About the Museum

Our Mission

The Museum of the City of New York fosters understanding of the distinctive nature of urban life in the world’s most influential metropolis. It engages visitors by celebrating, documenting, and interpreting the city’s past, present, and future.

Land Acknowledgement

The Museum of the City of New York is situated in the center of the New York metropolitan area, traditionally the lands of the Lenape, Manahatin, Canarsie, Shinnecock, Munsee, Mattinecock, Setauket, Unkechaug, Montauket, and others, all of whom have descendants living today. Native communities across the Americas have demonstrated resilience and resistance in the face of violent efforts to separate them from their land, culture, and each other. We offer recognition and respect to the Indigenous inhabitants of this land. New York City has always been and continues to be a place for gathering and exchange for Indigenous peoples, many of whom choose to call this city home. 

Our History

The Museum of the City of New York was founded in 1923 by Henry Collins Brown, a Scottish-born writer with a vision for a populist approach to the city. The Museum was originally housed in Gracie Mansion, the future residence of the Mayor of New York. Hardinge Scholle succeeded Henry Brown in 1926 and began planning a new home for the Museum. The City offered land on Fifth Avenue on 103rd-104th Streets and construction for Joseph H. Freedlander’s Georgian Colonial-Revival design for the building started in 1929 and was completed in 1932. During the next few decades, the Museum amassed a considerable collection of exceptional items, including several of Eugene O’Neill’s handwritten manuscripts, a complete room of Duncan Phyfe furniture, 412 glass negatives taken by Jacob Riis and donated by his son, a man’s suit worn to George Washington’s Inaugural Ball, and the Carrie Walter Stettheimer dollhouse, which contains a miniature work by Marcel Duchamp. Today the Museum’s collection contains approximately 750,000 objects, including prints, photographs, decorative arts, costumes, paintings, sculpture, toys, and theatrical memorabilia.

Board of Trustees

William C. Vrattos, Chair; Stephanie Hill Wilchfort, Ronay Menschel Director and President; James G. Dinan, Vice Chair & Chairman Emeritus; Newton P.S. Merrill, Vice Chair & Chairman Emeritus; Ronay Menschel, Vice Chair; Jane B. O'Connell, Treasurer; Leslie V. Godridge, Assistant Treasurer; Tracey Pontarelli, Secretary; David Guin, Counsel

Elizabeth Belfer, Todd DeGarmo, Mignon Espy Edwards, Barbara J. Fife, Robert Finger, Cynthia Foster Curry, Elba Galvan, Robert Goldstein, Lorna B. Goodman, Elizabeth Graziolo, John Heller, Stephanie Hessler, James C. Horton, Robert A. Jeffe, Leah C. Johnson, Suzanne Karr, Stephen J. Ketchum, Stanford G. Ladner, Naml Lewis, Jennifer Marrus, Gurudatta Nadkarni, José Pagan, Kathryn Prounis, Nathan Romano, Arthur J. Rosner, Valerie Rowe, Neel Shah, Ann Silverman, Mitchell S. Steir, Daryl B. Uber, Peter Volandes, Nicole Washington, Julee Wilson 

Ex Officio Members

Hon. Eric Adams; Hon. Brad Lander; Hon. Jumaane D. Williams; Hon. Adrienne E. Adams; Hon. Mark Levine; Hon. Vanessa Gibson; Hon. Antonio Reynoso; Hon. Donovan Richards, Jr.; Hon. Vito J. Fossella; Hon. Laurie Cumbo; Hon. David C. Banks; Hon. Susan M. Donoghue

 

Select Museum Staff

Office of the Director 

Stephanie Hill Wilchfort, Ronay Menschel Director and President
Christina De Cola, Manager, Board Relations and Executive Affairs

Collections 

Leela Outcalt, Director, Collections
Sheryl McMahan, Registrar

Curatorial Affairs 

Sarah M. Henry, Robert A. and Elizabeth Rohn Jeffe Chief Curator 
Sean Corcoran, Senior Curator of Prints and Photographs
Monxo López, Curator of Community Histories
Sarah Seidman, Puffin Foundation Curator of Social Activism
Lilly Tuttle, Curator
Tracy McFarlan, Associate Director of Curatorial Projects

Development

Keith Butler, Executive Vice President, Development
Alice Stryker, Director, Individual Giving
Jackie Zirman, Director, Special Events
Cheryl Miller, Senior Manager, Membership and Patron Services

Education 

Maeve Montalvo, Director, Frederick A.O. Schwarz Education Center

Finance 

Osman C. Kurtulus, Chief Financial Officer
Jordi Valls, Controller

Information Technology

Julius Erwin Quito, Director of Information Technology
Jake LaMalfa, Manager of Information Technology

Marketing and Communications

Sheryl Victor Levy, Vice President, Marketing and Communications
Marissa Martonyi, Design Director
Tara Dawson, Associate Director, Digital Marketing
Emily Niekrasz, Associate Director, Social Media
Madeline McLaughlin, Senior Manager, Website and Digital Visitor Experiences

Operations

Jerry Gallagher, Chief Operating Officer
Cherisse Challenger, Vice President, Revenue & Visitor Experiences
Henry Galindo, Director of Facilities/Chief Engineer
Michelle Beshaw, Associate Director, Retail & Visitor Experience

Annual Reports

• To view the Museum's Annual Report for 2019, click here. 
• To view the Museum's Biennial Report for 2017–18, click here. 
• To view the Museum's Biennial Report for 2015–16, click here. 
• To view the Museum's Biennial Report for 2013–14, click here. 
• To view the Museum's Biennial Report for 2011-12, click here.
• To view the Museum’s Annual Report for 2010, click here.
• To view the Museum’s Annual Report for 2009, click here.
• To view the Museum’s Annual Report for 2008, click here. 

Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Accessibility (IDEA) Statement

As the Museum of the City of New York approaches its second century, we commit to fostering understanding through exhibitions, collections, and programs, by representing this great metropolis in our staff and leadership. The Museum has devised an institutional action plan based not only in its audience-driven mission, but in its committed values regarding inclusion, diversity, equity and accessibility (IDEA). View the Museum's IDEA Vision and Process and our IDEA Action Plan, finalized and approved in April 2019.

In Response to Recent Protests

Read the Museum's Statement on Racial Justice in English and español.

Form 990

• To view the Museum’s IRS Form 990 for 2021 (FY2022),click here.
• To view the Museum’s IRS Form 990 for 2020 (FY2021), click here.
• To view the Museum’s IRS Form 990 for 2019 (FY2020), click here.
• To view the Museum’s IRS Form 990 for 2018 (FY2019), click here.
• To view the Museum’s IRS Form 990 for 2017 (FY2018), click here.
• To view the Museum’s IRS Form 990 for 2016 (FY2017), click here.
• To view the Museum’s IRS Form 990 for 2015 (FY2016), click here.
• To view the Museum’s IRS Form 990 for 2014 (FY2015), click here.
• To view the Museum’s IRS Form 990 for 2013 (FY2014), click here.
• To view the Museum’s IRS Form 990 for 2012 (FY2013), click here.
• To view the Museum's IRS Form 990 for 2011 (FY2012), click here.

Audited Financial Statements

• To view the Museum’s Audited Financial Statements for FY2022 and FY2023, click here.
• To view the Museum’s Audited Financial Statements for FY2021 and FY2022, click here.
• To view the Museum’s Audited Financial Statements for FY2020 and FY2021, click here.
• To view the Museum’s Audited Financial Statements for FY2020 and FY2019, click here.
• To view the Museum’s Audited Financial Statements for FY2019 and FY2018, click here.
• To view the Museum’s Audited Financial Statements for FY2018 and FY2017, click here.
• To view the Museum’s Audited Financial Statements for FY2017 and FY2016, click here.
• To view the Museum’s Audited Financial Statements for FY2015 and FY2014, click here.
• To view the Museum’s Audited Financial Statements for FY2014 and FY2013, click here.