V.

Educational and Cultural Institutions

Manhattan is one of the world’s great educational and cultural centers. Facilities of higher education in Manhattan include City College (1847) and Hunter College (1870), both part of the City University of New York; Columbia University (1754); Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art (1859); Fordham University at Lincoln Center (1961); the New School for Social Research (1919); New York University (1831); Pace University (1906); Rockefeller University (1901); Yeshiva University (1886); and such predominantly religious schools as Union Theological Seminary (1836), the General Theological Seminary (1817), and the Jewish Theological Seminary of America (1886). Specialized instruction in music, drama, and painting is offered by the Juilliard School (1905), the Manhattan School of Music (1917), the American Academy of Dramatic Arts (1884), and the School of Visual Arts (1947).

Among its many major museums are the Metropolitan Museum of Art; the Museum of Modern Art; the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum (renovated and expanded 1990-1992); the Whitney Museum of American Art; the Frick Collection; the Pierpont Morgan Library; the Cooper-Hewitt Museum; the International Center of Photography; the Studio Museum in Harlem; El Museo del Barrio; the Jewish Museum; the Museum of the City of New York; the National Museum of the American Indian (1922; reorganized 1993 as the George Gustav Heye Center of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian); and the American Museum of Natural History, which includes the Hayden Planetarium.

Around Broadway in Midtown are numerous big legitimate theaters. Many motion picture theaters are also located in this area, which includes Times Square. In addition, Manhattan is the home of several prominent music and dance organizations. The New York City Opera Company, the Metropolitan Opera Association, the Philharmonic-Symphony Society of New York, American Ballet Theatre, and the New York City Ballet are included among these. The New York Public Library is one of the world’s leading research libraries.

Manhattan has several parks, the largest being Central Park, designed (1850s) by Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux (1824-1895). It contains a zoo (opened in 1864; now officially called the Central Park Wildlife Conservation Center), an open-air theater, several lakes, a large reservoir, and recreational facilities. Other parks include Battery, Washington Square, Riverside, and Fort Tryon, which contains the Cloisters, a museum of medieval European art.