9/11 MEMORIAL Northeast corner of Albany and Greenwich Sts., www.911memorial.org

With free admission to both the 9/11 memorial and museum, it’s nice to give back with a gift shop purchase—net proceeds go toward developing and sustaining the organization. While the museum shop offers everything from FDNY and NYPD ornaments to 10th anniversary jewelry, our favorite picks can be found in the book section, particularly Listening Is an Act of Love ($24.95), a medley of StoryCorpxs’ 30,000- plus recorded interviews arranged to show a portrait of American life. For the shopper looking to give a small piece of the memorial to their loved one, the 9/11 Memorial Lapel Pin ($6) is a good pick.

FILM FORUM 209 W. Houston St. (betw. 6th Ave. & Varick St.), www.filmforum.org

While Downtown is known for its selection of indie movie houses, few know that Film Forum is indeed a not-for-profit. The cinema had humble beginnings in 1970, when it consisted of 50 folding chairs, one projector and a $19,000 annual budget. It has since flourished into a three-screen space that shows a fascinating, out-of-the-ordinary collection of films (see Cullen Gallagher’s piece on Film Forum’s silent film series at OTDowntown.com). For the cinéaste or art lover in your life, consider buying them a Film Forum DVD set on varying themes like fashion or dance. The dance set ($65) includes three carefully curated DVDs: Stormy Weather, The Red Shoes and Ballets Russes. Or grab the Maira Kalman—author of the Max books—T-shirt, with six canine cinephiles watching a 3-D movie ($14.95).

GREENWICH VILLAGE SOCIETY FOR HISTORIC PRESERVATION www.gvshp.org

The name is misleading; the GVSHP fights to preserve the architectural heritage and cultural history of buildings in the East Village and Noho as well as Greenwich Village. Founded in 1980, the GVSHP also offers public lectures, tours, exhibitions, school programs, an oral history project and publications. Tucked on their website is a roster of locally themed wares like the GVSHP porcelain holiday ornament bearing an anthemion ($9.99) or a poster of Tony Sarg’s classic 1934 Village map ($17.99).

HOUSING WORKS

For the location nearest you, visit www.housingworks.org While running thrift stores with amazing bargains and a coffee house/bookstore with great brews and good reads, at the end of the day Housing Works’ main mission is to help homeless and HIV/ AIDS-afflicted New Yorkers. Their various entrepreneurial pursuits, which also include a catering company and screenprinting business, all go to fund their main goal. If you are unable to make it to their brick-and-mortar storefronts, Housing Works also boasts a well-organized website, where you can place bids on some truly remarkable items. Last time we checked, a vintage Gucci cross carry bag was going for $75, along with a monogrammed zip case at $45. You can also purchase art, accessories and even furniture, like an Avery Boardman Sleeper Sofa for $175.

TENEMENT MUSEUM 103 Orchard St. (betw. Delancey & Broome Sts.), www.tenement.org

The Tenement Museum aims to preserve and interpret the history of immigration to the Lower East Side by telling the personal experiences of immigrants past and present. While the museum is known for its neighborhood tours, exquisitely restored apartment exhibitions and thought-provoking talks, it also boasts a large selection of funky and chic merchandise at college student prices. Pick up the Tenement tote bag ($8.95) for your farmers market fanatic friend or the gold Skyline desk organizer ($25.95) for your officemate. For those family and friends who celebrate Chanukah, how could you say no to a set of four glasses of the “Heroes of the Torah” ($22.95)?

THE MOTH www.themoth.org

While The Moth, a live storytelling series that started in NYC but is now aired on select NPR stations, might not have a physical store, the not-for-profi t is based in Soho. If you aren’t able to make it or get into the live show—they often sell out—we suggest giving the gift of The Moth by purchasing their Best Of box sets (Volume 1 or 2, $55 each). The stories on these CD compilations are told by some familiar voices, like Jonathan Ames, Malcolm Gladwell and Dan Savage. For a Moth-related present that won’t leave a dent in your wallet, take a peek at their line of “I Moth Stories” T-shirts ($20).

By Penny Gray

Susan Henshaw Jones, president and Ronay Menschel director of the Museum of the City of New York, speaks about the museum’s interim takeover of the South Street Seaport Museum at 12 Fulton St.

How did you become president of the Museum of the City of New York?
I’m a native New Yorker, but I was living in Washington, D.C., heading up the National Building Museum when I got a call because my husband and I were moving back to New York after 10 years in D.C. The call was this job. I started in February 2003 and I have been here ever since.

And it’s been a good match?
Oh, I think so. What attracted me most—what makes me happiest—is the name of our museum. I believe there is so much others can learn from our city. It’s a place of opportunity, diversity and perpetual transformation. The Museum of the City of New York is a testament to that.

The Museum of the City of New York has just taken over at the South Street Seaport Museum. Will this change your role at all?
Well, it’s important to clarify that this is an interim agreement for one year with a six-month possible extension and it started on September 29. We were asked to consider this by the City of New York; they were seeking a solution for the future of the Seaport Museum.

And so they came to you. What’s the solution?
We’re working quickly to show the community and New Yorkers that we can make quick, positive changes down at the Seaport. We have secured funding for the reopening of the boats; we’re winterizing the boats at the moment so they can be opened up by the summer.

We’ve also restarted the school programs; we’re booking programs as we speak and the first school program began November 1. We’ve hired archivists to work in the library, cataloging. The library has been closed to the public for a long while, so it’s badly in need of organization. Hopefully, we’ll even be able to digitize documents and make them available on the website.

Beyond that, we’re exploring strategies for our galleries on Schermerhorn Row. The Seaport has 30,000 square feet of public exhibit space within Schermerhorn Row, so we’re putting together an exhibition of New York’s maritime history, broadly speaking. As of January, we’ll be inviting artists into designated space to put the gallery into use for art installations, performance art, etc. It’s a good time to put the word out about that.

Sounds like you’ve got a lot on your plate. What’s the most difficult aspect of taking on the South Street Seaport Museum?
Undoubtedly, it’s the consideration of the 11 vessels in the Seaport fleet. Up here at the Museum of the City of New York, we haven’t really considered ships, but we embrace them. We are committed to joining these iconic ships with the Schermerhorn Row block, but working out the ins and outs of the vessels is certainly the greatest challenge.

And meanwhile, you continue to run the Museum of the City of New York as well. What’s the greatest challenge there?
Unlike our neighbors down Fifth Avenue, we’re a mid-sized museum entity. We’re a $16 million shop, so raising money in the post-2008 environment is the task at hand. We manage to have a surplus, though, because we’re very responsible.

The Museum of the City of New York is located at 103rd Street and Fifth Avenue, and the Seaport is definitely a Downtown museum. What’s it like working downtown and how does location affect museum culture?
Downtown is really a different place. I spent over a decade working in Lower Manhattan with the [John] Lindsay administration in the ’70s and ’80s, when all of the 24-hour uses of Manhattan were being facilitated. Thanks to the Downtown-Lower Manhattan Association, there’s new life cropping up all over the place, and even the function of Downtown is changing, with new residential areas and new uses. It’s unbelievable. It just goes to show how long it takes for city planning to really take root.

And how can Downtowners become involved in the Seaport Museum?
We need the support of all New Yorkers. We need Downtowners to become members on all levels. It’s not just a source of support, but also of attendance. And if museums aren’t your thing, come on over to Bowne & Company Stationers—it’s a fully functioning 19th-century letterpress. You can get your holiday cards printed here, or cards for any occasion. There are a lot of ways to be involved with the South Street Seaport besides stepping inside of a traditional museum.

Photo courtesy of the Museum of the City of New York

“The idea was to make a tour that would not turn off teenagers and that would make history sound exciting,” said audio producer Lou Giansante, who earned a Peabody award for his documentary work. “The New-York Historical Society is the oldest museum in New York City, believe it or not. I think the word society makes it sound a bit stuffy, but it really isn’t.”

Teens from local public and private schools were among 22 high school interns from New York and New Jersey who were accepted into the seven-month program. The interns explored the museum’s collection, conducted research, drafted the script of the tour and helped narrate the audio.

High school interns, like Grace Lisandrelli and David Baird, read from primary sources, helped with narration and recreated historical sounds for the audio tour.

Students learn about the opportunity through teachers who have established relationships with the museum, while others happen upon the program through the museum’s website.

Browning School senior David Baird, 18, applied for the internship after attending summer lectures at the museum. Inspired by the work of staff members, such as public historian Cathleen Hulser, he now plans to pursue history as a career.

“It introduced us to a lot of the themes of the exhibit, and a lot of the interesting contradictions of the time,” Baird said.

Although Abraham Lincoln’s reception in New York was critical to his successful presidential bid, Baird explained, not all New Yorkers applauded his efforts. Among his detractors were Irish laborers who did not welcome the influx of freed slaves into the job market, New Yorkers protesting the draft and business leaders with strong ties to Southern slaveholders.

“A lot of people know Abraham Lincoln but few people realize the relationship he had with the city,” Baird said.

For the audio tour, interns read from primary sources, helped with the narration and recreated the cries of the Draft Riot mobs, the jubilation in African-American churches following the Emancipation Proclamation and the outpouring of grief at Lincoln’s funeral procession down Broadway.

“We wanted to provide teenagers another way of accessing history,” said Betsy Gibbons, the museum’s manager of high school and college programs. “Through the audio tour, another one of their senses is being activated.”

Visitors can download the tour for free on iTunes, or listen to “tour stops” as they move through the exhibit.

Giansante, who has worked on two other teen audio tours at the museum, finds that teens are particularly adept at conveying their enthusiasm for history to peers.

“Kids like to hear the voice of other kids,” he said. “The idea is that rather than having an adult tell everything and having it sound like school, it’s better to hear it from another kid.”

The exhibit will be on view through March 25. Students interested in applying for the internship can visit www.nyhistory.org/education for more information, or contact Betsy Gibbons at bgibbons@nyhistory.org.