NYC is home to world-class museums, galleries, and performing arts spaces. The Metropolitan Museum of Art hosts works by Rembrandt and Vermeer, as well as Islamic, European, and American oeuvres. The Guggenheim Museum stuns visitors with its architecture and swirling staircases. For contemporary American art, the Whitney Museum of American Art and MoMA are fine options — the latter houses Van Gogh's Starry Night and Picasso's Les Demoiselles d’Avignon.
No one should leave New York without experiencing its Broadway culture. As well as the hit plays and musicals on Broadway, catch a show at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, Carnegie Hall, or Metropolitan Opera.