Published: March 4, 2010

Going to school in the heart of Manhattan can cause you to forget that there are, indeed, four other boroughs in the great city of New York. Most people have been to the Museum of Modern Art or the Museum of Natural History, but here are some museums you might not have ventured to in the other four boroughs of the city.

Museum of the Moving Image: Located in Astoria, Queens, the Museum of the Moving Image focuses on the history and technology of movies. There are also a couple of interactive exhibits in the museum, including one that allows you to put your own voice into classic movies and another that lets you add various sound effects to other movies. Other exhibits include movie wardrobes, music and various other movie memorabilia. The museum also has a theatre that shows classic movies and other films during the weekend and occasionally during the week. For those interested in seeing a schedule for which movies are playing at what time and operating hours of the museum, go to movingimage.us. Admission is free, but a $5 donation is suggested. The museum is open Tuseday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. and is located on 35th Avenue and 36th Street in Astoria.

Brooklyn Museum: The Brooklyn Museum is unsurprisingly located in Brooklyn, and it is currently running an exhibit called “To Live Forever” on the art and the afterlife in ancient Egypt. There are even videos showing what exactly the inside of a mummy looks like thousands of years after the person’s death. The museum has a heavy focus on art from places all over the world—everything from ancient Near Eastern art to contemporary art. Other displays include a 30 foot replica of the Statue of Liberty, 35 representations of individual body parts coming from ancient Egyptian art and an exhibit honoring the jeweler Arthur Smith, known for using a surrealist design.

The museum is located on 200 Eastern Parkway in Brooklyn and the hours of operation are Wednesday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturday and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. It is suggested that students with a valid ID donate $6.

Staten Island Museum: Showing that creative titles are not a museum’s strong suit, the Staten Island Museum, located in Staten Island, is running various exhibits and special events. Current exhibits include a collection of 150 found glass bottles and tips on how to start a collection of your own. For those interested in how a museum collects materials for its displays, there will be 45 works on display with an explanation on how the museum acquires works and the importance of donors. The museum is located at 75 Stuyvesant Place in Staten Island and is open Monday through Friday from 12 p.m. to 5 p.m., on Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and on Sunday from 12 p.m. to 5 p.m. with student admission costing only $1.

Bronx County Historical Society: The Bronx County Historical Society is located at 3309 Bainbridge Avenue in the Bronx. The museum highlights the history of the Bronx and is currently running an exhibit called “The Bronx: Then and Now,” which uses different objects, photographs and paintings to show visitors how the borough has changed over time. The museum is also running an exhibition in tribute to Edgar Allan Poe’s 200th birthday. Poe spent his last years in the Bronx, with his former residence now turned into a historic house museum. The Bronx County Historical Society is open on Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and on Sunday from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. with weekday tours by appointment.

With so many museums located in places that are not named Manhattan, there is no excuse for missing any of these museums when everything is just a short subway ride away.