American Museum of Natural History New York City
American Museum of Natural History – Tourist Attractions in New York City
American Museum of Natural History
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American Museum of Natural History
The American Museum of Natural History is a landmark on the Upper West Side, Manhattan, New York, USA. The museum has a scientific staff of more than 200, and sponsors over 100 special field expeditions each year.
The Museum was founded in 1869 and housed in the old Arsenal building in Central Park. Theodore Roosevelt, Sr., the father of the 26th U.S. President, was a co-founder. In 1874, ground was broken for the present building, which occupies most of Manhattan Square. The original neo-Gothic range (1874-1877), by Calvert Vaux and Jacob Wrey Mould, who were collaborating with Frederick Law Olmsted in structures for Central Park, was soon eclipsed by the South range of the museum, by J. Cleaveland Cady, a robust exercise in rusticated brownstone neo-Romanesque, influenced by H. H. Richardson. A triumphal Roman entrance on Central Park West, completed by John Russell Pope in 1936, is an overscaled Beaux-Arts monument to Teddy Roosevelt. It leads to a vast Roman basilica, where the skeleton of a rearing Barosaurus defending her young from an Allosaurus, is not lost in the general monumentality.
On October 29, 1964, the Star of India along with several other precious gems, including the Eagle Diamond and the de Long Ruby were stolen from the museum by several thieves including Jack Murphy, who gained entrance by climbing through a bathroom window they had unlocked hours before the museum was closed. The Star of India and other gems were later recovered from a locker in a Miami bus station, but the Eagle Diamond seems to have been recut and lost Famous names associated with AMNH include the paleontologist and geologist Henry Fairfield Osborn, president for many years; the dinosaur-hunter of the Gobi Desert, Roy Chapman Andrews (one of the inspirations for Indiana Jones), George Gaylord Simpson, biologist Ernst Mayr, pioneer cultural anthropologists Franz Boas and Margaret Mead, and ornithologist Robert Cushman Murphy. J. P. Morgan was among famous benefactors of the Museum.
Address:
American Museum of Natural History, Central Park West at 79th Street , New York, NY 10024-5192 USA
Directions:
The museum can be easily reached by the B and C lines of the New York City subway, via a subway stop directly adjacent to the museum. 
Hours:
# The Museum is open daily, 10:00 a.m.-5:45 p.m. # The Museum is closed Thanksgiving and Christmas Day. # Space Show – Monday-Friday: Every half-hour, 10:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m.; Saturday-Sunday: 10:30 a.m.-5:00 p.m. # Museum Shop – The Museum Shop is open while the Museum is open, 10:00 a.m.-5:45 p.m. daily.
Pricing:
Suggested General Admission, which supports the Museum’s scientific and educational endeavors and includes 45 Museum halls and the Rose Center for Earth and Space, is as follows:
Adults: $15.00
Children (2-12): $8.50
Senior/Student with ID: $11.00
Member Adult: Free
Member Child: Free
AMNH Events
New York City Events : November 2007
Starry Nights
Nov 2007; Fri only (monthly)
Cost: Free
Opening Hours: 6pm- 7pm and 7.30pm-8.30pm
For the full New York City glitz factor, live jazz beneath the glorious Hayden Sphere at the Rose Center for Earth and Space is spot on. Just off Central Park and housed in quite possibly the most awesome space centre in the world, it makes for a dazzling way to kick off your weekend.
Margaret Mead Film & Video Festival
9 -11 Nov 2007
Cost: Free
Opening Hours: Various
The Margaret Mead Film & Video Festival, the oldest and largest independent documentary film festival in the USA, screens more than 90 films from around the world at New York’s American Museum of Natural History.
Contact
212-313-7278
http://amnh.org
