animals of 45 different species. Devoted primarily to North American animals and designed to feel like a national park, the circular grounds are divided into wild and domestic areas.

Staten Island Zoo

Staten Island

The zoo, constructed as a WPA project in the 1930s, was the first educational zoo in the nation, and there's much to learn about animals from all over the world. More than 1,000 specimens are featured.

The New York Aquarium

Brooklyn

Part of the Wildlife Conservation Society, the New York Aquarium is the oldest continually operating aquarium in the United States. Its mission is to raise public awareness about issues facing the ocean and its inhabitants with special exhibits, public events and research.

William T. Davis Wildlife Refuge/Staten Island

Staten Island

Established in 1933 by the Staten Island Institute of Arts and Sciences, the William T. Davis Wildlife Refuge was the first wildlife sanctuary in New York City. It consists of a patchwork of tidal marshland, freshwater wetlands, woodlands and open areas vital to migrating and native species.