New York - June 29, 2002 (PRN): What do the New York Mets, the US Open and LaGuardia Airport have in common with world-renowned artists Pablo Picasso and Vincent Van Gogh? They all reside in New York's newest cultural hot-spot -- Queens. After spending 70-years under the same roof in midtown Manhattan, The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is taking its world-renowned collection of 100,000 works and moving on over to Queens.

While MoMA's extensive renovation continues at its 53rd Street location, MoMA QNS - as MoMA's new home is called - is just a quick subway ride from Manhattan. MoMA, which owns masterpieces by Van Gogh, Monet, Dali, Pollock, Warhol, Cezanne, and many others, opens with five inaugural exhibitions on June 29th. The Museum will also show its complete automotive collection for the first time, six automobiles, including a sleek Cisitalia, a Ferrari Formula 1 racing car, a classic Volkswagen beetle and a Jaguar E-type. Also on view will be favorites such as Mondrian's "Broadway Boogie Woogie", Picasso's "Les Demoiselles d'Avignon", and Van Gogh's "Starry Night". Next year, MoMA Queens will have a blockbuster show of works by Picasso and Matisse.

With the challenge of moving priceless works of modern art behind them, the Museum is now working to re-focus the attention of art lovers and out of town tourists to the highly energized and lively arts environment of Long Island City, Queens. With other nearby attractions, such as Shea Stadium, Silvercup Studios (where Sex & the City is filmed), the American Museum of the Moving Image and PS1 Contemporary Art Center, MoMA QNS hopes to attract art enthusiasts from around the world.

The Museum's official dedication is June 27th, and MoMA QNS will be open to the public free of charge from 10:00 AM to 10:00 PM, on June 29th and 30th.

Visit MoMA QNS on 33rd Street at Queens Blvd., Long Island City. For more information, visit www.moma.org