New York, We Know It’s Hot. That’s Why We Asked 8 Top Museums to Share Just How Cold They Set Their AC

Noguchi Museum
Temperature Setting: 74°
Current Exhibition: “Temitayo Ogunbiyi: You will wonder if we would have been friends” 
When: Through November 2
Why It’s Worth a Look: Lagos-based artist Temitayo Ogunbiyi’s first institutional solo focuses on one thing: play. Her winding sculptures of steel, rope, and wood recall West African hairstyling techniques while engraved stones evoke Zen gardens in this blend of Yoruba, Edo, and Japanese design languages.
Know Before You Go: The Museum’s indoor galleries are kept at a comfortable 74 degrees, but it’s in the sculpture garden and unique semi-enclosed spaces that Noguchi’s designs really shine. We’d suggest making a pit stop after your visit through Ogunbiyi’s show.

Museum of Modern Art
Temperature Setting: 73°
Current Exhibition: “Woven Histories: Textiles and Modern Abstractions” 
When: Through September 13
Why It’s Worth a Look: MoMA’s latest show explores the history of textile art, from traditional weaving to the modern-day labor politics of fabric production. Starting in the 20th century with pioneering Bauhaus member Anni Albers and ending with recent works from contemporary artists like Rosemarie Trockel, Igshaan Adams, and Andrea Zittel, “Woven Histories” threads the needle of an artistic medium that has long been relegated to craft.
Know Before You Go: MoMA became one of the first museums in the world to air condition its galleries in 1939.

Museum of Arts and Design
Temperature Setting: 70°
Current Exhibition: “Saya Woolfalk: Empathetic Universe”
When: Through September 7
Why It’s Worth a Look: Some artists develop their own visual language—Saya Woolfalk has set out to create her own universe. Her work focuses on a fictional race of plant-animal-woman hybrids called “empathetics” who romp, burst, and spiral their way through a technicolor utopia.
Know Before You Go: Though the museum is kept at 70 degrees, the psychedelia of Woolfalk’s densely colored installations is bound to make the galleries feel much more tropical.

Jewish Museum
Temperature Setting: 70°
Current Exhibition: “Ben Shahn, On Nonconformity”
When: Through October 12
Why It’s Worth a Look: From the Great Depression to the Vietnam War, late social realist painter Ben Shahn used his art to advocate for a more socially-aware America. Whether through printmaking that promoted civil rights struggles and union membership, or paintings that protested judicial injustices and McCarthyism, Shahn didn’t shy away from the most pressing issues of his time.
Know Before You Go: The museum may have been built in 1907, but its highly modernized temperature control keeps the space at an even cool.

Frick Collection
Temperature Setting: 70°
Current Exhibition: “Vermeer’s Love Letters”
When: Through August 31
Why It’s Worth a Look: Reopened in the spring after more than five years of renovations, the Frick’s vast mansion and private collection of ancient, classical, and pre-Modern art is once again available to the public with an expanded second story and new galleries to host special exhibitions like “Vermeer’s Love Letters.” 
Know Before You Go: Just a stone’s throw from Central Park, whose 16 spray showers make it a designated cooling center, the UES staple offers a breath of fresh air on a steamy summer day.

Guggenheim
Temperature Setting: 68°
Current Exhibition: “Modern European Currents” 
When: Through March 22, 2026
Why It’s Worth a Look: Drawing from the museum’s expansive archives, the Guggenheim‘s latest show explores a particular moment of cultural upheaval and cross-pollination between the German and Russian avant-garde at the beginning of the 20th century.
Know Before You Go: Tripadvisor user MarkWBoca says, “It wasn’t very cold. My wife often needs a sweater in overly air-conditioned venues. But she didn’t need one during our visit to the Guggenheim.”

Queens Museum
Temperature Setting: 68°
Current Exhibition: “Tiffany’s Lamps: Lighting Luxury”
When: Ongoing
Why It’s Worth a Look: Before there was the Eames chair, there was the Tiffany lamp: an instantly recognizable design object that was the height of luxury in the early 1900s. The delicate, leaded glass pieces, designed by Louis Comfort Tiffany (son of Charles Lewis Tiffany, who founded the iconic Tiffany & Co.), used thousands of glass shards to depict scenes in nature, from wisteria to growing grapes.
Know Before You Go: Sharing neighborly foot traffic with the Queens Botanical Garden and the Queens Zoo, the museum’s offerings present a cool reprieve from outdoor attractions.

Brooklyn Museum
Temperature Setting: 67°
Current Exhibition: “Red Grooms, Mimi Gross, and The Ruckus Construction Co.: Excerpts from Ruckus Manhattan”
When: Through November 2
Why It’s Worth a Look: Thirty years after its initial debut, this 6,400-square-foot “sculptural comic book” is bringing the grit of old New York back to Brooklyn. Think of it as a not-so-life-sized replica of the city: a papier-mâché version of the State Island Ferry, and a seedy 42nd Street bookstore full of less-than-savory characters.
Know Before You Go: The museum is an official NYC cooling center, giving free access to whomever may need respite from the next record-hot summer.