7.  The Brooklyn Museum (1897)

The Brooklyn Museum opened in 1897 by the Brooklyn Institute, an organization dedicated to providing education in fine arts and natural sciences. The architecture firm McKim, Mead, & White provided the design for the building, which was never completed in its entirety. In 1934, Philip Youtz became the Museum’s director and removed the Museum’s grand staircase. The staircase would have been twice the height of the staircase at the Metropolitan Museum in Manhattan.Architect James Polshek would later modernize the entrance. To see pictures of the original design, check out The New York City that Never Was: What The Brooklyn Museum Could Have Been.