From Michael Gunton: “The American Museum of Natural History is one of the greatest places to see dinosaurs and fossils of every kind. I always head there if I get a chance when I’m in NYC. I visited only recently, and it was a lovely experience to walk down the galleries and see so many of the stars of prehistoric planet all there—Mononykus, Ornithomimus, you name it. We brought all these fossils (that you can see so beautifully presented in the museum) to life in Prehistoric Planet.”

If You’re a Conservationist: Sharks. As this profound and hopefully game-changing exhibition demonstrates, sharks are, as the text goes, more threatened than threatening. Tracing sharks’ evolution over the past 450 million years, visitors are led to understand the marvel of the animals’ existence, along with the very real, very immediate threat of their extinction—a threat exacerbated by the misperception that sharks pose serious danger to humans. Through Sept. 4, 2023

A must-do for any visitor and native. Famously home to astounding fossils and dinosaur displays, animal dioramas, the life-size blue whale suspended in the Hall of Ocean Life and the recently renovated, and dazzling, Hall of Gems and Minerals.