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    Genius Gems - NYC

    4.6 (8 reviews)
    Closed 1:00 pm - 5:30 PM

    By appointment only

    Updated 2 months ago

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    Spyscape - Special Ops Challenge

    Spyscape

    (496 reviews)

    Midtown West, Hell's Kitchen

    I found Skyscape museum while walking in the area and trying to get out of heavy snow. I wasn't…read morefully sure what to expect but I left really happy we got to experience it. Skyscape is a really engaging and a well designed experience. Theres a lot to see and do, with interactive spy style missions that kept both me and my son entertained the entire time! My son was completely locked in the whole time and I was right there pretending I definitely understood the instructions on the first try. It's mostly a hands on experience, you're not just walking through exhibits, you're actually participating, solving challenges and learning as you go. Even better, it didn't feel crowded, which made it comfortable to move through at our own pace. We were able to go back and redo some of the exhibits we enjoyed, which made the experience even more fun the second (and third) time around. Overall, a great mix of entertainment and learning, especially for kids but enjoyable for adults too. 10/10. My son loved every second. I loved pretending I knew what was going on.

    What a fun and interactive place with friends or a date night! The husband and I came here as a…read moreswitch from a typical dinner and drinks date night. On weeknights, it's cheaper than the weekends, which made this experience more worth it at $27pp. Plus, you also save a couple dollars by purchasing your tickets beforehand online. We participated in the Spygames portion, which was worth doing. Once we got a wristband and setup an account, we got to start the games. They also offer free lockers (you'll want to remove any purses, bags, jackets, etc) as you'll be moving a lot. There's 10 rooms of a variety of games although some are similar or duplicates. You'll be very active jumping, climbing, and running around. The hour went by pretty quick but we were both sweating and exhausted by the end of it, so an hour is really all you need.

    American Museum of Natural History - The best time to plant trees was 20 years ago. The second best time is now.
        --Chinese Proverb

    American Museum of Natural History

    (2.6k reviews)

    Upper West Side, Central Park

    Yes it's a museum ... but not any museum! This museum has everything and anything science related…read more We mostly went for the dinosaur exhibit and my song loved it. The museum is so nice and so detailed he loved everything else he saw! Be prepared to spend a long time here! I came thinking may 2 or 3 hr ... since a smaller city is what you get. Nope! This can be an all day event and well worth the price

    We visited American Museum of Natural History on Jun 25, 2025. Tickets were purchased online by…read morescanning the QR code posted by the entrance. My primary concern was my backpack being too large to be allowed in per their policy. In addition, it contained my laptop. Then I noticed that a departing visitor had a backpack about the size as mine. At the was security checkpoint, my backpack was searched, and then we were allowed in. The first hall we went to was the David S. and Ruth L. Gottesman Hall of Planet Earth, or Planet Earth as shown on the map. Its exhibits offered a wealth of information on everything geological about the planet. It would take me at least an hour to peruse them all. Next was the Theodore Roosevelt Memorial Hall - devoted to the namesake half-term Governor of New York, Rough Rider boss and President of the United States. There was also another hall on Floor 2 bearing his name but we didn't get around to see it. I was however amazed by the next hall. It bore Roosevelt's name but is simply known as Biodiversity on the Floor 1 map. Hundreds... no, thousands of life-sized replicas of creatures of various shapes and sizes on the walls and ceiling - the Spectrum of Life. I didn't think squids were that large, but there they were. The Rain Forest exhibit was there, and so was the Siberian Tigers exhibit. If the Biodiversity hall was amazing, the next one was epic. Named the Irma and Paul Milstein Family Hall of Ocean Life and spanning two stories, its biggest star is the life-sized model of the great Blue Whale hanging from the ceiling in the middle of the hall. No matter where I was, the whale was in my line of sight. There were more exhibits on the lower level, including the Walruses. I did not take more pictures because the lighting was poor. I could sit in this hall all day and do nothing but marvel. I would even pay to spend the night here in front of the great blue whale. (It's not the real thing but still magnificent.) Time was limited so we moved on... to the Futter Gallery. To all the party-lovers out there, this is the place to host a party. You can claim you partied with celebrities... well, portraits of them. Next was the Northwest Coast Hall for exhibits of Native American culture. Wife liked this one the most. The collection was impressive. One exhibit was a set of Tlingit artefacts enclosed in glass located near an alcove. These artefacts supposedly had a history of occultic usage with a sign on the glass warning against any form of photography. Though not superstitious, I chose not to take any pictures. At this point, Wife was ready to call it quits. I wanted to see the dinosaur exhibits, which was on Floor 4. She was interested in Gardner D. Stout Hall of Asian Peoples that was on Floor 2. According to the map, Asian Peoples had the largest floor area and certainly felt like it. Unlike the layout of Northwest Coast where one could access to and from any point in the hall, Asian Peoples had wall partitions and aisles flanked on both sides by enclosed exhibits. Lots of life-sized dioramas of human figurines in period costumes, minimalist homesteads, domestic tools and wares, weapons, statues and miniature ships that represented the diverse cultures across Asia. Most notable were the Chinese and Japanese ones with artifacts from religion (especially Buddhism), mythology (including the Eight Immortals) and theater (Noh and Chinese opera masks). Finally, the dinosaurs on Floor 4. In the Hall of Saurischian Dinosaurs, I saw the t-rex and the apatosaurus. A guide told us that we happened to be in the final hall and suggested that we backtracked using the arrows on the floor to see the others. From there, we went into the long, large Hall of Vertebrate Origins. Unlike the former, the latter had life-sized models and fossils hanging from the ceiling. I didn't realize a pterodactyl was in my photo until much later. The Orientation Center did indeed have the titanosaur with its neck stretching to the next hall. Sadly, the pictures I took of it didn't turn out good. On to Paul and Irma Milstein Hall of Advanced Mammals, then the Hall of Primitive Mammals, and finally the Hall of Ornithischian Dinosaurs for the triceratops and the stegosaurus. I'm pleased that the five original Dinobots (from "The Transformers" series) were represented. After almost two hours in the museum, Wife wanted to leave. Otherwise, I'd have spent the rest of the day exploring the rest of the museum. It would take more than a day to appreciate every exhibit in every hall on every floor. The ticket price felt like a bargain, but we got $30 worth of it. My top three favorite exhibits are Ocean Life, the entire Floor 4 of dinosaurs, and Biodiversity. I'd love to come back here again.

    Sloomoo Institute - Slime Sidekick

    Sloomoo Institute

    (190 reviews)

    SoHo

    Sloomoo Institute surprised me. With a steep price tag of over $50 per adult and child ticket, I…read morewas skeptical. It looked too gimmicky like the Museum of Ice Cream. However, my slime-loving nine-year-old daughter really wanted to go. As a surprise, I took her. (To save money, only have one adult go.) Here's our experience. 1) Admission: On a Friday afternoon in April, we were able to get tickets online easily. DO NOT WALK IN. You can, but it's the most expensive way to experience Sloomoo. Google promo codes first that work online. A quick Google search revealed three promo codes from influencers that took 20-30% off our tickets. 2) Experience: Once your tickets are scanned and an online waiver is filled out, you'll write your "slime name" on a name tag. Pass through a hall about the history of slime and you're inside the main area. There are several rooms of "buckets" filled with all types of slime with different textures and scents. This was pretty fun and was very relaxing dipping your hands in slime. (Don't worry- you have to wipe your hands clean beforehand with a wipe. There are wipe stations everywhere.) There are a few interactive areas like a giant sling shot, a musical room, a tablet where you pick your slime companion, and a place where you're blindfolded and feel different things in slime holes. (It's not as weird as that sounds.) Part of the experience is making your own slime. You pick what type of slime you want, the scent, the color, and three charms. This took about 20-30 minutes since there are so many scents to pick from. We landed on creamy cloud slime with the passion fruit rose scent, aqua green, and three fruit charms. At the very end, there's an area where you can take off your shoes and walk through slime. Again, you wipe off your feet before and after. Still, if you don't think about how gross it is, it's a unique and fun feeling. 3) Space: There's a single restroom at the start of the museum, but due to a line, staff let us in the staff basement where there are three additional bathrooms. At the very end is a store with all types of slime, slime molds, kits, and more. Our daughter spent $47 of her own money on two slime kits and activator. It's very pricey so limit how much you spend. As a staff member told a kid, "Nothing is free here." 4) Staff: This is where it was a little off. Several staff were a bit odd with the kids. One staff member by the slime making area made a few inappropriate jokes around little kids. Often, staff had to be called to each station so waiting is expected. None were friendly or warm for working with kids. Overall, Sloomoo Institute is worth the experience if you are willing to shell out the money. Our daughter LOVED it and I was surprised how much I did too for having low expectations. However, I'd NEVER come back with that price tag. It's almost offensive.

    If you live in the area you'll only make the mistake of going once. A quintessential tourist trap…read moreof NYC. Unfortunately there will be an endless supply of unsuspecting victims to keep it going. I get dizzy when I think about the smell of the place. Crammed, overpriced, nothing to learn from it.

    AKC Museum of the Dog

    AKC Museum of the Dog

    (65 reviews)

    Midtown East, Murray Hill

    Who knew that since February 2019 this museum existed? Well, I'm glad my friend from out of town…read moretold me about it!! It actually took a 32 year hiatus and went to St. Louis, but it's back! What a cute little museum! Who doesn't like seeing and learning about adorable dogs? Many of the portraits were really impressive. There are 2 floors of canine art, digital interactive displays, and the AKC library along with a small gift shop. There is an admission charge of $15 per adult and $5 for kids, which is a little pricey. The museum is not that big. But consider it a nice donation to the doggies !

    I wanted to go on more dog-friendly adventures with my cavapoo fur-nephew, and when I saw that the…read moreAKC Museum of the Dog allows dogs to visit on Furry Friends Friday, I bought both of us tickets online to attend. Upon arrival, the staff gushed over him and spoiled him with treats. He was very excited, and loved all the attention the staff and guests were all giving him. It's funny that all the humans were interested in seeing the art, but all the dogs didn't really care and wanted to run around, sniff, and play with other dogs. There's a library on the second floor with allllll the dog books you could want to read. There are free lockers where you can store your belongings, and coat racks to hang your coats, and in my case, to store my fur-nephew's travel bag. When we were ready to leave, I realized I had messed up my locker combination, and the front desk staff was super nice with helping me retrieve my things with their master key. What a gem in Manhattan for dog lovers and their pups!

    Museum of Illusions - New York

    Museum of Illusions - New York

    (534 reviews)

    Meatpacking District, West Village, Chelsea

    My wife (Won-ok) and I had a surprisingly good time at the Museum of Illusions a few weeks ago…read more I've got to admit: It was not a place I would have ever cared to see. I've always been bad at math and science, and I've never had much use for illusions. I thought the museum was about magic tricks or something, but, fortunately, I was wrong. I'm so glad we checked this place out. The highlight of the day was the photo opp at the "Illusion Street Station" of the NY subway system. A very kind and enthusiastic staffer named Julie encouraged us to experience that exhibit, and even took awesome photos for us that are absolutely going up on our walls. She also explained the basic of what we were looking at, and kept it in simple terms so a math/science-challenged guy like me could understand. I learned a few cool nuggets on those subjects but that was all I could absorb. That doesn't matter, though, because the museum achieved its objective with me -- sparking curiosity and a desire to learn more about the subjects it covers. Won-ok loved it, by the way, because she is all about the world of illusions. If you're looking for a completely unexpected treat in New York, stop by the Museum of Illusions -- unless it's not really there.

    Came here today with my family, to see what the hype is about. The building gave me the impression…read moreim about to have fun. Once I walked in, we got checked in & paid $90 for 3ppl. I like i better get my money worth. Once I got in, i was like this place is mad trash. It was small asf, I literally scan the place & i was done in 10mins. I like wtf is this, like thats it. I was bored & ready to go. Its cool for small kids, but for us adults not the business. FYI, yah hype it up on IG, & not living up to the hype. Overpriced & not worth it. ILL NOT COME BACK HERE EVER AGAIN.!!!!

    National Museum of Mathematics - The human tree

    National Museum of Mathematics

    (217 reviews)

    Flatiron

    I understand the low reviews. Let me explain my point of view. If you have very young kids (say,…read moreunder 10), they're gonna see pretty lights and lots of buttons and knobs. They will mash them aimlessly and maybe enjoy it. If you have grade-school to middle-school kids (11-15) you're probably in the sweet spot for understanding and learning and having the patience to do what the activities want you to. But your kids will have to wait in line with swarms of button-mashing little kids. I thought this could also be called the Museum of Bizarre User Interfaces. User interfaces are like jokes: if you have to explain it, it's not very good. Most exhibits are some kind of input (a ball, a knob, a lever, etc.) that adjusts the parameters to some mathematical function. No exhibit has suggestions or interesting values, like "set the red knob to 2.5 look at what happens, now set it to 3.5, isn't that interesting?" None of the stations is intuitive. It takes a lot of time to figure them out. They're often just a basic menu: select a shape, now select an attribute, now adjust the attribute. But to do this you use a throttle lever, a bowling-ball sized track ball, and a gear shifter as your inputs. Some of the instructions are on touch screen kiosks not very close to the systems they describe. They would do well to do a little bit of crowd control. Something like timed entry, or maybe have some of the docents enforce a little bit of time-limit on activities. Some of the exhibits take time to really do (a driving simulator, a basketball launcher, the square-wheeled bike). So on the one hand, we need to give time to focus and understand. But also they need a bit of nudging to take turns so more kids experience it.

    I was honestly surprised to see some of the lower ratings for National Museum of Mathematics, but I…read morecan also understand that it really depends on who is visiting and what they expect. I've been a couple of times with my young kids--once at the temporary location and again at the new space. If I were going purely as an adult, I'd probably find the "museum" a bit limited. It's not a traditional museum experience. But with kids--especially one who genuinely loves math--it's fantastic. What makes MoMath stand out is how interactive everything is. Kids are encouraged to touch, and explore, which keeps them engaged for hours. During one visit, there were guided stations where my child actually picked up new concepts like factorials just by playing and interacting. If your child enjoys math, problem-solving, or hands-on learning, this is a great place to spend time. It turns math into something tangible and fun, which isn't easy to do.

    Museum Of Broadway - We're so excited to have been named on the 10 Best Pop Culture Museums list in 2024 AND 2025 by USA TODAY !!

    Museum Of Broadway

    (156 reviews)

    Theater District, Midtown West

    I'm not a huge fan of museums, but I am a fan of musicals! So of course I had to check out the…read moreMuseum of Broadway in NYC where it all started. Each of the exhibits are arranged chronologically and by Broadway eras. The exhibit that stood out the most was the final one illustrating the harrowing process of how a musical even comes to be in the first place and all the people working in the backgrounds to make it happen. There are so many photo ops and the museum guides are happy to help take pics and share their overwhelming knowledge of all things Broadway. So much to see! It was difficult for me to see it all to take it all in on one visit and I would be happy to come back.

    I had high hopes for this museum after seeing so many rave reviews, but the experience fell flat. I…read morewas quite disappointed at the lack of actual substance of the museum. The donated items were surprisingly sparse. The amount of space that certain exhibits had felt disproportionate to the weight that the show had on Broadway. The space of exhibits were largely not well utilized or well imagined leading to what was a sensory nightmare for most rooms. Music from a given musical would be playing loudly at the same time that an interview was playing. It was very hard to try to concentrate on what the interview was over the sound of music. You could even hear interviews/music from the previous room overlapping with the current room's interview and/or music. The Wicked Theater and 2001+ room had an audible loud buzzing that was quite annoying. I wish I had brought headphones as the experience gave me a headache. I wish that more rooms had the option to "pick up the phone" or do a similar action to hear an interview playing. Too much space was given to art exhibits which were only loosely related to Broadway, but were done more so to be an Instagram photo op. Cabaret is my favorite musical, but seeing a wall full of Cabaret chairs, and only three Cabaret costumes was extraordinarily odd. I had a feeling that I wouldn't love the museum when I saw a swing art piece for Hair. Unfortunately, I do not think that this is an accessible museum for many. There is a display with different props in boxes. I had to squat down to read some of the cards and see the exhibits--someone in a wheelchair would not be able to see those exhibits or exhibit cards high up. That's only one example of where I think that the exhibits and museum are not accessible. The drawings done by Al Hirschfeld were one of my favorite parts of the museum. In my opinion, your time can be better spent catching a Broadway show or going to a different museum. I almost booked a ticket instead of seeing a 2:00pm show the day before and I would have been even more disappointed if I had missed out on seeing another show for this.

    The Metropolitan Museum of Art - 2026 MET GALA -  5/4/2026

    The Metropolitan Museum of Art

    (3.8k reviews)

    Central Park

    It isn't very often that I walk into a space and have my breath taken away. This was my experience,…read morehaving walked into the Metropolitan Museum of art in New York City for my very first time. I found the ticket purchasing and overall check-in process very smooth. I happened to go on a very busy day, so it was crowded, but nothing that distracted from my actual experience. There aren't very many words to describe the abundance of international treasures on display. And the amount of history you learn while walking around is truly overwhelming. My favorite sections are the Egyptian and Greek and Roman wings of the museum. I saw many famous piece there that I previously saw in textbooks. As far as some of the cafés there offer really basic American fair, but with a fresh twist. Because it was so close to the lunar new year when I visited, there were special lychee drink s available for purchase. This museum is enormous and really needs a dedicated 5 to 6 hours to truly enjoy it so don't pack in too many other museum visits on the same day. I made that mistake.

    There isn't much more I can add to the already gushing reviews about this place…read more It is incredible? Yes Is it overwhelming? Yes Does it require multiple visits? Yes Is it one of the most impressive museums in the US? Yes Does it compare to places like the Louvre? On this side of the pond, yes Do you have any recommendations? Yes Hit one to two sections of the museum hard. The Egyptian exhibit is incredibly impressive and warrants several hours in itself. The collection of global art is also extensive, so hit up one or two regions of the world on top of that. After that, come back another time. This museum is so rich in content you could return 4-5 times before you can say that you have fully been to the Met. I appreciated their collection of American and European art - especially the art from the Impressionist era. Will I be back? Yes, many times. Enjoy your visit!

    Genius Gems - NYC - indoor_playcenter - Updated May 2026

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