kickassNYC

See 10 live acts and attractions in the home of sideshow culture. Acts include sword-swallowing, contortion, knife-juggling, and more.

A narrow little island in the middle of the East River. In the 1800s, the city bought the island to create a “city of asylums” in what was an attempt to create a more humane space for prisoners and the mentally ill. The island housed several hospitals, mental institutions, and prisons, and one penitentiary in particular became steeped in scandal (think uprisings, nude men swimming for their freedom, and boss gangsters running the joint). Celebrity prisoners there included Mae West and Emma Goldman. Nellie Bly also visited one of the mental institutions undercover, and wrote a stirring expose about the mistreatment of the “mentally ill” housed there (along with the actually mentally ill, many of the patients were women who were committed by their husbands for being insubordinate). There are still remains of the smallpox hospital, lunatic asylum, and library.

A non-profit organization dedicated to advancing field research and preserving the explorer’s instinct. The Club has famous “Firsts” members, including firsts to the North and South Poles, to the top of Mount Everest, to the ocean’s deepest point, and to the moon’s surface.

More like a museum you can shop at, this high-end antique and curiosity store sells paintings, furniture, skulls, and taxidermy, among other things.

A “dream world” created by modern composer Lamonte Young and visual artist Mariane Zazeela. The light-and-sound installation is based in a TriBeCa apartment.

A retail store that specializes in “science and natural history collectibles, artifacts, gifts, and home decor.” Sells everything from dinosaur teeth to framed insect specimens to replicas of human bones.

Curated by Nelson Molina, a sanitation worker, over a period of 30 years, “Treasures in the Trash Musem” is a secret museum on the second floor of the MANEAST11 garbage truck garage. It is unavailable to the public, but can be seen by scheduling a visit with the NYC Department of Sanitation.

A two-room museum that was once a speakeasy. Learn about Prohibition, Women and Temperance, and the early roots of organized crime.

Non-profit organization dedicated to preserving magic and its allied arts. Maintains and develops “the most expansive collection of conjuring related material in the world.” Features exhibits and libraries, and runs various projects.

A tiny museum (so small it only fits three at a time) in a freight elevator that showcases the “overlooked, dismissed, or ignored.” Past exhibitions include Personal Possessions found in the Pacific, Paper Works found in Copying Machines, and Homemade Weapons of Defense. Sponsored by Kate Spade (of purse fame).