South Street Seaport Museum Reveals Public Programs In New Exhibition Maritime City

South Street Seaport Museum has unveiled public programs and events that give the opportunity for an enriched experience in the new exhibition Maritime City. The inaugural exhibition showcases 540 deliberately-selected objects from the Museum's collections of 80,000 works of art, historical artifacts, and archival records, representing a wide range of time periods, themes, and materials. The exhibition spans the first three floors of A.A. Thomson & Co. building-the newly-renovated, historic 1868 warehouse, located at 213 Water Street (between Beekman and Fulton Streets). Recognized for its architectural significance within the South Street Seaport Historic District, the building was restored by the Museum and renowned preservation firm Beyer Blinder Belle.

The opening of Maritime City and the reopening of the A.A. Thomson & Co. building is accompanied by a range of dynamic public programs designed to invite visitors of all ages to make a deeper connection to New York's rich maritime history. Programs will include Music and Maritime: An After-Hours Experience on April 25, 2025 from 5pm to 8pm and Morning Meditation in Maritime City on April 26, 2025 at 10:30am.

Music and Maritime: An After-Hours Experience | April 25, 2025

Free | 5-8pm | 213 Water Street

Enhance your visit to the newly-opened exhibition Maritime City with live music after-hours.

Stop by anytime between 5pm and 8pm for a free self-guided exploration of the three-floor exhibition that highlights how New York City, as we know it today, arose from the sea. From 5:30pm to 7:30pm, enjoy a live performance by musician and songwriter Blair Lamb, who will fill the first-floor gallery with beautiful piano and vocals.

These special evenings are perfect for a date night with your special someone, a memorable night with friends, or a solo visit to enjoy the exhibition and music at your own pace.

Advanced registration is encouraged for these free extended-hours but walkups will be accommodated as possible. seaportmuseum.org/maritime-city-music

Morning Meditation in Maritime City | April 26, 2025

Free | 10:30am | 213 Water Street

Start your weekend with a unique yoga nidra morning meditation surrounded by maritime history in the first-floor gallery of the new exhibition Maritime City at the Seaport Museum.

Before the Museum opens for the day, take part in a guided meditation designed to support your physical, mental, and emotional well-being. These sessions are designed to quiet the mind, reduce stress, and foster greater self-awareness as well as provide a one-of-a-kind way to experience a museum.

Sign up today to surround yourself with the sounds and artifacts tied to the sea, relax, and unplug. Following the meditation, you are welcome to explore the full exhibition. Events are free, and advance registration is required. seaportmuseum.org/morning-meditation

Maritime City Exhibition

$5-$18 | Wednesday-Sunday | 11am-5pm | 213 Water Street

The Seaport Museum's latest exhibition Maritime City, highlights how New York City, as we know it today, arose from the sea. Throughout the extensive three-floor exhibition, 540 deliberately-selected objects from the collections and archives of the Seaport Museum are on view to underscore how the city's identity as a global capital of culture and finance is rooted in its origins as a seaport.

As you walk through the exhibition, you will discover how the waterways, people, and industries of the Greater New York area-including all the boroughs, Long Island, and the Lower Hudson Valley-led to the creation of a truly diverse city. By sharing the material culture of New York and its people, the objects on display highlight stories of the working class people employed by ships, shipping lines, and other local industries throughout history, as well as the emigrant workers and immigrant families that came through the port as their first stop in America.

In Maritime City, you will experience a celebration of communities that have come together to grow New York. For four centuries, the port of New York has connected people to the world through the exchange of goods, ideas, languages, and cultures. Indigenous Lenape people were the first stewards of the waterways, creating trade routes connecting Manahatta to the sea. In the 17th-century European colonists, enslaved Africans, and migrants built on this foundation to give birth to a restless and ambitious city. Later waves of immigration, would grow a world capital formed by its oceanic links to the world. Just as the history of New York is woven from many stories, Maritime City employs artifacts to present a tapestry of a global metropolis shaped by the sea. The South Street Seaport Museum interprets these origins, a museum for a maritime city.