13. Underpenny Plane and Cast Iron Museum

underpenny plane and cast iron museum
The left side is for sale and the right side is for exhibit only.

What makes the Underpenny Plane and Cast Iron Museum one of the coolest museums in New York is that it’s half a museum and half an antique store. Undsung Park from South Korea owns and curates the museum, having lived in Queens for 22 years. Located at 10-30 5th Avenue, the spot showcases his collection of more than 15 years of 19th-century artifacts including hand planes, trivets, toys and penny banks. The only antiques for sale are on the left side of the space, while any antiques located on the right side are for exhibition.

The museum is located underneath a tenement house in a basement. Park collected his antiques from New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania and New Jersey with trinkets like “ornate penny banks, cast iron trivets, bells, bookends, wood planes, and horse-and-carriage toys.” If you’re ever in the Queens area over a weekend, be sure to visit the museum during their operating hours, Fridays and Saturdays from 12 to 7 p.m.