Press

Work is under way at the New York State Museum on a new introductory gallery to New York Metropolis that will use satellite images, computer interactives, graphics and significant pieces from the museum's collections to give visitors a new perspective on the Big Apple.

Visitors entering the gallery from the museum lobby will begin to see many of the new additions in the coming weeks while work on other portions of the gallery will continue throughout the fall. When completed, the transformed space will provide an overview of the city utilizing three themes - the vertical city, transportation and culture.

The vertical city section will feature views of the city as seen from a Landsat satellite, a helicopter and rooftop. Providing a close-up of one of the city's most impressive structures will be a cast iron, ground-floor facade from a five-story building (circa 1869 -1870), which was located at 58-60 Worth Street in the SoHo district. The building stood among 11 "first class stores and warehouses," with cast iron fronts, erected on a square block of Manhattan, bounded by Broadway and Worth, Thomas and Church streets. These buildings were the core of the city's textile district for almost a century and these commercial "palaces" became popular coast to coast from the 1850s to the 1880s.

This section also will include samples of the bedrock upon which Manhattan's towering skyscrapers were built and an elevator door from the St. Regis Hotel.

The transportation section will provide an overview of how people have moved around the city. Representing one of the most common ways is the "GMC/Yellow" 1929 model taxi, which operated in the Bronx before being stored in a garage there from the depression era until 1958. The cab passed through several owners before the museum acquired and restored it in 1976. A cast iron "Bishop's Crook" street light from the early 1900s completes the scene.

Also in this section is an elaborate cast iron cartouche (circa 1930), from the West Side Highway. The elevated highway, part of a system of parkways conceived by New York master planner Robert Moses, allowed for ground level, east-west commercial traffic between the shipping piers along the river and Manhattan's commercial districts. The cartouche served as a location sign for Pier 98 west and 58th street and was mounted on the guardrail of the highway. This section also features a graphic showing a cross-section of the city's underground infrastructure, including subway, water, cable and sewer lines and a panel on how New York City gets its water.

The gallery also will include a wall of prints and posters that will provide an overview of the diverse cultural attractions -- theaters, museums, opera and ballet venues and more -- which are still a mainstay of the city's economy.

Visitors will be able to search for additional information on New York through a touch-screen computer kiosk. They will be able to access information on important attractions, find maps of the city's five boroughs and travel from there into individual neighborhoods.

The New York State Museum is located on Madison Avenue in Albany. It is open 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. seven days a week throughout the year except on Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's Day. Further information about programs and events can be obtained by calling (518) 474-5877 or visiting the museum website at www.nysm.nysed.gov.