Met is enormous with so many exhibits - definitely that over guggenheim, unless you have a specific exhibit at guggenheim you are interested in.

But, if I may add one to your dashboard - the intrepid air, sea, and space museum is one of the coolest museums in existence.

Since you're already seeing art, I'd recommend the Tenement Museum, the Museum of the City of New York or the New York Historical Society to get a more in-depth look of the city

The Met over anything else, easily

The Whitney over both

Cooper Hewitt is great and not super overwhelming, whereas the Met is, well, the Met

Museum of the City of New York

Museum of the Moving Image in Astoria. I visited in like 9th or 10th grade and it solidified what I wanted to do with my life.

The Tenement Museum is awesome (definitely take a tour!)

The Noguchi is peaceful and unique, and the perfect size in that you can reasonably see it all during your visit.

It’s similarly lauded like the MOMA and the Met, but Natural History is always amazing.

Intrepid is also dope.

The Met is the grande dame. It's my favorite without hesitation.

The Museum of Natural History I really enjoy but a lot owes to nostalgia.

The Cloisters for being an underappreciated, tranquil treasure that feels like a secret.

The Neue Galerie because I really love art deco and expressionist art.

The Frick is an underappreciated midtown UES museum with iconic architecture.

Cooper Hewitt is a museum of design in the Andrew Carnegie mansion (worth going for that alone).

The Rubin Museum of Art for its tranquility and really informative and well designed exhibits. I always learn a ton there and leave feeling calmer than when I entered.

The New Museum for interesting contemporary art.

Honorable mentions: The Whitney, the Met Breuer, the Asia Society

Museums I haven't been to but which are supposed to be great: The Tenement Museum, El museo del Barrio

Really depends on what kind of people you’re going with and/or your mood.

Want to get lost alone? The Met

Want to appreciate stuff with a bunch of strangers? MoMA

Want to impress some kids? AMNH

Want a hands-on way to entertain small children while you can entertain yourself too? MoMath.

The Met. Nothing else compares, imo.

The museum at FIT (the Fashion Institute of Technology). It's free. They have from one to three small exhibits of fashion, usually including various garments on a theme, with a good selection of historical garments, as well as menswear vs. women's wear, examples from various countries and subcultures, etc. Sometimes the smaller gallery has an exhibit that isn't fashion/garments and instead is about design, print, fiber arts, etc. I always come away with inspiration for my own work.

It's not always obvious what is there - the largest gallery is downstairs through the kind of door that usually leads to non-public space, and the smallest is to the right down a hallway. it's not always clear that these galleries are open (or even there!), so always ask the guard in the lobby what is open. They will sometimes also guide you to an exhibit of student work just across the street.

It's about five blocks from Penn Station, so easy to stop by as part of a larger trip. And it's not far from the High Line either. There are quite a few decent places to eat nearby. Did I mention it's free? And clean bathrooms! Make a note of it in case you're in the area with a bit of time to kill.

To mention: The Met is pay what you wish, so you can give them a quarter. There was a huge foundation grant to allow this. (Remember not to feel guilty, many museums in Europe are free for artists). Note that museums have free or pay what you wish nights, again you save a lot of money this way, if that matters. Chelsea galleries are worth a buzz through if you have time. Note the Met takes a long time. Check out the shows on at the Gug, Whit, and Brook before going to them, sometimes there is a bunch of crap that makes it not worth going. A great little museum with older stuff is the Frick, check it out online to see.

I don’t know that seeing as many Basquiats as you can in a week is the best use of your time. I’d say don’t miss the Earth Room or the Broken Kilometer, both free and a few blocks from each other. The Merode Altarpiece + The Unicorn Tapestries + the view at the Cloisters is worth the trip uptown. You’d probably want to do one day in Chelsea, one day downtown galleries. The Frick used to be really special, haven’t been since they relocated. I’d skip the Brooklyn Museum, partly because Kaws sucks. The best use of a day would be to take a train up to Dia: Beacon — they’re open with advanced reservations, and for my money that’s one of the best art viewing experiences in the world.

Isn’t PS1 still around?

Get the See Saw app when you get in and checkout all the gallery shows

The hole

I live in the city. The 9/11 museum is really exceptional. The museum of natural history is really cool, and the Guggenheim has some cool stuff and you can get through the exhibits quickly if art isn’t really your thing

I loved the Met. I thought it would be boring, but it wasn’t.

I really like the MET Cloisters. The size is really manageable and the grounds were pretty.

The Lower East Side Tenement Museum is one of my favorites.

The Morgan library is my favorite museum in the city

Have you considered the Cooper Hewitt or The Frick? Both have some lovely exhibits and neither are so vast that it seems never ending.

The Tenement Museum is a great choice.

Besides that, the Museum of Natural History is a classic. And based on your description, you might enjoy the Museum of the Moving Image.

The New York Transit Museum in Brooklyn could be a good option.

Best part of the exhibits are being able to walk through and explore the old subway cars that ran all over the city. Great insight into NYC's transit history as well.

Highly recommend.

Museum of the Moving Image! It's my favorite

I just went to the Museum of the American Indian recently at Battery Park City and really liked it! It’s located inside of the Alexander Hamilton Customs House and near a nice view of the Statue of Liberty.

NY Historical Society and Museum of the City of NY is a close second

Museum of the Moving Image is pretty cool

The Met. The range and depth of its collection is unparalleled, except for the Hermitage, the Louvre and a handful of others. It's also essentially free for New Yorkers. What's to complain about?

For a more intimate experience, the Frick. The beauty and elegance of the building rivals those of its collection.

I always have a great time at the museum of natural history going through the hyperrealistic dioramas

Fotografiska. Small and intimate. No permanent exhibits, so the art is ever changing. Wine available, so you can drink and pontificate.

Also love the zen of the Noguchi Museum.

I prefer the smaller museums.

The museum is actually pretty small, but usually 3-4 floors are all exhibits. Each floor has a ton of art of look at. It’s hard to describe because none of the exhibits are permanent, so they’re always changing the layout, lighting, etc.

I usually spend about an hour there. I do stop to read some of the stories, typically with a wine glass in hand lol. You can get wine at the bar on the first floor and take it with you.

Ah yes, my favorite museums:

"Poster House"

"Metropolitan Museum o Fart"

"Museum"

Metropolitan Museum o Fart 😂

I mean moma and whitney both are decent IF what they have on display is appealing at the moment

New Museum is another awesome space for contemporary works.

Get the See Saw app. Plan ahead and you can hit a ton of galleries.

Brooklyn Museum is excellent! It's like a smaller (but still huge) Met with, IMO, a better modern/contemporary collection. They're also super mindful about representation and have a good balance of women and artists of color. A bit of a train ride but nothing awful. It's a recommended donation so theoretically you can get in for as little as free, but give if you can.

I feel like PS1 isn't too expensive.