It\u2019s about time.<\/p>\n
The New York Historical announced Tuesday that its long-awaited expansion<\/a> dedicated to US history will open this summer \u2014 and just in time for the US\u2019s blockbuster 250th birthday.<\/p>\n The revolutionary Tang Wing for American Democracy will house a sprawling art gallery, a state-of-the-art conservation lab, a rooftop garden, massive classrooms and the first-ever American LGBTQ+ Museum.<\/p>\n The New York Historical is six months from unveiling its new Tang Wing for American Democracy. Stephen Yang for the NY Post<\/p>\n \u201cThis wing shall rise as a self-evident embodiment of the American revolution from our humble beginnings as the world\u2019s first modern democracy to the world\u2019s longest continuous democracy,\u201d said archeologist Agnes Hsu-Tang, the chair of the board of trustees whose family\u2019s massive donation made the new wing possible.<\/p>\n The New York Historical, which dropped \u201cSociety\u201d from its name last year, offered a sneak peek into the brand new 71,000-square-foot space on Tuesday \u2014 six months ahead of its June 18 opening day.<\/p>\n The Tang Wing is still very much under construction, with just the bare bones of the massive rooms and classroom spaces taking shape \u2014 eagerly awaiting paintings to adorn its walls and visitors to flood its space.<\/p>\n The expansion is decades in the making, with numerous proposals, including one that saw condominiums stacked on top of the landmarked museum, failing to break beyond the discussion phase.<\/p>\n The Tang Wing is being constructed behind the original building and does not exceed the museum\u2019s original height.<\/p>\n It cost roughly $360 million to bring to life, thanks in part to a $125 million donation by Hsu-Tang and her husband, Oscar Tang, whose philanthropy is also responsible for the Tang Center for Early China at\u00a0Columbia University, the Hsu-Tang Library for Classical Chinese Literature at\u00a0Oxford University and more. <\/p>\n The new wing will include a sprawling art gallery, a state-of-the-art conservation lab, a rooftop garden, massive classrooms and the first-ever American LGBTQ+ Museum. Stephen Yang for the NY Post<\/p>\n The new classrooms will expand student enrollment from 3,000 to 30,000 annually. The New York Historical<\/p>\n The new Klingenstein Family Gallery will host a \u201cDemocracy Matters\u201d showcase upon the June opening. The New York Historical<\/p>\n When completed, the Tang Wing will house a series of exhibitions dedicated to America\u2019s 250th anniversary \u2014 which will be celebrated in the Big Apple with a massive week-long blustbuster party. <\/a><\/p>\n The brand new Klingenstein Family Gallery will host a \u201cDemocracy Matters\u201d showcase involving key objects from the museum\u2019s history that show how democracy has stretched and shifted throughout the centuries, while a \u201cRevolutionary Women\u201d series will explore the trailblazing females whose contributions to the war effort have been little recognized. <\/p>\n Crucially, the opening will allow The New York Historical to expand the number of students it serves through its four-day-long intensive class each year tenfold, from 3,000 to 30,000 annually. <\/p>\n The new wing will open to the public in June 2026. Stephen Yang for the NY Post<\/p>\n \u201cThis transformative new wing embodies The Historical\u2019s mission of illuminating the complexities of the American story and inspiring engagement with the ideas and principles that define it,\u201d said Dr. Louise Mirrer. <\/p>\n