"Of all museums/I've a pet museum/And it's not the Modern/Or the Met Museum/But it suits my taste/Like a knife suits a fork/The Museum of the City of New York." We don't know where that doggerel came from, but MOTCONY suits our taste, too. Its exhibits are not always exciting ("Growing and Greening in New York"?), but they're often charming and sometimes, as with their installations of old city interiors, they provide a mind-trip to another era. They've got great collections of antique bric-a-brac, theatrical ephemera, dolls, etc. Their artist choices range from the gimmicky ("Urban Abstractions") to the sublime (Ray Mortenson's South Bronx photos). The elegant little building, not much marred by recent renovations, is an oasis of serenity (read: not well attended) and very fine for days when a little art would be nice—but a respite from the mob scenes of MOMA and the Met (or, for that matter, Central Park) is a must.