Museum of Jewish Heritage

This 30,000-sq-ft waterfront memorial museum, with a six-sided shape and three tiers to symbolize the Star of David and the six million Jews who perished in the Holocaust, explores all aspects of what it means to be Jewish in modern-day New York. Displays include personal artifacts, photographs and documentary films. A centerpiece of the museum is the Garden of Stones – an outdoor memorial garden created by artist Andy Goldsworthy (and his first permanent exhibition in NYC), in which 18 boulders form a narrow pathway for contemplating the fragility of life – dedicated to those who lost loved ones in the Holocaust. The onsite, kosher Heritage Café serves light food during museum hours, and the 375-seat Safra Hall is a great venue for films, plays, ongoing lecture series and special holiday performances. Frequent, free workshops for families with children are also on offer.