NYC Arts: The Complete Guide to Art and Culture

Many grown-up New Yorkers can tell their children—or grandchildren—about their own childhood visits to the American Museum of Natural History. Indeed, for more than a century young people have been exploring world cultures and the history of life at this unique, only-in-New York institution. The museum's astonishing collection includes more than 32 million artifacts and specimens, only a small portion of which is on view in more than 40 exhibition halls.

The institution has added interactive halls of vertebrate evolution, featuring the famous dinosaur collection, where T. Rex now stands in a stalking position. The IMAX movie theater, with its four-story screen, is a perennial favorite. The Hall of Human Biology and Evolution; the amazing meteorites, gems and geological specimens; the Halls of Asian Peoples, African Peoples, and Peoples of Mexico and Central America; and the animal dioramas from Teddy Roosevelt's time have set the standard for natural history museums around the world. The Hall of Biodiversity opened in the spring of 1998; it features one of the world's largest dioramas, a recreation of a portion of rain forest from the Central African Republic.

The latest addition to the museum is also perhaps the most stunning architectural debut in the city in years: the Rose Center for Earth and Space. A $200 million glass box created by architect James Stewart Polshek, enclosing a great white sphere, it opened to international acclaim in early 2000. The center features the Heilbrunn Cosmic Pathway, where each step equals about 75 million years of cosmic evolution; the Scales of the Universe, which illustrates the vast range in sizes in our universe; the Cullman Hall of the Universe, focusing on discoveries in modern astrophysics; and the new Hayden Planetarium—the world's most technologically advanced—which offers an absorbing three-dimensional tour of the universe and a multisensory re-creation of the Big Bang.

• Disability Access: Fully accessible; video displays captioned for the hearing impaired; telephones and restrooms available
• Gift Shops: The Planetarium Shop features scientific instruments and items related to space. The Satellite Shop is designed for children and features space-related toys and games. The Museum Shop is a three-story retail space on the Central Park West side.
• On-Site Food: Museum Food Court, adjacent to the Rose Center, offers hot and cold menu items; Cafe 77, in the 77th Street lobby, has sandwiches and salads; the Cafe on 4, fine dining on the fourth floor, Central Park West side
• On-Site Parking: Metered on-site lot, enter from 81st Street between Columbus Avenue and Central Park West