My favorite room in all of New York City is the Allison and Roberto Mignone Hall of Gems and Minerals at the American Museum of Natural History. I think I’ve been there five times now since it opened in June of 2021—once a year! It contains 11,000sq ft of total space, with more than 5,000 specimens from almost 100 different countries.
If you identify as “woowoo” in any capacity, this room will send you into another universe. I could spend a whole day in this room. I especially enjoy trying to pronounce all of the scientific names.
Unfortunately, it takes 30 minutes just to reach this space at a normal pace, and of course longer if you stop and look at other things along the way, it will take longer! So factor that into your trip, especially if you eat an edible, which we did—a NYCE Pink Lemonade Gummy—because I always get rushed toward the end.
The lines on the weekend are absolutely insane, especially if it’s a rainy day. So plan ahead, go early, and make sure to pace yourself as you look at everything else on the way.
