Press

Governor George E. Pataki, Senate Majority Leader Joseph L. Bruno and
Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver today announced the opening of Windows on New York, a major
new permanent exhibition at the New York State Museum. The new gallery will feature
spectacular collections of images from across the State and will be home to a World Trade Center
Memorial, dedicated to the thousands of lives lost on September 11.

"As we continue to come to terms with the events of September 11, it
is important to not only
remember those who were lost in the World Trade Center attacks, but also to
reflect on the illustrious
history of New York City and the Empire State," Governor Pataki said.
"Windows on New York
exhibits the tremendous strength and character that New Yorkers have
displayed throughout the
years."

Senator Bruno said, "This exhibit will not only enable visitors to
look through windows into
regions of New York, it will enable them to look through windows into New
Yorkers themselves
and see the courage, the determination, and the heroic sacrifices that have
been made since
September 11. The exhibit is a window on our history, and it shows New
Yorkers at their very best
on our worst day."

Speaker Silver said, "Before September 11, I was able to view the
majestic Twin Towers
through the windows of my lower Manhattan district office. Now through
these very same windows,
I see the smoking remains of the Trade Center, as well as the brave workers
who continue the
recovery efforts. While the windows in my office have not changed, the view
certainly has. Just as
it now provides scenes of both devastation and determination, so too will
this important Windows
on New York exhibit be an opportunity to acknowledge the State's tremendous
loss, while
highlighting its splendor and rich history."

The 25,000 square-foot Windows on New York, which opens to the public
on Nov. 23,
occupies the dramatic fourth-floor Terrace Gallery and is laid out to
introduce and orient visitors to
New York State and the collections of the State Museum. The gallery brings
together popular
culture, history, science and art with rich examples from the Museum's
legendary collections.

It also showcases the New York State Museum Carousel, a fully
restored, working carousel
that was made in New York State and operated throughout the Southern Tier
and Northern
Pennsylvania from 1916 to 1972.

Within the new gallery is the World Trade Center Memorial, featuring
two tower forms
suspended in two, twenty foot high windows made up of more than 4,000 small
bronzed squares.
Each square will represent one of the individuals lost at the World Trade
Center. The gallery will
also contain an artifact case with objects from the site, an American Flag
and images of the World
Trade Center. A kiosk with a computer installed will display the
photographs and profiles from the
New York Times "Portraits of Grief" series.

State Education Commissioner Richard Mills said, "The inclusion of
the
World Trade Center
Memorial in the State Museum brings our visitors closer to this national
and especially, New York
State tragedy. We hope to offer a dignified tribute to the people lost and
offer a place of solace for
the public."

New York State Regent Robert Johnson said, " Now, more than ever
before, the people are
looking to museums as places that hold sacred the evidence of history, the
material of science and
the ideas that shape the world. The State Museum's Windows on New York
exhibition and the
Memorial to the World Trade Center are the first step to realizing a
vitally new State Museum for
this century."

Museum Director Clifford Siegfried said, "Windows on New York not
only
showcases some
of the biggest and best objects in the State Museum's collections, but
transports the visitor into the
heart of the Museum and across the vast and historic State. To ride the New
York State carousel is
to be immersed in our history."

Objects and specimens from the Museum's vast collections include:
Franklin D. Roosevelt's
1932 Packard; a facade from Matthew Vassar's Springside Cottage; a stock
trading post from the
New York Stock Exchange; Roycroft furniture; a biplane used in the
Adirondacks; a bronze bust of
Theodore Roosevelt by James Earle Fraser; Erie Canal artifacts; natural
history specimens; and
objects from Native American collections.

The New York State Museum carousel occupies a glass enclosure
overlooking Albany's
Lincoln Park and riders can get a taste of old-time carnivals and amusement
parks. The carousel
horses, carved in Brooklyn around 1895 by Charles Dare, are also masterful
examples of American
Folk Art.

Windows on New York also tells the story of commerce: from Upstate
farming to logging
in the Adirondacks, to oyster harvesting on Long Island. On display are
glass beads and brass trade
goods Europeans exchanged for the valuable beaver pelts of Mohawks and
Iroquois Indians;
photographs of ironworkers who built Manhattan's first skyscrapers and a
replica of an Erie Canal
batteau that transported freight and passengers in the 1790s.

In addition, the exhibit draws attention to the State's geology,
flora
and fauna. Visitors learn,
for instance, why the depth and location of Manhattan bedrock, coupled with
new construction
technology, influenced the growth of New York City and the height of
skyscrapers.

Windows on New York has been in development for over two years. It
was
made possible
with funds from the 1997-98 New York State Budget. It is the first phase of
the implementation of
the Museum Master Plan completed in October 1999.

The nation's oldest and largest State museum, the New York State
Museum is a program of
the New York State Department of Education. It is a leading research Museum
in human and natural
history with collections that total over six million objects and specimens.