MoMA PS1
A Romanesque Revival former public school in Long Island City turned into one of the oldest and most experimental contemporary art institutions in the United States.
- What it costs
- Ticketed separately from MoMA in Midtown. New York State residents have historically been admitted free with ID — check the current policy.
- Best in
- Any season
- Where
- 22-25 Jackson Avenue, Long Island City, NY 11101
- Official site
- moma.org
Not a branch of MoMA, exactly
Founded independently in 1976 as one of the first institutions in the country devoted entirely to contemporary art, in a derelict public school building it still occupies. It affiliated with MoMA in 2000 but kept its own character.
Admission is separate from MoMA in Midtown. New York State residents have long been admitted free with ID — worth checking the current policy before you buy.
The programming is deliberately more experimental than Midtown's: installation, performance, video, and artists early in their careers.
The building is half the visit
It is still recognisably a school — corridors, stairwells, classrooms with their proportions intact — and artists are given whole rooms to take over.
Several long-term installations occupy odd corners of the building, including works in the boiler room and on the roof. Ask at the desk what's currently accessible; they aren't always signposted.
Long Island City around it
Gantry Plaza State Park is a fifteen-minute walk west, with the best straight-on Midtown skyline view in the city.
The Noguchi Museum and Socrates Sculpture Park are a bus ride north in Astoria.
LIC has a dense, good and reasonably priced food scene, and is one stop from Manhattan — it makes a very efficient half-day.
Getting there
The E or M to Court Square–23rd Street, or the 7 to Court Square, or the G to Court Square — three lines, one interchange, two minutes' walk. About 15 minutes from Midtown.
It is genuinely closer to Midtown than most of Brooklyn.
Getting around once you're there
Step-free entrance and lift access to the gallery floors, though this is a converted 1890s school building and some spaces are reached by stairs. Court Square on the 7 and E/M is accessible.