Events

See the sights of lower Manhattan with Phil Desiere. We will learn about The Battery, the Custom House, Charging Bull (and Fearless Girl), Trinity Churchyard and Hamilton's grave, Wall Street, St. Paul's Chapel (we'll visit the interior) and City Hall Park. Cost: $30 / $20 Members.

The Hamilton Heights/Sugar Hill plateau overlooking upper Harlem developed around the storied 18th and 19th century country estates of such notable figures as Alexander Hamilton and Madame Eliza Jumel. These two historic houses still bookend the district. Starting from the Hamilton Grange, and ending at the Morris-Jumel Mansion, discover many of the stories that overflow the route in between with tour leader Eric K. Washington. Some highlights will include sites associated with Black Harlem's fashionable cafe society, the herculean Old Croton Aqueduct system, the James Bailey mansion, community gardens, the City College of New York, the Dance Theatre of Harlem, vestiges of old Carmansville, the former 32nd Precinct Mounted Police Station house, Trinity Church Cemetery and much more. Note: the tour ends at Marjorie Eliot's famous annual "Jazz at the Mansion" on the lawn of the historic Morris-Jumel Mansion. Cost: $30 / $20 Members.

High up on a hill, its streets lined with modest but attractive six-story Art Deco apartment houses, Washington Heights has more in common with West Bronx neighborhoods just across the Harlem River than with the rest of Manhattan. Many of the same architects who worked on the Grand Concourse also designed apartment buildings on or near Fort Washington Avenue - we will see work by Horace Ginsbern, Jacob Felson, Israel Crausman, Miller and Goldhammer, Charles Kreymborg, and H. Herbert Lillien. Two taller apartment buildings, by Boak and Paris, offer a more idiosyncratic take on the modernism of the 1930s. This walk with Anthony W. Robins will also include a one-story taxpayer, and one of the city's few frankly Deco subway entrances. But the star attraction is the Fourth Church of Christ, Scientist (now the Hebrew Tabernacle of Washington Heights), one of perhaps a dozen or so Art Deco houses of worship anywhere in the city. Cost: $30 / $20 Members.

Fulton is a hard street to know. On weekdays it is very crowded. The close-packed buildings are a real jumble. Join Francis Morrone for this downtown tour. We will explore the neighborhood around this important and historic downtown street. Along the way we will consider maritime New York, see some of downtown's most interesting buildings, explore some unexpected literary associations, and conclude at the new Liberty Park. Cost: $30 / $20 Members.

After the Civil War, the stewards of our young nation sought to develop artists with talent to rival that of Old Europe. Their goal was to elevate the level of refinement of the average American, and prove that we could be preoccupied with more than the almighty Buck! On this pleasant trek along Museum Mile, tour guide Deborah Zelcer will show how the keepers of our first cultural collections defined art and decided what would or would not hang within their walls. Tour includes viewing and discussion of the exterior of the National Academy of Design, the Whitney Museum uptown, the landmarked Metropolitan and Guggenheim Museums, and details about their newer incarnations. And, learn about how our government secretly manipulated the art world for political gain worldwide...(shhhh)! Cost: $30 / $20 Members.

Join 6sqft Senior Editor Dana Schulz for a look at two very different but equally unique suburban-like enclaves in Manhattan. The tour will begin in Stuyvesant Town, exploring its Robert Moses-era incarnation as affordable housing for WWII veterans and its current function as hip East Village apartments with an affordable housing commitment. We'll also visit Stuyvesant Square, a charming neighborhood that was one of the early 20th century's most fashionable addresses, with Greek Revival townhouses surrounding the beautifully landscaped public spaces. Cost: $30 / $20 Members.

The focus of this tour with art historian Sylvia Laudien-Meo will primarily be public art. We'll enjoy views of midtown Manhattan along the Queens East River waterfront. We will visit the Socrates Sculpture Garden, which is currently featuring an exhibition by Jamaican-born, New York-based artist Nari Ward: "G.O.A.T., again." Ward is a leading artist in the field of contemporary public sculpture. We will also visit a small residential enclave in Astoria, where the walls are continuously being decorated with murals by many internationally famous street artists. The final stop will be the nearby Isamu Noguchi Museum, one of the first major art institutions in the area, with a collection of this Japanese American artist who helped redefine 20th century modern public art, memorials, playground design, stage sets, and also created furniture, light fixtures, and much more. His works can be found throughout Manhattan. The Noguchi Museum has graciously included complimentary admission for you, so you may explore their collection at the conclusion of the tour. Cost: $30 / $20 Members.

Located below Houston Street between 6th Avenue and West Broadway, this portion of the South Village is often thought by many to be part of SoHo. But it is architecturally quite different, with no cast iron structures but rather structures similar to those just below Washington Square. The obliteration of such landmarks as 186 Spring Sreett, often considered "the LGBT Independence Hall" and the architecturally significant Tunnel Garage had given rise to much concern over the protection of architectural and historic resources in the area. The cache of adjacent SoHo, intensive nearby development on 6th Avenue and in the new rezoned Hudson Square, had only increased pressures on the area. What now remains are over 150 buildings including St. Anthony of Padua Church (the oldest extant Italian-American Church in the country); unique early reform housing/model tenements built by and for immigrants along Thompson and Sullivan Streets; townhouses reflecting the Federal and Greek Revival periods and fascinating vestiges of the days when the area was the city's most significant African American quarter, hiding in plain site. After a decade-long campaign to gain protection via historic district status for this portion of the South Village, the Landmarks Preservation Commission finally designated the Sullivan-Thompson Historic District in December. Join Laurence Frommer to investigate one of the city's newest historic districts! Cost: $30 / $20 Members.

This tour led by Francis Morrone focuses on the neighborhood centered on the bustling intersection of Flatbush Avenue and Church Avenue. This includes the historic 18th-century Flatbush Reformed Dutch Church, Erasmus Hall High School, the old Flatbush Town Hall, the heart of the Caribbean community that has transformed Flatbush Avenue into its own electric high street, and the improbably magnificent turn of the century planned community of mansions and villas called Prospect Park South (including the "Sophie's Choice" house)--Scarsdale eat your heart out. Cost: $30 / $20 Members.

Once part of Westchester County, City Island in the Bronx has a rich history that includes fishing, farming, shipbuilding, sailmaking, the America's Cup, and much more. Join Barbara Burn Dolensek of the City Island Historical Society for a walk around this maritime community. Stops include the City Island Nautical Museum, several sites on the National Register of Historic Places, a shady public park and soldiers' memorial, and maybe a yacht club or two. Plan on spending the whole day - do some shopping, have a late lunch/early dinner, and enjoy the crafts fair. Arrive early to spend extra time in the Nautical Museum. Cost: $30 / $20 Members

Every neighborhood has at least one street that defines it. Central Brooklyn's neighborhoods grew organically over the centuries, often combining the best of residential, commercial and industrial architecture. Crown Heights has several of these streets, but we've picked just one - chock full of great architecture and history, and a fine cast of characters who shaped the area, and Brooklyn. Join architectural historians Suzanne Spellen and Morgan Munsey for this tour of a neighborhood, as distilled through walking down one street in Crown Heights North. Cost: $30 / $20 Members.

Atlantic Avenue has been one of Brooklyn's most dynamic commercial thoroughfares for over 150 years. Mack Truck, Benjamin Mooore Paints, Corning Glass Works, and Ex-Lax all got their starts on Atlantic Avenue. This diverse retail and dining destination connects the historic neighborhoods of Boerum Hill, Brooklyn Heights, and Cobble Hill. Join Brooklyn native Joe Svehlak on a walk to discuss Atlantic Avenue's architecture, social, and commercial history, and recent development. The variety of commercial, religious, civic, and residential architecture, combining the old and the new, is a testament to the vitality of Atlantic Avenue. In addition to the old and new Arabic shopping centers, there are many specialty shops and a wide selection of dining establishments. On our walk we will also view a former brewery, several religious sites, and a mural depicting Atlantic Avenue's history and significance. Cost: $30 / $20 Members.

Old Astoria Village can only be in a place like Queens. On this tour with Bob Singleton, Executive Director of the Greater Astoria Historical Society, we walk on streets older than Wall Street that trace the outline of the 17th century Hallett farm, and past dozens of buildings, in various styles from the 1700s to the early 20th century. Lacking landmark protection, about half of the community was destroyed in the past 20 years, including parts of an 1812 fort, and a school from 1828, a legacy of John Jacob Astor. Old Astoria remains the largest community in NYC unprotected by landmark designation. We walk by the city's greatest maritime disaster, the site of Native-American Villages, the Hell Gate and Triborough (RFK) bridges, and will discuss briefly the Astoria Houses and the new developments at Halletts and Astoria Coves. Cost: $30 / $20 Members.

In the early 20th century New York City dedicated for the welfare of New Yorkers a swath of land in Staten Island almost the size of Central Park to three institutions: the New York City Farm Colony for the Indigent, Seaview Hospital for tuberculosis patients, and, in the 1940s, the Willowbrook State School for the Insane (See Geraldo Rivera's expose on YouTube) -- institutions for which the city built numerous structures, but that lasted only about 50 years. With guide Jean Arrington we'll explore the Willowbrook School campus (Now the College of Staten Island) and the grounds of Seaview Hospital, some of whose 37 landmarked buildings are finally being repurposed. We'll walk along the edge of the Farm Colony with glimpses of derelict landmarked buildings. (This tour was originally scheduled for May 13 but had to be postponed.) Cost: $30 / $20 Members.

Nearly a century after it was first conceived, the Second Avenue Subway is finally open. Join Dana Schulz, Senior Editor at 6sqft, for a tour of the $4 billion infrastructure project, including its long history, architectural design, and engineering feats. We'll also view the impressive collection of public art from Chuck Close, Sarah Sze, Vik Muniz, and Jean Shin, learning about these contemporary artists, how they were chosen, and the significance behind their work. PLEASE NOTE: Subway fare is not included on this tour, and you will need to bring your own MetroCard. Cost: $30 / $20 Members.

The traditional storefront in New York City that has prevailed in some cases for over a century is facing several new setbacks. These family-run businesses started out as traditional mom-and-pop stores passed down from generation to generation, and there was a time when they defined our neighborhoods. Many were humble stores tucked away on narrow side streets, while others had become well-known institutions on historic avenues. Each store turned out to be as unique as their customers, run by owners with a commitment to tradition and special service. Not only are these modest small businesses falling away in the face of modernization, gentrification, and conformity, the once unique appearance and character of our colorful streets suffers in the process. A diverse mix of Jewish, Italian, Irish, German, Polish, Ukrainian, Chinese and Hispanic mom and pop storefronts will be visited including many culinary specialty stores. Join guides and MAS Summit speakers James and Karla Murray, the photographers and authors of "STORE FRONT: The Disappearing Face of New York" "Store Front II- A History Preserved" and New York Nights," as they visit some of the remarkable East Village and Lower East Side storefronts documented in their books, and remember those which have disappeared. Unique 19th and 20th century retail graphics and neon signage as well as architectural adornments will be discussed. Cost: $30 / $20 Members.

Join Francis Morrone for a stroll through St. George, Staten Island, including the waterfront with its exciting esplanade, ferry terminal, and Masayuki Sono's highly regarded 9/11 memorial; the monumental Beaux-Arts Staten Island Borough Hall and Richmond County Courthouse (by Carrère and Hastings); and the St. George Historic District, designated in 1994, which includes, among much else, several wonderful 1890s Shingle Style houses by Edward Alfred Sargent. Join us for a stroll through St. George, Staten Island, including the waterfront with its exciting esplanade, ferry terminal, and Masayuki Sono's highly regarded 9/11 memorial; the monumental Beaux-Arts Staten Island Borough Hall and Richmond County Courthouse (by Carrère and Hastings); and the St. George Historic District, designated in 1994, which includes, among much else, several wonderful 1890s Shingle Style houses by Edward Alfred Sargent. Cost: $30 / $20 Members.

Beyond Columbus Circle new construction is rapidly transforming what was once an overlooked neighborhood. Join historian Matt Postal and explore the re-developing West 50s, between Hell's Kitchen and Lincoln Center, where many new structures are rising or have just been completed. Works by star-architects and local firms will be viewed, including the expanded campuses of Fordham University and John Jay College of Criminal Justice, the emerging Waterline Square ensemble, and Via 57 West, a startling pyramid-like tower by the Danish architect Bjarke Ingels. Structures of historic significance will also be addressed, particularly McKim Mead and White's colossal IRT power house of 1904. Cost: $30 / $20 Members.

Residential architecture of the Gilded Age is probably better represented in the area covered on these tours than anywhere else in New York. Join Alan M. Engler, MD for these informative and entertaining walks focusing on the history and architecture -- and scandals - of New York in the Gilded Age. See how names like Frick, Vanderbilt, Richard Morris Hunt and McKim, Mead and White have left their mark in this neighborhood. From Huguette Clark to the crime of the century, see what you've been missing when you walk through these streets. And, as always, don't forget to look up! Cost: $30 / $20 Members.

This new tour with Anthony W. Robins begins at the edge of the financial district and continues into the Civic Center with the Federal Post Office, a WPA product of the Modern Classic; and three remarkable municipal buildings at the northern tip of the Foley Square courts district: the New York State Building, the Health, Hospitals and Sanitation Building and the Manhattan Criminal Courthouse. Star architect of the walk is Ralph Walker, designer of three communications-related behemoths: the delightfully decorative New York Telephone Company headquarters, the ponderously massive Western Union Building,and the Long Lines Building which is both massive and decorative. Mr. Robins's latest book, New York Art Deco: A Guide to Gotham's Jazz Age Architecture, is now available. He was recently honored by the Guides Association of New York City with their Guiding Spirit award. Cost: $30 / $20 Members.

From its inception in 1652 as a suburb of New Amsterdam, Elmhurst has been a microcosm of Queens, exemplifying its independent spirit and struggle to be recognized on its own merits. Join 30-year Queens resident, popular Jane's Walk host, and Grand Central docent Linda Fisher on this tour that will will trace the development of Elmhurst from its participation in the Flushing Remonstrance in 1657 to its current renown as the most ethnically diverse area on the planet. We will decode the Queens street grid, follow the trail of railroads, trolleys and buses and see the only subway station on the National Register of Historic Places. We will poke into a Greek pizza parlor with an Indian name, a C.B.J. Snyder Flemish Renaissance high school and learn the story of Mary Sendak, the legendary holdout of Queens Boulevard. From the hodgepodge streets of Elmhurst we will continue into the garden community of Jackson Heights and explore the historic district created by Eddie MacDougall and the Queensboro Corporation. The tour will end in Little India, amid the samosa and sari shops, near all transit, just in time for lunch. Cost: $30 / $20 Members.

On the occasion of its 60th anniversary, Francis Morrone will retrace the route of Henry Hope Reed's fourth MAS walking tour, which took in quite an area, in what is now known as the East Village, NoHo, and NoLita. In 1957 this was a mostly "downmarket" part of Manhattan, and many of the tourgoers had spent little time in the area. What they saw was new to them but what was mostly new, and truly revelatory, was Mr. Reed's eloquent assertion that the buildings they saw - not just the churches but the grimy industrial buildings and rundown tenements - were beautiful, historic, and worthy of preservation. Today we take such thoughts for granted. On this tour we will try to recapture the mindset of 1957, and also look at how things have changed in what is now a very fashionable part of town. Cost: $30 / $20 Members.

New York City is the art capital of the world! Join art historian Sylvia Laudien-Meo and visit 6 to 8 of the most interesting shows -- some by one artist, others are group shows. There are always interesting connections and comparisons to be made on this tour that will spur our lively discussions. Please note that this tour is limited to 20 people. Cost: $30 / $20 Members.

Join tour guide Diana Gold to explore iconic locations on Manhattan's Upper West Side. The area was claimed by the Dutch after a great deal of conflict with the Munsee Indians. Bloemendal, known for Dutch tobacco farms, became the anglicized Bloomingdale area. The dusty Bloomingdale Road, (now Broadway) conveyed wealthy downtown merchants to their weekend country estates which stood interspersed with lean-to shanties. The Upper West Side's rugged topography allowed the area to remain mostly undeveloped through the late 1800's. The 1900's brought new industrial techniques and the Ninth Avenue elevated train brought people to an area that to this day, alternates privilege and privation. Countless episodes of Law and Order as well as the 10-time Academy Award winning movie, West Side Story, have this legendary neighborhood as their backdrop. [This tour is a great prelude for those holding matinee tickets for Lincoln Center performances.] Cost: $30 / $20 Members.

From flophouses to penthouses, the Bowery has seen it all. Native American footpath, Dutch farm road and site of NYC's first free black settlement, the Bowery was an early social hub for the working class, gangs, gays, and immigrant Irish, Italians, Chinese, Jews and Germans, Stephen Crane called it "the most interesting place in New York." The Bowery has important links to Washington, Lincoln, baseball, streetcars, tap dance, tattoo, minstrelsy, Yiddish theater, vaudeville, Stephen Foster, Irving Berlin, Harry Houdini, and Mae West. A long-time home to rescue missions, affordable jewelry, lighting and restaurant supply districts, and an artist community, NYC's oldest, most architecturally diverse street--including its oldest brick house-- was named to the National Register of Historic Places in 2013. Despite such honors, it is one of the city's most endangered historic treasures. Join David Mulkins of Bowery Alliance of Neighbors for this tour. Cost: $30 / $20 Members.

This walking tour with architectural historian Matt Postal examines the Upper West Side crossroads known as Lincoln Square, from its bohemian origins at the start of the 20th century to the present day. We'll discuss the impact of Central Park and subsequent transit improvements, as well as the "studio building" phenomena, which transformed West 67th Street into one of Manhattan's more unusual and picturesque blocks. How Lincoln Center got its name will be discussed, as well as the lasting impact of this important cultural complex on the immediate neighborhood. Cost: $30 / $20 Members.

Every neighborhood has at least one street that defines it. Central Brooklyn's neighborhoods grew organically over the centuries, often combining the best of residential, commercial and industrial architecture. Bedford Stuyvesant has several of these streets, but we've picked just one -- chock full of great residential architecture and history, and a fine cast of characters who shaped the area, and Brooklyn. Join architectural historians Suzanne Spellen and Morgan Munsey for this tour of a neighborhood, as distilled through walking down one street in Bed Stuy. Cost: $30 / $20 Members.

Take a walk through a neighborhood that has an identity as bound to the water as any place in America. Long gone are the days of the busy docks, of the longshoremen and stevedores depicted in "On the Waterfront" (1954). Today, Red Hook is home to the vast Red Hook Houses and, nearer the water, a gentrifying residential community and a host of new waterfront amenities, chief among them Lee Weintraub's Erie Basin Park, built as part of the controversial Ikea store. Waterfront warehouses and piers have been rehabilitated in recent years, and the Queen Elizabeth II docks at historic old Atlantic Basin. With guide Francis Morrone, we will walk the waterfront but also the inland streets of Red Hook and see how an old waterfront community has become a new waterfront community. Cost: $30 / $20 Members.

Residential architecture of the Gilded Age is probably better represented in the area covered on these tours than anywhere else in New York. Join Alan M. Engler, MD for these informative and entertaining walks focusing on the history and architecture - and scandals - of New York in the Gilded Age. See how names like Frick, Vanderbilt, Richard Morris Hunt and McKim, Mead and White have left their mark in this neighborhood. From Huguette Clark to the crime of the century, see what you've been missing when you walk through these streets. And, as always, don't forget to look up! Cost: $30 / $20 Members.

Architectural historian and author, Anthony W. Robins takes us to Midtown Manhattan's major boulevard of Art Deco skyscrapers. Star architect of the walk is crusty modernist Raymond Hood; we will visit three of his four skyscrapers: the Daily News, American Radiator, and McGraw-Hill. The star building, once the world's tallest, is the one and only Chrysler, whose architect, William Van Alen, was once called the Ziegfeld of his profession. We will also visit the Chanin and Paramount Buildings. Mr. Robins's latest bookNew York Art Deco: A Guide to Gotham's Jazz Age Architectureis now available. He was recently honored by the Guides Association of New York City with theirGuiding Spirit award. Cost: $30 / $20 Members.

Experience the changing face of Gowanus with architectural historian and guide Matt Postal, from its days as a busy industrial waterway to the more glamorous present moment, viewing the city's oldest concrete structure and oldest retractile bridge (both New York City Landmarks). We'll also see new notable residential buildings and commercial spaces along the way. Cost: $30 / $20 Members.

Poet Elizabeth Bishop spent many years ghosting in and out of New York City. Her travels led her from Europe, to Brazil, to Key West, Florida, and Boston, but time and again she landed back in the city that both enthralled and intimidated her. For her fans, New York is a living reminder of her life and work. In Greenwich Village, Bishop befriended a small circle of writers and academics, among them Louise Crane, Mary McCarthy, Donald Stanford, and later, the renowned poet Marianne Moore, who gave her the confidence to believe in her own work and develop it. It was in and around Greenwich Village that Bishop honed a style full of both lyrical power and sensual acuity that is still widely read and loved today. On Charles Street in 1934 Bishop made her first NYC home in a tiny poet-in-a-garret apartment with a budget that anecdotally allowed for the purchase of one piece of furniture per month. On King Street Bishop kept her longest address in the city and while here published her first volume of poetry, North and South, which was deluged with critical praise and later won her the Pulitzer prize. She also contributed short stories to The New Yorker in this years. Typical of her vexed relationship with the city, she left this home for a physchiatric hospital during the same year she was US Poet Laureate. In a two-story home on Perry Street in 1942 she first met her long term romantic partner, Brazilian architect Lota de Macedo Soares, whom she would follow to Brazil for many years and it was here that the two were staying when Lota committed suicide, in 1967. Join Laurence Frommer on an exploration of this great poet's often tempestuous affair with a city that was so formative to her talent. Cost: $30 / $20 Members.

Bay Ridge is a neighborhood of surprises like no other in New York. The housing stock is as varied as any in the city, with mansions, row houses, suburban cul-de-sacs and humongous apartment blocks, including Ernest Flagg's pioneering model development called Flagg Court. In addition, the shorefront parks, part of Robert Moses' Belt Parkway development in the 1930s, are beautiful promenades with heart-stopping vistas onto the harbor and the great Verrazano Bridge. We will visit the beguiling Owl's Head Park, one of New York's unsung treasures. Francis Morrone leads this tour. Cost: $30 / $20 Members.