As everyone looks towards RiseNY, New York seems to wake up, finally, after a harsh winter and a very long pandemic, its cultural program exudes optimism. Without going further, Broadway prepare great musicals and revivals; the museums and observatories recover the same schedules as always and lighten the sanitary restrictions; and new proposals appear designed to celebrate love by the city.
RiseNY is one of them and aspires to be a magnet for visitors and New Yorkers alike. It is more than a museum a museum of museums because the curatorship of each of its seven areas is the responsibility of a cultural institution of the same theme. For example, the Museum of American Finance has prepared the sample on finances while the Museum at FIT has been in charge of Fashion. So it is taken care of down to the smallest detail.
Rise NY, New York.
RISENY: NEW YORK, THE BIRTH OF A CITY
The first thing that strikes the museum is a replica of the hand of the Statue of Liberty with his shining torch golden that crowns the entrance to 45th Street, just around the corner from Times Square. A very similar sculpture, but larger of course, was exhibited in Madison Square Park, in the late 19th century, to raise funds for the installation of the monument on Liberty Island.
Once inside, you have to go up to the first floor, by some nondescript stairs, to start the tour of New York history. And our first stop is literally just that, a stop. The one from the first Metro station of the city that opened the 1904 and it had a short life of only 40 years as it became too small for the new longer trains.
Rise NY, New York.
the actual platform, currently abandoned, it is recreated here with great precision and we can contemplate the arches of white and green tiles designed by the Valencian architect Raphael Guastavino. The seats for the visitors simulate the classic (and uncomfortable) wooden benches of the New York subway network and vibrates under our feet while the voice of Jeff Goldblum narrates in a video the legacy that the city has left.
The big ones achievements transformational changes in New York are reflected in the seven themed galleries to which we arrive once we leave the metro that picks us up at the station. The first area we discover is the one dedicated to Finance , one of the main businesses in the Big Apple. Here we find a replica of the famous wall street balcony from where the operations of the stock market start, every day, to the ringing of the bell.
The circuit takes us to explore the tallest skyscrapers in the city, in the section dedicated to skyline, and the programs radio and television most popular in the United States, in the TV/Radio section. The latter is the space with the most interactivity because they have recreated the black and white set of The Honeymooners, a popular sitcom from the 50s. You can also sit in a sofa replica friends or do your own interview on the set of a simulated late show.
Jeff Goldblum at the opening of RiseNY, New York.
Of course, a gallery could not be missing dedicated fashion, an industry that has helped the New York brand go around the world. In addition to learning the history of the workshops and the hands, the majority of immigrants, who dressed generations, we can also see in detail models worn by big stars like Beyoncé.
We jump to the music, where we are invited to dance to the music of The Beatles, from whose band the battery used is exhibited Ringo Starr on the North American tour or 1964. Other elements include the guitar with which Bruce Springsteen wrote the anthem Born to Run and the iconic locker room of the troop of The Village People. And we finish off with the referents of New York Hip Hop with the strident graffiti of Notorious B.I.G and Cardi B.
Approaching the goal, we find a small cinema where we sit down to watch scenes from some of the most memorable movies shot in the city in history. The selection has been supervised by the Tribeca Film Festival. And from the seats of the cinema to those of the Broadway theaters where we see the changing rooms of various legendary musicals such as The Lion King, Chicago Y The Phantom of the Opera.
Rise NY, New York.
strong emotions they are at the end of the route that we arrive at after a brief introduction to attend the 1957 New Year's Eve Party, in the middle of Times Square. This trip to the past serves as an excuse to follow the last five minutes of the cbs Special, from his realization studio, and go out to the balcony of the building just seconds from midnight.
Actually, we access a theater with a row of 46 seats to which we hold on with a seat belt, as if we were getting on the roller coaster of an amusement park. At first it seems a bit exaggerated but it is not. The seats take off almost 10 meters from the ground and turn around to face a concave screen of 180 degrees that goes from the ceiling to the floor. It is projected, in 8K quality, a flight through new york and some of its most popular celebrations such as the marathon, the Thanksgiving parade and the fireworks of the Independence Day.
our seat vibrates, rises, plummets and, in scenes of snow or rain, a fine curtain of water moistens our skin. The effect is of hard to believe realism because it seems that, physically, we are furrowing the skies of New York and its five boroughs. We go down with the impression that the projection has lasted only a few seconds and you feel like going back up.
RiseNY is open every day of the week, except Tuesdays, from 10am to 8pm and until 10pm on Fridays and Saturdays. Admission for adults costs 21 dollars, with discounts for children and adults, although it also has a VIP pass that costs twice as much with flexible schedules and priority access. This new attraction becomes a unique experience to discover the essence of New York with a virtual tour crossing its skies difficult to forget.