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5 NYC Museums You Didn't Know About

Nothing against New York's major museums, but if you've "been there and done that" you may be looking for what else NYC has to offer. Listed below are five museums in the city that we bet you didn’t know about. From The New York City Transit Museum to the Museum of Sex, these five alternative museums will have you feeling like a local…and an educated one at that!

NYC Museums You Didn’t Know About: The New York Transit Museum (Brooklyn)

New York City Transit Museum

New York City is known for its impressive transit system which runs 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, and as one can imagine, there’s an enormous history behind it all. The New York Transit Museum is housed in an authentic 1936 subway station in Downtown Brooklyn, and it spans an entire city block. Head underground to learn about the workers who helped build NYC’s transit tunnels over 100 years ago, set foot on some of the city’s oldest subway cars and buses, and learn about the always changing technology and design that keeps the MTA going year after year. Boerum Pl. & Schermerhorn St., 718-694-1600, nytransitmuseum.org

NYC Museums You Didn’t Know About: Museum of Sex (Flatiron)

Museum of Sex

Feeling adventurous? NYC’s Museum of Sex (yes, it’s a real museum) has been encouraging open discourse on sex and sexuality since 2002. The museum has a permanent collection of 15,000 articles of art, photography, clothing, costumes, and technological inventions, as well as an extensive multimedia library and storefront. You can expect to see just about anything in this uncensored museum, including current exhibitions such as Hardcore: A Century & A Half Of Obscene Imagery, The Sex Lives of Animals, Night Fever: New York Disco 1977 – 1979, The Bill Bernstein Photographs. Visitors must be 18 or older. 233 Fifth Ave., 212-689-6337, museumofsex.com

NYC Museums You Didn’t Know About: Mmuseumm (Chinatown)

Mmuseumm

Mmuseumm is New York City’s smallest museum, located in a building’s ground-level elevator shaft. While the museum’s artifacts are changed out regularly, you’ll come across exhibits such as the fake U.S. fast food franchises of Iran, Disney-themed bullet-proof backpacks, objects designed for the blind, fake vomit from around the world, and ISIS currency. The museum doors are only opened on weekends, but spectators can stop by anytime (even in the dead of night) to look through the museum doors’ windows for a view inside. 4 Cortlandt Alley, 888-763-8839, mmuseumm.com

NYC Museums You Didn’t Know About: The City Reliquary 

City Requilary

Starting out as a window display in the Williamsburg, Brooklyn apartment of long-time New Yorker Dave Herman back in 2002, the popularity of the City Reliquary grew considerably and it moved in 2006 to its current address around the corner. The not-for-profit community museum and civic organization brings together the best of New York City's past and present, through permanent display of artifacts and rotating exhibits of community collections. They also host backyard concerts, a Bike Fetish Day, block parties, film screenings, the Havemeyer Sugar Sweets Festival, and more. Open Thursday-Sunday, noon-6pm; closed Monday-Wednesday. 370 Metropolitan Ave., 718-782-4842, cityreliquary.org

NYC Museums You Didn’t Know About: Museum of the American Gangster (East Village)

Museum of the American Gangster

New York City has had its fair share of American gangsters, and the Museum of the American Gangster goes into detail about the city’s criminal history. A tour guide escorts visitors through the museum, which includes a working theater, former speakeasy, and even a basement where you’ll be asked to wear a hardhat while you explore. You’ll learn about the underground tunnel system of NYC and the Prohibition Era in addition to American gangster history during your visit. 80 St. Marks Pl., 212-228-5736, museumoftheamericangangster.org

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