I start my day visiting the Museum of the City of New York, which offers free admission up to noon on Sundays! It's located at the northeastern end of Central Park near Harlem. The neighborhood is noticeably not as nice as further south towards Midtown. Some of the buildings are deteriorated and the elevated railway splits up the neighborhood along Park Avenue.

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Let's go inside the museum :

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I like the museum's exhibits on New York's maritime history, which includes trade, commerce, and defense. There is also a model of the New Amsterdam settlement, which is today's Lower Manhattan.

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There is also an exhibit portraying the entertainment industry.

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On the first level there is also a small exhibition on fire-fighting.

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Beautifully-decorated replicas of the Rockefeller bedrooms adorn the top floor of the museum.

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One more from the building next door :

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Tell the old story of Great Metropolis !

It wasn't really a history museum though. It focussed on trade and defense, but there were a lot of other exhibits such as a toy area and the Rockefeller rooms.