I love this museum because of its tenacious focus on one of my favorite subjects: New York City. They have wonderful exhibits and a fancy introductory movie on New York City, and I have been there many times over the years.

In 2012, while studying Dutch, I visited specifically to check out their Dutch holdings.

My first stop was the DiMenna Children’s History Museum, located in their basement. It is, I was told, the only children’s history museum in the country!

Its offerings include the Cornelia van Varick Pavillion, an interactive exhibit where visiting children can learn about Cornelia, a Dutch girl who was born in 1692 and lived in Brooklyn. In the exhibit she magically appears as a hologrammy-looking thing to explain the details of her life to museum guests.

With respect to Dutch history: they have an online collection of Dutch-related artifacts, but I like seeing things in person. Upstairs I roamed around and looked at wardrobes, pottery, and other artifacts from the homes of people of Dutch extraction who lived here more than 300 years ago.

Check the website for discount times/days. As of early 2013, you can pay what you wish on Fridays, 6-8 p.m.