New Documentary Treasures of New York: Museum of the City of New York Celebrates the Past, Present and Future of NYC
Premieres Thursday, May 4 at 8 p.m. on WLIW21
Premieres Sunday, May 7 at 7 p.m. on THIRTEEN
Streams Nationally Online at wliw.org/treasures
Since its founding in 1923, the Museum of the City of New York has worked to display and celebrate New York City’s past, present and future. Located near the top of Museum Mile on Fifth Avenue and 103rd Street, the Museum is home to 750,000 objects and showcases 400 years of New York City history.
Beginning May 4, the latest installment of the Emmy-Award winning series, Treasures of New York, will bring viewers inside the Museum of the City of New York, the cultural institution that encourages visitors to reconnect to the city’s storied past and envision its future.
Tracing the nearly 100-year history of the Museum from its first days operating out of Gracie Mansion to the recent opening of its ambitious new permanent exhibit, New York at Its Core, the new documentary Treasures of New York: Museum of the City of New York premieres on Thursday, May 4 at 8pm on WLIW21 and Sunday, May 7 at 7pm on THIRTEEN. Following the broadcast, the film will also be available for online viewing at wliw.org/treasures.
The film gives viewers a first-hand view of the Museum’s collection which includes a 19th century Stettheimer dollhouse, 300 lithographs by Currier and Ives, artifacts from the city’s police and fire departments, an extensive collection of photographs, costumes, paintings, sculptures, and toys, and much more.
Treasures of New York also takes viewers inside New York at Its Core, the Museum’s largest endeavor yet. Occupying three galleries, 8,000 square feet, and the entire first floor of the Museum, it follows the story of the city’s rise from a striving Dutch Village to today’s “Capital of the World.” Framed around the key themes of money, density, diversity, and creativity, New York City’s history and future come alive through the stories of innovation, energy, struggle, and the vision of generations of immigrants, politicians, tycoons, dreamers, master builders, and ordinary New Yorkers. The exhibition features both historical objects as well as cutting-edge technology.
Treasures of New York: Museum of the City of New York features interviews with Susan Henshaw Jones, former President & Director, Museum of the City of New York, who launched the New York At Its Core project in 2005, as well as Whitney Donhauser, current President & Ronay Menschel Director, Museum of the City of New York, who saw the project through to its completion. The film also features interviews with many of the curators, scholars, artists and tech gurus who have helped make the exhibit and the museum what it is today, including Sarah Henry, Deputy Director & Chief Curator, Museum of the City of New York; Chris Piazza, artists and restoration specialist; and Jake Barton, Principal & Founder of Local Projects, among others.
Treasures of New York is a production of WLIW LLC in association with WNET. WNET is the parent company of WLIW21 and THIRTEEN, New York’s public television stations and operator of NJTV.
Ann Benjamin is director of Treasures of New York: Museum of the City of New York. Julie Cohen is producer. Lauren Witte is associate producer. Ally Gimbel is senior producer of the Treasures of New York series. Diane Masciale is vice president and general manager of WLIW21 and executive producer of local production, including the Treasures of New York series. Executive-in-Charge of Production is John Servidio.
Funding for Treasures of New York: Museum of the City of New York is provided by the Jerome L. Greene Foundation.
For more information about the series and this program, visit the Treasures of New York website at wliw.org/treasures.
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About WNET
WNET is America’s flagship PBS station and parent company of THIRTEEN and WLIW21. WNET also operates NJTV, the statewide public media network in New Jersey. Through its broadcast channels, three cable services (KidsThirteen, Create and World) and online streaming sites, WNET brings quality arts, education and public affairs programming to more than five million viewers each week. WNET produces and presents such acclaimed PBS series as Nature, Great Performances, American Masters, PBS NewsHour Weekend, Charlie Rose and a range of documentaries, children’s programs, and local news and cultural offerings. WNET’s groundbreaking series for children and young adults include Get the Math, Oh Noah! and Cyberchase as well as Mission US, the award-winning interactive history game. WNET highlights the tri-state’s unique culture and diverse communities through NYC-ARTS, Theater Close-Up, NJTV News with Mary Alice Williams and MetroFocus, the daily multi-platform news magazine focusing on the New York region. In addition, WNET produces online-only programming including the award-winning series about gender identity, First Person, and an intergenerational look at tech and pop culture, The Chatterbox with Kevin and Grandma Lill. In 2015, THIRTEEN launched Passport, an online streaming service which allows members to see new and archival THIRTEEN and PBS programming anytime, anywhere: www.thirteen.org/passport.
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 | Third Avenue Elevated railway destination sign, c. 1900. Credit: Museum of the City of New York Gift of Mrs. J. Clyne, 62.51.3 |
 | Water pipe section, late 18th century. Credit: Museum of the City of New York; Gift of James Speyer, 38.88 |
 | Diamond, onyx, and gold cuff links owned by William M. (Boss) Tweed, ca. 1868. Credit: Museum of the City of New York, gift of Colonel and Mrs. LeRoy Barton, 49.66.20AB |
 | Study for plate XIX "Croton Aqueduct at Harlem River," in F. B. Tower, Illustrations of the Croton Aqueduct (New York: 1843) “Croton Aqueduct at Harlem River” 1843 Ink on paper by F.B. Tower. Credit: Museum of the City of New York; Gift of Helen Tower Wilson, 2002.35.11 |
 | First subway ticket sold in New York, 1904. Credit: Museum of the City of New York Gift of Mrs. Rudolph Weld, 35.51.1 |
 | Five Cents a Spot, c. 1890. Credit: Photograph by Jacob A. Riis Museum of the City of New York Gift of Roger William Riis, 90.13.1.158 |
 | Mary Amelia Tweed’s bracelets 1871 Gold and diamonds, initialed “MAT." Credit: Museum of the City of New York Gift of Mrs. Reginald P. Rose and Mrs. John W. Mackay, 70.94.3A-B |
 | Model of Halve Maen (Half Moon) before 1934 Joseph Wheeler Appleton. Credit: Museum of the City of New York Gift of Norton Merriman, Theodore Roosevelt Pelt, Rodney W. Williams, L. Gordon Hammersley, Herbert L. Satterlee, and the Ship Model Society, M34.63 |
 | Mulberry Street, Manhattan, ca. 1900. Credit: Photograph by Detroit Publishing Co., Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division |
 | mulberry-street-12x20-2015 Mulberry Street, Manhattan, 2015. Credit: Photograph by Jeff Chien-Hsing Liao |
 | Badges owned by Robert Moses, with case: “Commissioner, Department of Parks, City of New York” (left) and “Chairman, Triborough Bridge Authority,” 1924-1960. Credit: Museum of the City of New York, gift of Mary and Helen O’Sullivan, 94.64.7 |
 | Soda water bottle 1847–55. Credit: Museum of the City of New York Gift of U.S. General Services Administration, 2007.11.10 |
 | Enamel snuff box inscribed, “To Evert Bancker a Son of Liberty,” ca. 1765. Credit: Museum of the City of New York, gift of Mrs. Gordon Cadwalader, Mrs. John Wightman, and Mr. William L. Nicoll, 48.250.2 |
 | statue-of-liberty-maquette-33_386_5 Maquette for the Statue of Liberty c. 1870 Terracotta; statue by Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi. Credit: Museum of the City of New York Gift of Estella Cameron Silo in memory of her husband, James Patrick Silo, 33.386A-B |
 | Subway #1, 1984-85 Terracotta and glass; sculpture by Bruno Lucchesi. Credit: Museum of the City of New York Gift of Mr. Bruno Lucchesi 94.80.1 |
 | Tammany Hall ribbon badge, July 7, 1896. Credit: Museum of the City of New York, 96.79.41 |
 | Sterling silver and wood ceremonial shovel from the ground breaking of the first subway, made by Tiffany and Co., 1900 (silver and oak taken from a vessel used in the Battle of Lake Erie in 1813, and handle shaft made of gum timber from a tree planted by Alexander Hamilton in 1803.) Credit: Museum of the City of New York, gift of Mrs. William Van Wyck, 54.373 |
 | Top of Brooklyn Pier at Fifth Course Above Roadway, 1872 Photograph by Silas A. Holmes, albumen silver print. Credit: Museum of the City of New York Gift of Mr. Shirley C. Burden, 57.15.10 |
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