What can we say, Gothamist loves museums. Love 'em. Maybe we read From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler too many times? Anyway, after this article over in the Villager, we think our next museum trip might just have to be the New York Museum of Water. more ›

After all the comments on yesterday's post about books set in NYC, we got to thinking, has anyone bothered to come up with a list of all the movies set in the city? The answer, of course, is yes-- at Wikipedia, of course. What an amazing site-- it's like having a genie who's only job is to distract us with useless NYC trivia! They've probably missed a couple of movies here and there, but the list looks fairly comprehensive. Absolute, undisputable fact: the 1970s was far and away the most interesting time for NYC movies-- check these out: more ›

Gothamist loves today's story about the American Museum of Natural History after hours that uncovers what museum employees do and feel. Christopher Raxworthy, one of the AMNH's keepers (currently working on the Frogs exhibit), confirms what we always wondered about people who work in museums:

And like many colleagues (and their children), he has read From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler, the tale of two runaway children who spend the night holed up inside the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Like the others, he confesses a fantasy to run amok, or at least unhindered, through the museum's miles of exhibition halls. "To tell you the truth," he said, "I'd love to ride my skateboard around the elephants, but there are all those security cameras."

When Gothamist was wee, there was nothing we liked better than learning about New York. And we are sure we would have loved Kathy Jakobsen's My New York because we love it now when we are big. It has lush paintings of various New York landmarks, with great unfolding pages to give scope to certain scenes (the dinosaurs at the Museum of Natural History [above], Times Square during New Year's), plus fun and useful facts about New York (below). In fact, it's perfect for the New Yorkers who don't live here anymore and miss it dearly. more ›

The Metropolitan Museum of Art will be opening its newly renovated $30 million cafeteria on June 17. The Times notes that it's like the Conde Nast cafeteria in its price tag, use of metal and glass (laminated, thought), and the chef who formerly headed up the 4TS Conde Nast cafeteria, but the main difference is that the Met cafeteria is open to the public, not underfed fashionistas, although Gothamist would like to see a crossover episode of "Expensive New York Cafeterias" where tourists from Iowa rub shoulders with Vogue editors. The food at the Met's cafeteria will be provided by Restaurant Associates, which runs New York restaurants Brasserie, Brasserie 8 1/2, the Seat Grill, and eateries at other museums, like the American Museum of Natural History, the Cooper-Hewitt, Boston's Museum of Fine Arts, and the Philadelphia Museum of Art. The Times article also outlines the history of the cafeteria. more ›