MCNY 100: A Centennial Celebration on October 13-15, 2023

A Weekend-Long Party with Programs for All / Includes Special Citywide Collaboration with LinkNYC and Hourly Cupcake Giveaway All Day on Saturday


New York, NY, Sept. 25, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Join us for a weekend-long celebration of the Museum of the City of New York’s 100th birthday, complete with events, a new exhibition, and a whole lot of fun! 

The adventure begins on Friday night, as we’re transported back to the “Roaring Twenties,” the decade the Museum was founded. Don your best 1920s attire, grab your dancing shoes, and join us as we step back in time for an evening of jazz-age revelry with a modern twist. Then, on Saturday morning, we kick off our Keys to the City Scavenger Hunt: On Location in New York, sending teams out and about the streets of NYC to solve cinematic clues in connection with the Museum's centennial exhibition, This Is New York. Meanwhile, at the Museum, the first hundred visitors every hour receive a special birthday cupcake–courtesy of Amy's bread—and will get a first look at our new exhibition, People, Place, Influence: The Collection at 100.  The day ends with the Scavenger Hunt teams returning to the Museum to crown and toast the winning team.  On Sunday, the weekend culminates with the MCNY 100 Family Day Celebration – a full day of activities and creative engagement for all. 

** ON SITE AT MUSEUM OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK** 

FRIDAY OCTOBER 13TH  

Tin Pan Alley Hits of the ‘20s 
6:30 – 7:30PM  
Tickets: $25 
https://www.mcny.org/event/tin-pan-alley-its-1920s   

Tin Pan Alley Hits of the ‘20s is a live concert of popular tunes from the 1920's featuring cabaret star Aisha de Haas (voice) and music director Robert Lamont (piano). The program highlights the songs and stories of New York’s “Tin Pan Alley” songwriters and music publishers who worked out of studios and offices on 28th Street, and whose tunes changed the face of American popular music.  

Uptown Jazz Speakeasy 
7:30 – 10:30PM 
Tickets: $20  
https://www.mcny.org/event/mcny-speakeasy  

Immediately following the concert, join us at our Uptown Jazz Speakeasy, a Jazz Age-themed soiree with live jazz by Dandy Wellington and his seven-piece band, dancing, and a 1920’s costume contest. Themed cocktails and small bites available for purchase. 

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SATURDAY, OCTOBER 14TH  

Keys to the City Scavenger Hunt: On Location in New York 
10AM-2PM 
Tickets: Adults (18 and over) $60 | Youth (7-17) $30 | Children FREE 
https://www.mcny.org/event/keys-city-scavenger-hunt-location-new-york  

Our Keys to the City Scavenger Hunt: On Location in New York invites New Yorkers to team up with friends and hit the city streets in search of 50 iconic Manhattan movie locations, from West Side Story and Rosemary’s Baby, The Royal Tenenbaums to Wolf of Wall Street. The NYC movie-themed hunt is inspired by the Museum’s centennial exhibition, This Is New York, and its hit immersive film, You Are Here. The whirlwind day ends with a reception and awards ceremony back at the Museum. 

CUPCAKES TO CELEBRATE! 
In honor of MCNY’s 100th birthday, the Museum of the City of New York will be giving away a free Amy’s Bread cupcake to the first 100 people at the Museum every hour on Saturday, October 14th.   
(Cupcake giveaway valid only for those who arrive in person each hour to purchase a ticket or redeem their online ticket. Limit one cupcake per person.) 

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SUNDAY, OCTOBER 15TH 

MCNY 100 Family Day Celebration 
10AM-3PM – drop in any time! 
Tickets: Free with museum admission Pay-what-you-wish admission is only available at ticket counters. 
https://www.mcny.org/event/mcny-100-family-day-celebration 

Join the Museum of the City of New York to celebrate our 100th birthday with the most extravagant, family-friendly birthday party!  

Get into the groove with a silent disco party, enjoy delicious treats, and take part in a NYC scavenger hunt. Whether you are 3 or 103, our MCNY 100 Family Day Celebration has something for kids of all ages to enjoy. Families can drop in anytime.  Activities include: 

  • Silent Disco Party: Get your dance moves on in a kid-friendly silent disco! Presented in partnership with Bazinga. 
  • Storytelling: Join in for a special edition of Storytime @ MCNY and learn about NYC stories from the past 100 years. Story hour will begin at the top of each hour.
    Arts and Crafts: Throughout the building, children can participate in arts and crafts activities inspired by art on view in the Museum – from tote bags to puppets, party hats, and so much more! 
  • Decorate Your Own Baked Good: No birthday is complete without a sweet treat! Bring your family along to design your own baked goods.  
  • Double Dutch: Inspired by the work of artists John Ahearn and Rigoberto Torres, we will feature Double Dutch performances on the terrace from 12-2 pm with opportunities for all to take a turn! 
  • Kids’ Guide: Gather the family and friends for an interactive engagement by picking up a copy of the kids’ guide to accompany our Museum’s centennial exhibition, This Is New York: 100 Years of the City in Art and Pop Culture

**OPENING WEEKEND** 
People, Place, and Influence: The Collection at 100  
As a city museum, the founding mandate was to tell the story of a place and its people. Not an art museum or an antiquarian society, the city’s museum would strive to capture the looks and lives of New Yorkers and their physical city; a set of topics under scrutiny and debate in the 1920s, as Fifth Avenue mansions gave way to apartment houses and decades of record immigration transformed the demographics of the city.  People, Place and Influence delves into the founding mission of the Museum by highlighting key aspects of this unique collection. The exhibition centers around the collection’s strengths in capturing New York as a place, a population, a platform for creativity, and a center for influence. With unexpected juxtapositions of medium and time periods, the objects on view will spotlight singular moments in New York history, notable creative voices and urban icons, and the extraordinary stories embedded within the Museum’s collection. Featuring objects ranging from Tiffany jewelry to a seat from Yankee Stadium; a Duncan Phyfe chair and a prop from Cats; a Christmas card from Zelda Fitzgerald; and a stickball bat—the exhibition will be a journey through the singular qualities of the city that the Museum’s founders sought to capture through the collection.  While the exhibition is an opportunity to showcase the rich, distinctive, and in some cases, previously unseen aspects of the collection, visitors will be invited to brainstorm future goals and directions for collecting as the Museum moves into its second century.   Opens October 13! 

 **CITYWIDE COMMEMORATION** 
LINK NYC (INTERSECTION) AND THE MUSEUM OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK 
NYC Through the Decades 
Images on view on select kiosks starting Friday, October 13th

Selections from the Museum’s collection will be featured on LinkNYC kiosk screens throughout the five boroughs in a new collaboration.NYC Through the Decades highlights images from each decade of the Museum’s tenure, 1920–2020. Photographers include historic photography studios such as the Wurts Brothers, and modern artists like Sally Davies, Joseph Maida, and Harvey Wang. On view beginning Friday, October 13, in honor of the Museum’s Birthday Weekend. 

ABOUT THE MUSEUM OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK 
Celebrating its 100th anniversary in 2023, the Museum of the City of New York fosters understanding of the distinctive nature of urban life in the world’s most influential metropolis. Winner of "Best Museum" in Time Out New York's "Best of the City 2021" and multiple American Alliance of Museums (AAM) awards, MCNY engages visitors by celebrating, documenting, and interpreting the city’s past, present, and future. To connect with the Museum’s award-winning digital content, visit www.mcny.org; or follow us on Instagram and Twitter at @MuseumofCityNY and on Facebook at Facebook.com/MuseumofCityNY.  

Press contact:  Meryl W Cooper, mwcooper@mcny.org, 917-974-0022

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MCNY 100: Centennial Weekend Celebration

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