Hop through Museum Mile

E.R. Pulgar, Highlighter Editor

Of all the things New York City has to offer in the way of arts-related field trips, the most exciting is perhaps Museum Mile. Located near Central Park, the strip includes the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Frick Collection and the Guggenheim. Fun fact: your NYU I.D. gives you free access to the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Frick Collection, and the Guggenheim has free admission on Saturdays. Besides those big-name galleries, the city has tons to offer in the way of art, from Chelsea’s tiny galleries to the Museum of Modern Art’s main branch in Midtown. We’ve mapped out a day of art so you don’t have to, including some great cheap eats for breaks between stops. We hope you like to walk, but you probably wouldn’t have come to NYU if you didn’t want the calves of a seasoned New Yorker anyway.

9 a.m.: Wake up, get dressed, brush your teeth, and do all the stuff you probably had your mom yell at you for not doing before you started living alone.

9:45 a.m.: Walk to the University Residence Hall Dunkin Donuts and get yourself an egg white flatbread and an iced coffee. Or water, if you’re into that. (1 Meal swipe)

10:00 a.m.: Take the NQR to 57th Street and walk a bit to get to the MoMA. ($2.75)

10:07 a.m.: Search for Salvador Dali’s “Persistence of Memory.” When you finish fawning over it, enjoy the rest of the museum. (Free with NYU I.D.)

1:00 p.m.: Get some coffee or juice to-go at the museum café. ($3)

1:10 p.m.: Walk uptown on Fifth Avenue for about a mile. Maybe cut through Central Park and soak in the nature, the glamour, the city.

3:30 p.m. Arrive at the Frick Collection. Go inside, and marvel at the mansion-turned-museum. (Free with NYU I.D.)

4:15 p.m. Keep walking down Fifth Avenue until you get to the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

4:30 p.m.: Make a small donation and try to traverse this massive, gorgeous museum. You won’t be able to see it all, but it’s worth studying the first floor’s Egyptian and Assyrian exhibits before heading upstairs and looking at Italian Baroque paintings. Make a note to return another day, as The Met is worth a whole day of exploration. ($1.)

5:30 p.m.: Walk to the Guggenheim. It’s the enormous spiral building with the very long line; you can’t miss it. If you go on a Saturday, it’s pay-what-you-wish.

5:50 p.m. Make the line and enter the Guggenheim after paying a small donation to a usually pricey collection. Explore and enjoy. ($1.)

7:45 p.m.: Leave the Guggenheim and grab a bite at Café Sabarsky, treating yourself to Marillenpalatschinken, or crepes filled with apricot confiture. ($10)

8:15 p.m.: Walk to the 86th Street subway station and take the 6 train downtown. ($2.75)

8:40 p.m.: Get off at Astor Place or Union Square, and walk back to your dorm feeling successful and significantly more knowledgeable about the Upper East Side’s galleries and restaurants.

A print version of this article appeared in the Food and Fun Guide. Email E.R. Pulgar at [email protected]