Events

[In-person tour] The Municipal Art Society (MAS) has been leading tours of New York’s famous Grand Central Terminal longer than any other tour operator. In fact, MAS saved Grand Central back in the 1970s with the legendary help of our board member Jacqueline Onassis. Join us for a 75-to-90 minute exploration of one of New York’s most beautiful and beloved buildings. Our licensed tour leaders will fill you in on the history and the architecture and take you to some special places that many New Yorkers don’t even know about.

For all tours, there are no refunds, cancellations, or exchanges unless we cancel a tour. Online registration closes one hour prior to the tour start time.

[In-person tour] Learn more about one of New York City’s most celebrated boulevards, the Grand Concourse of Bronx County. Led by historian Sam Goodman, we will visit numerous buildings as we come to understand the neighborhood’s dynamic history. We’ll examine why this community was built, why it thrived and why it still remains a place where hope and aspiration sustains those who reside here today. While good weather is never a certainty, what is certain is that your perceptions of the Grand Concourse and its people will be forever changed after this neighborhood tour. [Note: this tour may last longer than two hours.]

For all tours, there are no refunds, cancellations, or exchanges unless we cancel a tour. Online registration closes one hour prior to the tour start time.

[In-person tour] The Municipal Art Society (MAS) has been leading tours of New York’s famous Grand Central Terminal longer than any other tour operator. In fact, MAS saved Grand Central back in the 1970s with the legendary help of our board member Jacqueline Onassis. Join us for a 75-to-90 minute exploration of one of New York’s most beautiful and beloved buildings. Our licensed tour leaders will fill you in on the history and the architecture and take you to some special places that many New Yorkers don’t even know about.

For all tours, there are no refunds, cancellations, or exchanges unless we cancel a tour. Online registration closes one hour prior to the tour start time.

[In-person Tour] In the 1800s, Five Points was a notorious slum in lower Manhattan, infamous for decades as New York City's center of violent crime, unemployment, prostitution, gambling, infectious diseases, and filth. "What place is this, to which the squalid street conducts us?" wrote Charles Dickens, upon a visit in 1842. "Debauchery has made the very houses prematurely old." Within these overcrowded wooden tenements, however, was one of America's first melting pots, where newly-emancipated African Americans lived next door to recent Irish immigrants. The rampant squalor led to efforts by various charities to try to help the poor, but eventually the slum was cleared through wholesale demolition. Today, though little remains of the neighborhood, stories and tales associated with various locations live on, most notably in the 2002 Martin Scorsese film "Gangs of New York." Join guide Lloyd Trufelman for a tour of the sites of the Old Brewery/Mission House, Bandit's Roost, Collect Pond, and other places where the voices of Five Points echo through our modern streets. [Please note this is NOT a "Halloween" tour.]

For all tours, there are no refunds, cancellations, or exchanges unless we cancel a tour. Online registration closes one hour prior to the tour start time.

[Virtual tour] Let's dive into the stories behind prominent city landmarks, their design and construction, their reuse and conservation, or those unlucky enough to be redeveloped. WIth preservationist and historian James Russiello, we'll uncover the often forgotten stories behind monuments, buildings, and plaques that reflect changing agendas over time. From monuments that just barely survived to prominent homes and religious properties reused as frat houses, Off Broadway theaters, and classic dives, New York has seen it all and many of the city's most beloved properties have been enriched by the past use

For all tours, there are no refunds, cancellations, or exchanges unless we cancel a tour. Online registration closes one hour prior to the tour start time.

[In-person tour] Architect Cass Gilbert has received accolades as the father of the modern skyline for skyscrapers like the Woolworth Building. However, his commercial and industrial work, much of which still exists in working order, is nearly a footnote in his portfolio. The Brooklyn Army Terminal, designed for troop and goods movement during World War I, exemplifies his incredible ability to be innovative in engineering and to highlight and embrace utilitarian features, while also still being fully aware of the significance of aesthetics. BAT has continued to be a lively work space and the 97-acre site is taking on a whole new role along the South Brooklyn waterfront. Architectural historian Melanie Macchio will share insight into the history of the building as well as the surrounding industrial and residential Sunset Park neighborhood that inspired the building's location. And you can take the ferry back to Manhattan.

For all tours, there are no refunds, cancellations, or exchanges unless we cancel a tour. Online registration closes one hour prior to the tour start time.

[In-person tour] The Municipal Art Society (MAS) has been leading tours of New York’s famous Grand Central Terminal longer than any other tour operator. In fact, MAS saved Grand Central back in the 1970s with the legendary help of our board member Jacqueline Onassis. Join us for a 75-to-90 minute exploration of one of New York’s most beautiful and beloved buildings. Our licensed tour leaders will fill you in on the history and the architecture and take you to some special places that many New Yorkers don’t even know about.

For all tours, there are no refunds, cancellations, or exchanges unless we cancel a tour. Online registration closes one hour prior to the tour start time.

[In-person tour] From sculptures to mosaics to murals on canvas, Rockefeller Center bursts with a remarkable collection of artwork, most of it in the Art Deco style. All of it is meant to support the vision of the Center’s founder and namesake, John D. Rockefeller, Jr. Man’s achievements of the spirit, in science, and in industry are stressed, mainly in allegorical ways. Join Phil Desiere to learn about the Center’s famous and not-so famous artworks and how they emphasize the importance of education, wisdom, and international trade.

For all tours, there are no refunds, cancellations, or exchanges unless we cancel a tour. Online registration closes one hour prior to the tour start time.

[Virtual tour] Mary Cassatt is among the most important and innovative American Impressionist painters who lived as an expat in Paris, working closely with Edgar Degas and other leading artists of the time, exploring new modern techniques in printing and the use of pastel. She also played a leading role in the creation of American art collections like that of the Havemayer family, now part of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. While her work is extremely beautiful and relatable in its depiction of women and children, her approach was quite progressive and even feminist in many ways, and she even contributed to the women’s building at the Chicago World’s Fair in 1893! Join art historian Sylvia Laudien-Meo for this virtual tour.

For all tours, there are no refunds, cancellations, or exchanges unless we cancel a tour. Online registration closes one hour prior to the tour start time.

The Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis (JKO) Medal is awarded annually to individuals who, through vision, leadership, and philanthropy, have made an extraordinary contribution to New York City. The award was originally presented as the President's Medal in 1952. It was renamed in honor of Mrs. Onassis in 1994 to commemorate her partnership with the Municipal Art Society to preserve great architecture in New York City.

The 2025 JKO Medal Celebration will honor Elizabeth Diller and Annabelle Selldorf, two groundbreaking architects whose vision has transformed the built environment of New York City.