Neue Galerie Reopens Nov 12: Klimt's Adele, Then Bemelmans Bar

After a restoration of its 1914 Carrère & Hastings mansion, the museum reopens November 12 with the 25th Anniversary Exhibition, which fills every gallery with Austrian and German masterworks. Admission is $28, or $18 for seniors 65+, $15 for students, educators and visitors with disabilities; timed slots can be booked online, and same-day admission can be purchased at the door. Last gallery entry is 5:30 p.m. Aim for a 3:30–4:00 p.m. slot so Klimt's 1907 portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I is not rushed. Photography is not permitted in the galleries and every guest passes bag screening, so budget a few minutes for security.

About a 15-minute walk south, at 35 East 76th Street inside The Carlyle, Ludwig Bemelmans painted the bar's Madeline murals in 1947 and, as the hotel's own history of the room recounts, took a year and a half of family lodging instead of payment. That account also records a 24-karat gold leaf ceiling and ice-skating elephants in the Central Park scenes, and calls the murals the only Bemelmans commission still open to the public. Live music begins at 5:30 p.m. with the pianist's opening set, followed by the jazz trio from 9 p.m. onward; a music cover charge applies from 5:30 p.m. ($20–$25 per person at the bar, $25–$35 per person at tables, depending on the artist).

Walking from 86th to 76th Street links early-20th-century Vienna with post-war Manhattan in one stretch of the Upper East Side. Pack for a hotel bar rather than a museum lobby: the Carlyle asks guests to leave hoodies, shorts and athletic sneakers at home. Opening week highlight: the November First Friday falls on Friday, November 13, with free gallery access from 5 to 8 p.m. Admission is granted on a first-come, first-served basis with an outdoor line and no guaranteed entry; children under 12 will not be admitted, and ages 12–16 must be accompanied by an adult.