The opening of the hip hop museum in the Bronx is being pushed back to next year, but the delay has not slowed the work happening behind the walls. Progress inside the building is very much being made, and News 12 was given an exclusive look at the future home of hip hop history as part of its Rebuilding the Bronx series.
Guiding the tour was the museum's founder and chief executive, Rocky Buchano, who walked through each of the spaces now taking shape. In one area that does not look like much yet, he explained, visitors will eventually enter through what is set to become the main entrance to the museum, the first step of a journey through the culture's history.
According to Buchano, the project has reached a significant milestone. He said the museum has just passed the 60% mark on the completion of its interior fit-out, the work of installing all of the fixtures on the inside that turn a raw construction site into finished, usable galleries and gathering spaces.
Among the highlights is a space called the culture, which Buchano described as a striking double-height atrium. The room is designed to feature large LED screens along with glass cases that will hold some of hip hop's most valuable artifacts, giving the genre's history a prominent showcase as soon as guests arrive.
The crown jewel of the museum, according to Buchano, is what is being called the unity theater. He described it as a multipurpose room with a contemporary, modern design in which everything is Dolby digital, and said the space seats 172 people, positioning it as a centerpiece for performances, screenings and events.
Beyond the theater, the museum is also building an exhibition space that will feature interactive displays. The idea, as it was laid out on the tour, is that visitors will not simply learn about and look at hip hop's history but will actually get to experience it in a hands-on way. While much of the museum will hold fixed historical and cultural displays, two of the galleries are designed to rotate through changing themes, which could focus on acts like Run DMC or Missy Elliott, or on West Coast hip hop or the dirty South.
For now, the finished museum remains a work in progress, its galleries and theater still coming together floor by floor. The museum is set to open in the spring of 2027, in the Mott Haven section of the Bronx, and anticipation continues to build around an institution meant to enshrine a cultural movement that was born in the borough itself.