Our Mission

The Museum of the City of New York celebrates and interprets the city, educating the public about its distinctive character, especially its heritage of diversity, opportunity, and perpetual transformation. Founded in 1923 as a private, nonprofit corporation, the Museum connects the past, present, and future of New York City. It serves the people of New York and visitors from around the world through exhibitions, school and public programs, publications, and collections.

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

BOARD OF TRUSTEES

James G. Dinan, Chair
Newton P.S. Merrill, Vice Chair & Chairman Emeritus
Ronay Menschel, Vice Chair
Bruno A. Quinson, Vice Chair
Whitney W. Donhauser, Ronay Menschel Director

Michael Bruno
Jill Chalsty
Cynthia Foster Curry
Todd DeGarmo
Vernon Evenson
Barbara J. Fife
Thomas M. Flexner
Laura Lofaro Freeman
Mark F. Gilbertson
Leslie V. Godridge
Lorna B. Goodman
Robert Goldstein
Elizabeth Graziolo
David Guin
James E. Hanley
Sylvia Hemingway
Stephanie Hessler
Robert Jain
Robert A. Jeffe
William M. Kahane
Stephen J. Ketchum
Stanford G. Ladner
Kenneth E. Lee
Martin J. McLaughlin
Gurudatta Nadkarni
Jane B. O’Connell
Gov. David A. Paterson
Tracey Pontarelli
Kathryn Prounis
James E. Quinn
Nathan Romano
Arthur J. Rosner
Valerie Rowe
Lawrence J. Simon
Ann Spence
Mitchell S. Steir
Jeffrey S. Tabak
Elizabeth Farran Tozer
Remy W. Trafelet
Daryl Brown Uber
William C. Vrattos

EX OFFICIO MEMBERS

Hon. Bill De Blasio
Hon. Eric Adams
Hon. Gale Brewer
Hon. Ruben Diaz Jr.
Hon. Carmen Farina
Hon. Tom Finkelpearl
Hon. Letitia James
Hon. Melinda Katz
Hon. James Oddo
Hon. Mitchell Silver
Hon. Scott Stringer
Hon. Melissa Mark Viverito

TRUSTEES EMERITI

David C. Clapp, Chairman Emeritus
Mrs. William T. Comfort, Vice-Chair Emerita
Roscoe C. Brown, Trustee Emeritus
Marvin H. Davidson, Trustee Emeritus
Mrs. Charles H. Dyson (June), Trustee Emerita

TRUSTEES COUNCIL

Margery Fortgang
Stephen S. Lash
Martin Mertz
Hebe Dowling Murphy
Donald Oresman
Suzanne Randolph

Select Museum Staff

Office of the Director

Whitney W. Donhauser, Ronay Menschel Director
Colleen Blackler, Executive Assistant & Manager of Board Relations

External Affairs/Development

Susan Madden, Senior Vice President for External Affairs
Claude Barilleaux , Director of Special Events
Gabi Barton, Director of Individual Giving
Olivia Cothren, Corporate Giving Manager
Alice Stryker, Director of Grants and Sponsorships

Operations

Jerry Gallagher, Chief Operating Officer
Alex Yankovich, Director of Merchandising and Visitor Services
Francesca Bertolini, Director of Event Sales

Collections

Lindsay Turley, Director of Collections
Eddie Jose Bartolomei, Collections Manager
Miranda Hambro, Registrar
Morgen Stevens-Garmon, Theater Archivist
Bruce Weber, Curator of Paintings & Sculpture
Phyllis Magidson, Elizabeth Farran Tozer Curator of Costumes and Textiles

Curatorial Affairs

Sarah M. Henry, Deputy Director & Chief Curator
Donald Albrecht, Curator of Architecture and Design
Sean Corcoran, Curator of Prints and Photographs
Autumn Nyiri, Manager of Curatorial Affairs
Sarah Seidman, Puffin Foundation Curator of Social Activism

Marketing and Communications

Jacob Tugendrajch, PR Manager
Jennifer Shalant, Director of Digital Marketing
Marissa Martonyi, Design Director

Public Programs

Julie Trébault, Director of Public Programs
Frances Rosenfeld, Curator of Public Programs

Education Programs

Franny Kent, Director of Frederick A.O. Schwarz Center
EY Zipris, Assistant Director, Frederick A.O. Schwarz Children’s Center
Joanna Steinberg, Manager of Student Programs
Stephanie Dueno, New York City History Day Coordinator

Finance

Osman C . Kurtulus, Chief Financial Officer
Jordi Valls, Controller
Harvey Hirsh, Human Resources Manager

Annual Reports

• 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.