NYC Fire Museum is a must see if you love these brave men and women like I do. We have come along…read moreway and have the best Fire Department on the planet to me. I thought I did a review because it's been years since I visited. I was drawn to this business page because on this morning's news they said what they called the Firefighters Museum (and they said it is on Prince Street), was closed! They said it was closed indefinitely because of structural issues in the 120 year old building where the museum is housed. I've searched the web and this is the only museum I can find related Fire Departments and the history of Firefighters in NYC. I'm finally doing my review so you will check before you visit. This museum may be temporarily closed. I'm going to look for my additional photos to post. It's definitely an overdue review!

Our two-year-old Leo B. is obsessed with fire trucks, so we decided to take him to the NYC Fire…read moreMuseum last month while we were visiting New York. It was less exciting than I'd hoped--I guess I'd expected to see, I don't know, like one fire truck that looks like the ones in his books--but it was still a worthwhile stop, and he enjoyed himself quite a bit. The museum is small, housed in an old fire station in Hudson Square, with exhibits spread out across a couple of floors. You enter and exit through the gift shop, which is also where you purchase tickets. The guy at the register was very nice, and we bought three adult tickets (mom, dad, grandma) at $10 apiece, all so the little one, whose ticket was "free," could enjoy fifteen minutes roaming among the firefighting artifacts. I think we were the only visitors the entire time we were there. We saw a handful of old fire engines spread out between the two floors, and these were pretty cool, and Leo recognized them as fire trucks of sorts and enjoyed looking at and discussing their big wheels. He was less interested in the smaller items, which would probably be intriguing to slightly older kids. We also kept him out of the 9/11 memorial room, which seemed less designed for boisterous toddlers than the rest of the place, but which we adults appreciated. I honestly think our kid's favorite part of the museum might have been the gift shop, where I discovered that my son understands the concept of buying things and taking them home. He wanted every fucking variant on a fire truck toy--squishy and plastic, small and large; ambulance, van, engine. We settled on a big fire truck with an extendable ladder, which is now one of his favorite toys. It was over $40 and one of the stickers started peeling off pretty immediately, but I do think it's reasonably solid quality. We bought the same one for a friend's two-year-old, as well as a soft toy for his baby sister, both of which went over well. We also got an FDNY T-shirt for Leo, so the museum made a decent amount of money off of us. I'm guessing we didn't see all there was to see, but as our two-year-old wasn't clamoring to learn about the fire department's history, I think we did things right. We had a pleasant visit at the NYC Fire Museum and would recommend it if you or your small ones are fascinated by firefighting.

So Bane has been on my radar for a while now but I only had the chance to go on Blackout night…read morewhich I'm bummed about because the lights were off and I couldn't really get a good feeling for the scenes. However for what I did see, Bane knocked it out of the water. The actors were top notch and really played up their characters. The environment was crazy immersive and scary. We watched the Mercy TV count rise as we stood in line and it totally freaked us all out. Once inside, we can hear people screaming from the rooms next to us and it was a cool feeling all around. I'm suped to come back next year and check out Bane with full lighting and I'm excited about their events to come. Oh and yes, people actually get to the front door and yell Mercy, two of my friends chickened out before they even opened the door for us to go in! Good scary job Bane!

Haunted houses are a fun fall activity. I went to Bane Haunted House with a couple of friends to…read morecheck it off my list of fall activities. We purchased our tickets online in advance, and got to the site pretty easily. We got on line and read the posted rules before walking into the attraction. The attraction itself is pretty creative, with a few things I haven't seen in other haunted houses. But the quitter counter, which displayed the number of guests who quit in fear, made it seem scarier than it actually was. It was honestly a bit too dark in there to see the costumes/makeup of the actors. The majority of the scares were jump scares.

I've went to both last years (2010) and this years (2011) house and both were wonderful…read more Last's years theme was "Beautiful Dreamer" in which you wander around in a nightmare watching as scenes unfold around you. It was beauitful and haunting and reminded me alot of Sleep No More. Sinister and creepy, but also very artistic and lovely too. This years "Through the Looking Glass" theme was just as wonderful as last year. This time, intead of wandering around freely, you are taken down various paths by different characters. it worked very well and wasstill very creepy and beauitful. I love this house so much and I can't wait to see next years.

LOVED this! spooky but not too scary. It was so artistic. Would definitely go again next year.read more

Super fun experience. Bring headphones for free audio tour!…read more Would recommend doing VR headset at the end, feels like a video game

All hype, zero substance. If you have ever watched a true crime documentary, read a Wikipedia…read morearticle, or listened to a popular podcast, you already know everything this exhibit has to offer. There is literally nothing new here. The most dramatic part of the whole experience was signing a stack of intense warning waivers at the entrance promising how graphic and gruesome it would be. I brought my 17-year-old, and we both walked through the whole thing just waiting for the heavy-hitting content to start, only to look at each other at the end and say, "That was it?" Lots and lots of reading. While the dark subject matter did leave a slightly uneasy feeling in my stomach just by nature of the topic, it fell completely flat. It relies entirely on shock-value marketing to trick you into thinking you are walking into something deeply disturbing, when it's really just a basic, surface-level recap of well-known cases. Save your money and just watch a Netflix documentary instead.

Today in NY was Chinatown Day for us. We took a unique tour - the Premium Underworld Experience by…read moreChinatown Legacy Tours. We like being tourists, but don't always want to do the touristy things. Sometimes we do, like a carriage ride through Central Park a couple of days ago. For Chinatown, I wanted something different that is not like any other tour. The three guys presenting on this tour all grew up here and still live here now. The focus was mostly on the underworld of gangs, the Chinese mob, and the police that dealt with them from the 1970s to the 90s. There was also information up to the present, like the effects of 9/11, and covid-19 on Chinatown. You get the non-sugar-coated real story. Often the gang members and the police that kept track of them grew up together and went to school together as kids. The presenters included both a former gang member that was in prison for 20-years, and a retired NYPD commander. We got inside of a former Flying Dragons gang hideout that only this tour has access to. In my separate culinary history studies, I have previously studied Chinese immigration to the US that included the British takeover of Hong Kong, California Gold Rush, building of the US railroads, Chinese Exclusion Act, and the forming of Chinatowns in San Francisco and NY. I was pleased that this information was included on the tour as it is important to fully understand the background of Chinatown. We did the premium two-hour tour. There is also a 1.5 hour version.

I brought a group of students from the school I work at to the Underground Tour, and they had a…read moregreat time! Our guides were very knowledgeable, engaging, and made the tour really interesting from start to finish. There are a lot of tours in Chinatown, but this one is definitely different. A lot of the others feel pretty touristy and cover the same information you can easily find online. This tour goes beyond that and shares stories and history you wouldn't hear anywhere else. It doesn't just focus on the gangs. It also talks about what the neighborhood was like, the families who lived there, and how the community grew over the years.

Great venue for a party. It's private membership. But absolutely stunning views and great food. Was…read morethere for a party.

We came here for dinner as guests of a member and had a great time. The service was attentive, and…read morethey had a good sense of humor. The food was very good. Our group enjoyed everything except the dessert platter, which fell a bit flat after the standard of the rest of the meal. The house is set on a hill and has a pretty view. It was dark by the time we arrived, but I can imagine nice sunsets from up here! They seem to do a lot of events and parties, where you can rent out a portion of the facility. There was a lively retirement party going on upstairs while we ate downstairs...Looks like a great place for an event!

Excellent gallery on the Lower East Side in which you can find quality artwork by emerging and mid…read morecareer artists. Take a look. Next opening reception is on Sunday October 6 from 3-6pm, stop by for some wine and cheese as you view artwork.

This is one of the best galleries in the Lower East Side. Some of the pieces here were sold to MoMa…read moreand they always have interesting pieces from artists around the world. This is a small place but the works are not. Some of the art pieces have doubled in price.

A quintessentially Brooklyn space. This produce/supermarket/gallery/cafe space features food, art…read morepieces, household items, and clothing made both locally and from Japan in a former warehouse. They have in stock products from the Brooklyn larder and Asian snacks. It's an eclectic combo. There's a seating area in the basement next to the gallery. Upstairs is Cafe Nanahoshi where you can grab a quick bite and something to drink. It can be easy to miss, as it's located on a quiet residential side street of mostly brownstones on 7th between 4th and 5th Avenue.