Second only to finding someplace relatively clean to relieve yourself in this city is the great importance of knowing what to do (and where to go) wh en the heavens open and you're nowhere near home. You get what you pay for with those shoddy, self-destructing umbrellas sold by opportunistic street vendors, and—despite the convenient ubiquity of a certain chain of coffee shops in midtown Manhattan—there are only so many Venti Decaf Kahlua Mudslide Chai Vegan Lattes that anyone can be expected to endure in the name of respite from the elements. So the next time you find yourself in danger of being swept away by a sudden downpour in the vicinity of the Morgan Library and Museum, scurry inside and watch the tempest from the renovated "welcoming entrance"—a/k/a lobby—which was built in 2000 to connect the stately old galleries and the Pierpont Morgan family brownstone. This blandly modernist glass-and-metal-framed box is the perfect haven for waiting out the storm. And if the staff grows suspicious of your loitering and makes you pay admission, know that there are worse ways to spend your time than gazing upon a Gutenberg Bible or a drawing by da Vinci, or tracing the intricacies of a neo-Babylonian cylinder seal or a John Cage score.

manhattan
225 Madison Avenue,
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Phone: 212-685-0008