The Occupied City

Marking the 250th anniversary of the American Revolution, this major exhibition—developed in partnership with the Gotham Center for New York City History—transforms the Museum’s entire third floor into a 7,000-square-foot immersive journey through Revolutionary-era New York. Framing the Revolution as a story of civic choice and consequence, the exhibition underscores how decisions made by New Yorkers 250 years ago continue to reverberate across the city and the nation today. 

Visitors will trace New York’s pivotal role in the conflict, from the first sparks of rebellion in 1763 to its emergence as the new nation’s first capital in 1790. A crucial strategic site for both the Patriots and the British, New York’s revolutionary experience comes vividly to life through historical objects, multimedia installations, and interactive environments. The Occupied City tells the powerful and complex stories of revolutionaries and loyalists, enslaved and free Black New Yorkers, women, Native peoples, and others who shaped and were shaped by this turbulent time. The exhibition highlights the resilience of New Yorkers, who endured seven years of British occupation, devastating fires, and violent battles, only to emerge as residents of the nation’s new capital. 

Highlights include a recreated 18th-century tavern, Loyalist print shop, and a walk-through experience of “Canvas Town,” along with digital dramatizations of key events like the Battle of New York. This exhibition invites visitors to see the Revolution not as a distant myth, but as a lived—and deeply contested—urban experience. Two hundred and fifty years after the war began, decisions made by citizens of this city reverberate here and throughout the United States.