The Museum of the City of New York (MCNY) is a history and art museum in Manhattan, New York City, New York. It was founded by Henry Collins Brown, in 1923 to preserve and present the history of New York City, and its people. It is located at 1220–1227 Fifth Avenue between East 103rd to 104th Streets, across from Central Park on Manhattan's Upper East Side, at the northern end of the Museum Mile section of Fifth Avenue. The red brick with marble trim museum was built in 1929–30 and was designed by Joseph H. Freedlander in the neo-Georgian style, with statues of Alexander Hamilton and DeWitt Clinton by sculptor Adolph Alexander Weinman facing Central Park from niches in the facade. The museum is a private non-profit organization which receives government support as a member of New York City's Cultural Institutions Group, commonly known as "CIG"s. Its other sources of income are endowments, admission fees, and contributions. The museum is hosting the "New York At Its Core" permanent exhibition, the first-ever museum presentation of New York City's full history. History The museum was originally located in Gracie Mansion, where available space was limited. One of its first major exhibits was "Old New York", presented in the Fine Arts Building on West 57th Street in 1926. The success of the project led to a search for a new, permanent headquarters for the museum. A design competition was held between five invited architects, and the Colonial Revival design by Freedlander was selected. The city donated a site on Fifth Avenue, and funds for construction of the museum building were raised by public subscription. The original plans for the museum's building were scaled back as a result of the Wall Street Crash of 1929, nevertheless, the building was dedicated on January 11, 1932. On January 24, 1967, the museum building was designated a New York City landmark. In 1982, the museum received The Hundred Year Association of New York's Gold Medal Award "in recognition of outstanding contributions to the City of New York." Proposed move In 2000, the administration of mayor Rudy Giuliani told the museum that it could relocate to the historic Tweed Courthouse near City Hall in Lower Manhattan. El Museo del Barrio would then have moved across the street to occupy the current Museum of the City of New York building. This decision was overturned by the incoming administration of