The Tenement Museum welcomes all visitors. We recognize the diverse needs of our audience and offer accessible programs and services to enable all visitors to explore the stories we interpret at the Tenement Museum.
For questions about Museum accessibility and how we can accommodate your specific needs, contact our Visitor Services team by calling (877) 975-3786 or e-mailing [email protected].
Guided tour experiences are the only ways to access our historic buildings. These often include small, narrow spaces. Please note that, depending on the size, motorized scooters may not be able to visit on tours inside our buildings.
The Museum has a limited amount of wheelchairs available to borrow for wheelchair-accessible programs free of charge. To reserve a wheelchair, please call or email us at least 24 hours in advance.
Handling objects are available for our 100 Years Apart, Finding Home, and Tenement Women: 1902 tours. Ask for these materials when you arrive at the Visitor Center.
Visitors can book a free tactile orientation to the Museum before their tour with 2 weeks’ advance notice. Call or email us to schedule.
Assistive listening devices are available on all tours. However, these devices are not compatible with most hearing aids.
For visitors who cannot use an assisted listening device, we can provide simultaneous transcription of the tour on an iPad with at least 24 hours notice. The Museum can also arrange ASL interpretation of a tour with at least 2 weeks notice.
To request simultaneous transcription service or book an ASL interpreter through the Museum, please call or email us.
The subway station to the Museum, the Delancey-Essex F/J/M/Z station, has no elevator. The uptown F platform has an escalator that exits to the street level. The nearest wheelchair-accessible subway station is the B/D/F/M/6 stop at Broadway-Lafayette Street.
The Museum Visitor Center is equipped with universally-designed elevators and elevator-accessible restrooms on the basement level.
Regardless of Museum membership status, all visitors with disabilities can obtain free entry for their care partners upon request.
Service dogs are welcome on all Museum tours. Pets and emotional support animals are not allowed inside our tenement buildings, but can be brought on outdoor neighborhood walking tours.
The Museum offers simultaneous translation aid on our tenement apartment tours using the Forum app. Please note that translation will be limited during parts of our A Union of Hope: 1869, Family Owned, and 100 Years Apart tours due to interactive technical components.
If you are interested in using a translation aid during your visit, please email us for options.
The Museum has been newly equipped with a passive climate control system to preserve our historic buildings and provide visitor comfort. Unlike traditional air conditioning, this means that our spaces are kept at a comfortable temperature, but not chilled. We still encourage visitors to bring water on hot days or use one of our hand fans, provided at our Visitor Services desk.
The Museum Shop, Visitor Center, and theater are fully air-conditioned.
The Tenement Museum offers a special $65 membership for visitors with disabilities. For more information, please call our Membership Office at (646) 518-3007.
The Tenement Museum offers a slate of digital programs – listed on our Upcoming Events – including virtual tours, special events, and scholarly discussions!
We are committed to increasing the accessibility of these virtual programs. To request accommodations, please email us with at least 2 weeks notice.
We are also hosting a small number of accessibility-focused programs. For more information and to be placed on our invite list for these programs, please contact us at [email protected].
Didn’t find the information you needed? Check out our visitors’ most frequently asked questions.
