The smallest museum in New York
You would probably never pass this street if you weren't looking for this place. Even looking for it, it's hard to find. Cortland Alley It is, as its name says in English, an alley, in the middle of noisy Chinatown Dirty as befits the area, but surprisingly quiet. Not a store, not a store where they sell "Lolex", not a dim-sum restaurant around it. Hence the difficulty in locating it. But with the coordinates entered in our inseparable Google Maps, we arrived at the place. Our objetive? Museum , the smallest museum in New York.
A boy (hipster, as appropriate) sitting on a chair in front of a hole from which light comes out and confirms that you have arrived. He is the museum's guard, guide, cashier and bartender. He is sitting outside, because if he were to sit inside, half of the people who can get in would fit ** (being generous, we estimate a capacity of six people) **. In less than six square meters, in the space previously occupied by an elevator, its three founders, Benny and Josh Safdie and Alex Kalman, have placed this Museum, an exhibition with more than a hundred objects that celebrate the beauty of the absurd.
Founded in 2012, the Museum's collection is made up of donated or purchased objects that respond to three rules. 1. Nothing on display is art. 2. They choose it, mainly, for sentimental reasons. 3. Nothing is vintage . And we were going to call it a hipster museum. Quite the contrary. Or not. Behind each object there is a story that you can learn by calling the audio guide provided. Or asking the boy in the chair.
The most absurd collection in New York
“Life exists around us and the proof of our existence is the beauty and the absurd . Our footprint, which is often ignored, dismissed or underestimated, is fascinating and always worth exploring." With this motto they welcome you at Museum. Their philosophy serves as an explanation for the collection of objects that they now exhibit in their second season: bulletproof backpacks from Disney Princesses, bags of chips from around the world collected by learning-disabled students at a New York high school, tip jars, plastic vomit, toothpaste tubes, painted dollar bills… Ah, and the shoe that the Iraqi journalist threw at Bush.
"It's a time capsule" , according to one of the founders, Josh Safdie, a filmmaker like the rest at their independent production company, Red Bucket Films. The hilarious museum is an ironic look and reflection on the world we live in from its name, Museum, and the place it occupies. Which, as they say, they have no intention of expanding. In addition to the collection, there is a souvenir shop (a shelf with t-shirts, cloth bags and pencils with the museum's logo) and a coffee shop, well, a Nespresso coffee machine and, sometimes, cookies.
Open only on Saturdays and Sundays (and not all , depends on holidays and if the guy for everything at the door can) from 12 in the morning to 6 in the afternoon. If you pass at any other time, you will be able to see it from the windows that have been opened in the doors. Admission is free, although they ask for donations to be able to maintain it. Give it to them: a place like this has to be preserved as an absurd, fun and beautiful counterpoint to the Metropolitan or MoMA.
Address: Cortlandt Alley (between Franklin Street and White Street) . Nearest subway Canal Street.
Disney Princess bulletproof backpacks