The Polonsky Exhibition of The New York Public Library’s Treasures will open on September 24, 2021, at the iconic Stephen A. Schwarzman Building on Fifth Avenue and 42nd Street, giving the public an opportunity to see and explore over 250 rare and unique items from the Library’s renowned research collections. The objects—spanning 4,000 years of history and made possible with a generous $12 million gift from philanthropist Dr. Leonard Polonsky CBE—represent moments, movements, and stories that have helped shape the world. They continue to inspire curiosity, conversation, and a stronger understanding of the past to inform a better future. The exhibition draws exclusively from the Library’s research collections, which contain over 45 million objects and are accessible at the Library’s research centers: the Stephen A. Schwarzman Building, the Library for the Performing Arts, and the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture. The exhibition is being held in historic Gottesman Hall, renovated and restored to hold this permanent exhibition. Free timed tickets are available at nypl.org/treasures.
Image credit: Jonathan Blanc / NYPL