JQ Magazine: Celebrating the City, RiseNY Reigns Supreme

By JQ magazine editor Justin Tedaldi (CIR Kobe-shi, 2001-02). Justin has written about arts and entertainment in the NYC area for JETAA since 2005. For more of his articles, click here. 

All photos courtesy of MAP360 Collective.

It’s often said that New York is the greatest city in the world, but what makes a city great? Historians might be able to give a complex answer, but for those looking for a fun, family-friendly alternative, head to the heart of Times Square for RiseNY, an immersive experience that also doubles as the greatest tribute to the qualities that make New York so special.

Designed and produced by Running Subway Productions, the Midtown-based entertainment company behind first-rate exhibitions like Titanic: The Artifact Exhibition and Pompeii, RiseNY opened to glowing reviews in March 2022. It can be best described as a three-part journey connecting guests to New York’s most famous sites and moments, and for those hard-to-please critics of all ages, it does all three equally well.

The experience begins with a “subway history tour,” as guests are escorted by a friendly guide into a simulated train that brings to life that first trip from City Hall uptown on October 7, 1904 through the magic of immersive film. From there, a multitude of halls await that showcase different sides of New York, featuring a variety of museum-style galleries designed for all ages and interests. After some geography and early history examining the lives of famous figures like Alexander Hamilton, it’s time to explore architecture, with a model gallery packed with interesting facts (did you know that the world’s first supertall skyscraper was the Chrysler Building? And that a supertall skyscraper exceeds 300 meters in height?).

Next it’s onto media, where guests can enjoy classic broadcasts, view some highlights from the Radio Hall of Fame, and explore the city’s impact on the birth and development of television, with the set from The Honeymooners, an authentic Oscar the Grouch from Sesame Street, the Friends Central Perk couch, and even a late night TV set mockup perfect for socials! For international and multilingual guests, the majority of the content has scannable QR codes that pull up a handy audio guide on your phone, containing multilingual transcriptions in languages like Spanish, Portuguese, French and Italian. RiseNY’s homepage even suggests other local attractions, museums and observatories to visit on a rainy day–talk about a good neighbor!

It wouldn’t be New York without a salute to fashion, and RiseNY serves up dozens of designer outfits (including Madonna’s famous Keith Haring-designed leather jacket), paired with a fascinating series of videos that take you inside the humble beginnings of the Garment District to the rise of Broadway (see Lin-Manuel Miranda’s costume from a premiere performance of Hamilton) and the Met Gala (another fun fact: did you know that the inaugural New York Fashion Week was held way back in 1943?).

Music has made sure that New York remains the city that never sleeps, and RiseNY offers an impressive array of “if I can make it there” memorabilia, including a vintage chair from the Ed Sullivan Theater, a Beatles drumhead and Bob Dylan guitar, and a massive section dedicated to disco, new wave, and the origins of hip-hop with The Notorious B.I.G.’s red monogrammed tracksuit and an interactive turntable for the DJ in all of us. If you’re more of a film buff, treat yourself to a bag of fresh popcorn (hand-served to you!) and enjoy a classic reel of some of New York’s finest portrayals in cinema history on a widescreen theater wall.

After all that hopscotching through history, Rise NY brings everything to a climax with a New Year’s Eve rooftop countdown to 1958. After soaking in the festive atmosphere through newly created TV news reports that capture the vibe, it’s time to soar over the five boroughs of today in a spectacular virtual ride 30 feet in the air. This is achieved through an immersive VR ride set in a 180-degree, 40-foot projection dome complete with 8K aerial footage of the Statue of Liberty, the Empire State Building, Central Park and more iconic landmarks, complete with mist, wind and scents–even the occasional subway critter!

There are ,any words that come to mind after a few hours at RiseNY: appealing, exciting, and unique. All of those things make it great, and like New York City itself those words make it something more: a symbol of excellence that people will continue to talk about, plan a journey to, and fall in love with for years to come.

RiseNY is located at 160 W 45th Street and Seventh Avenue. Admission starts at $40 for children and $44 for adults. For more information, visit https://www.riseny.co.

For more JQ articles, click here.