After nearly 30 years at the Villard Houses, MAS is moving its headquarters to the Steinway Hall Building, at 111 W.57th Street in mid-January. As we prepare to vacate our erstwhile home, we took the opportunity to consider the history of this notable palazzo-style brownstone building that was originally built as six townhouses. And who better to do this with than MAS Richard Morris Hunt Patron, Clarence Fahnestock Michalis, who was born in the Villard Houses at 455 Madison Avenue more than 80 years ago?

MAS Director of Annual Giving, Robin Lynn, traces the early days of these buildings with Mr. Michalis, whose great-grandfather was the first occupant of 457 Madison Avenue, and reflects on their changing identity and ownership over the intervening 124 years.

Click the ‘play’ icon on the player above to listen to this podcast or click here to launch iTunes and download the file to your mp3 player.

To learn more about MAS Richard Morris Hunt Patrons program or other levels of MAS membership, visit MAS.org/membership.

Although now known for its dance nights and rock concerts, Webster Hall is in fact an incredibly culturally significant site. Designed as a “hall for hire” in 1886 by Charles Rentz, Webster Hall was available for rental by diverse groups from its inception. For more than 120 years, the Queen Anne-style assembly hall, located at 119-125 East 11th Street, has hosted a wide array of events, including debutante balls, society dinners, wrestling matches, political rallies, union meetings, bohemian costume parties and musical performances.

Political parties, movements and figures were an important part of Webster Hall’s activities. In 1892, two different groups met at Webster Hall to endorse presidential candidate Grover Cleveland, and Emma Goldman was a frequent orator there in the early 20th century. In 1912, activist Margaret Sanger fed 119 children at the hall because their millworker parents had been on strike for weeks in Lawrence, Massachusetts. Webster Hall was also where the founding convention of the Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America (ACWA) took place in December 1914; where the defense committee for Sacco and Vanzetti met in the 1920s; where anti-Fascists adopted a resolution condemning Mussolini in 1930; and where sixty German-American organizations congregated to pledge their loyalty to the U.S. in 1942. Continue Reading>>

Artist and editor of the new book The New York City Museum of Complaint Matthew Bakkom and Tamara Coombs of MAS take us on a nostalgic, yet grumpy, journey through New York City’s archives looking at letters of complaint to the Mayor from 1751 to 1969.

Ranging in subject from the removal of dead animals to lost baseballs to accusations of corruption, the book’s 132 letters not only chronicle issues affecting New Yorkers through the ages but also the development of their voice as citizens.

Join us on Tuesday, December 1, at 7:00 p.m. when Bakkom will be joined by director of the NYC Municipal Archives Kenneth Cobb and celebrated writer, poet and native New Yorker Philip Lopate who will read from selected letters from the book. Reservations and prepayment are recommended. Purchase tickets online or call 212-935-2075. A reception will follow the program during which signed copies of the book will be available from the MAS bookstore, Urban Center Books. Continue Reading>>

Tonight, in honor of the 400th anniversary of Henry Hudson’s historic voyage, we are heading up the river that bears his name. A limited number of tickets are still available ($75, $50 MAS members), but advanced sales are now closed. Please show up at Pier 83, at 42nd Street and 12th Avenue (MAP) to buy your tickets.

Please note: The Circle Line boat will sail on time at 6:00 p.m., rain or shine. To ensure that you are boarded in good time, we recommend that you arrive at Pier 83 (at 42nd St. & 12th Ave.) by 5:30 p.m. if you purchased tickets in advance — and earlier if you need to buy them on-site — as we cannot delay departure for late-comers.

Those who purchased your ticket/s online in advance, please remember to bring your e-mail receipt with you: it is your ticket. If you reserved over the phone, please check-in at the desk (look for the yellow balloons) to obtain your ticket before trying to board.

You may bring a picnic supper with you, though food and beverages, including wine and beer, are available for purchase on board. Guests are not permitted to bring their own alcoholic beverages.

Please call Katie Skelly on 212 935 2075 before 4:00 p.m. today (July 29) with any questions.

In honor of the 400th anniversary of Henry Hudson’s historic voyage, we are heading up the river that bears his name next Wednesday on the 18th MAS Annual Boat Tour. We’ll learn about the changing fortunes and some ongoing struggles concerning the river and its shoreline, as well as the storied past and present of the region. Early on, we’ll enjoy commentary by the inimitable Francis Morrone to accompany views of the buildings and parks lining the Upper West Side. Beyond Manhattan, we will continue with the Palisades to our port side and Spuyten Duyvil and Yonkers on the starboard, as we listen to historian and novelist Firth Haring Fabend talk of Dutch settlers in the Hudson Valley and what they left behind. We’ll return as the sun goes down, sailing under the George Washington Bridge (and by the Little Red Lighthouse) and arriving back in Midtown as the streetlights come on.

18th MAS Annual Boat Tour:
Along the Historic Hudson – New York Past and Present

Wednesday, July 29, 6:00 – 9:00 p.m., at Pier 83, 42nd St. and 12th Ave., New York MAP
The Circle Line Boat leaves promptly at 6:00 p.m., rain or shine.
$75, $50 MAS members. Purchase tickets online or call 212-935-2075. Join MAS now and save on the boat tour and on MAS walking tours and programs throughout the year.

Admiral’s Row on the edge of the Brooklyn Navy Yard is in danger of being lost. MAS will attend a meeting tomorrow at which the negotiations between the National Guard, the owner of the property, and the Brooklyn Navy Yard Development Corporation (BNYDC) will discuss the buildings’ future. The meeting is part of the federally-mandated Section 106 process that requires federal agencies to study the impact of their actions on important historic buildings.

MAS has been a part of the Section 106 process and has developed alternatives to demolishing the buildings that show it is possible to preserve them while also accommodating the Navy Yard’s program. In March, rumors surfaced that the National Guard may require the Navy Yard to retain only the Timber Shed and one of the houses on the site, which MAS believes is an inadequate solution.

This video explains these issues in more detail, including the buildings’ unique history, and why they should be saved. You can help us save Admiral’s Row. Continue Reading>>

Yesterday MAS testified before the City Planning Commission, voicing strong support for city’s goals for Coney Island and suggesting improvements to the rezoning plan in the areas of urban design, zoning and preservation. During the past several months MAS has worked with the staff of the Brooklyn Office of City Planning, amusement experts, and with Coney Island  community and cultural groups to identify the best ways to restore Coney Island to its position as a world-class amusement destination. Read our testimony in full here or our press release here.

Among MAS’s specific recommendations for improving the rezoning plan:

1. Ensure Surf Avenue has a low-rise South Side by moving the hotels to the North Side of Surf Avenue. Coney Island is first and foremost a seaside resort, and it’s critical to retain the sense of openness, views of the horizon and taller amusements. Continue Reading>>

Travel back in time on Tuesday night to 1609 when Manhattan was home to thousands of species, over fifty-five ecosystems, and the Lenape, who called the island “Mannahatta,” meaning “island of many hills.” Coinciding with this year’s quadricentennial of Henry Hudson’s arrival on the shores of Manhattan, the new book Mannahatta: A Natural History of New York City, reconstructs, in words and images, the wild island as it existed 400 years ago.

Join landscape ecologist and author Eric Sanderson and illustrator Markley Boyer as they discuss the decade of work that is behind this astounding work, offering readers a unique window into the ecological history of New York and inspiration for green cities and wild places of the future.

Book Launch with Eric Sanderson, author, and Markley Boyer, illustrator
Tuesday, May 5, 6:30 – 8:00 p.m., at the Municipal Art Society
FREE, but reservations required. RSVP online or call 212-935-2075

Yesterday, the Municipal Art Society joined author & historian David McCullough and several other organizations and individuals (including the DUMBO Neighborhood Association, the Brooklyn Heights Association, the Historic Districts Council, the Roebling Chapter of the Society for Industrial Archeology, Council Member David Yassky, Council Member Bill DeBlasio’s office, and Council Member Tony  Avella) in asking the City Council to reject a plan for an 18-story building on Dock Street in DUMBO, directly adjacent to the Brooklyn Bridge. The development would encroach upon the Bridge, affecting iconic view both of and from the Bridge.

The Brooklyn Bridge, as David McCullough has so eloquently articulated, is one of the most beloved structures in New York City, if not in America and the world. It is one of only 11 National Historic Landmarks in Brooklyn — as such it has been afforded the highest level of recognition in our country. Continue Reading>>

Despite its late 20^th-century alterations, the Grashorn Building on Jones Walk and Surf Avenue is the oldest building in Coney Island’s amusement area. Behind the synthetic siding is a wood-framed building dating from the late 1880s. If one looks carefully, the building’s Second Empire mansard roof and dormer windows can still be discerned.

As early as 1898 and continuing for at least a half-century, the building was the home of Henry Grashorn’s hardwood store, which served the amusement industry. Coney Island in the late-19^th and early 20^th centuries was so dense with mechanical amusements and attractions that easily accessible hardware stores like Grashorn’s were a necessity. Continue Reading>>