MAS in Time Out New York
August 4th, 2010
Two weeks ago, Time Out New York (July 22-28) featured the MAS Why Not a Landmark? Preservation and Planning Walks. The “Own This City” column offered a rundown of the tours, and then ventured to Bushwick, Sunset Park, and Boerum Hill to see what locals would also include on the walks.
To read the article, click here.
The Bushwick and Sunset Park tours already passed, but don’t miss the Boerum Hill tour, which is later this month.
Saturday, August 28, 10:30 a.m.
Boerum Hill: Inside & Outside the District
Meet in front of the former Williamsburg Savings Bank, at corner of Ashland and Hanson Pl. MAP
Simon Boerum’s 18th century farm was developed between the 1840s and 1870s with some of New York City’s finest townhouses. Several blocks of remarkably homogeneous, primarily brick townhouses were designated as a New York City Landmark District in 1973. This walk will be mostly outside the landmarked district, viewing streets lined with rows of fine 19th century residential and commercial buildings. We will also view recent infill buildings and speak with people from the community about their preservation efforts. Leader: Joe Svehlak, urban historian and preservationist.
$15, $10 MAS members. Pay at tour.
MAS applauds last week’s decision of the New York Supreme Court, Appellate Division, which upheld the Landmarks Preservation Commission’s re-designation of two buildings on the Upper East Side. The buildings, which were built at the turn of the 20th century, are part of the City and Suburban Company’s First Avenue Estate model tenement complex and are important for their innovative design as well as in their role in social housing reform. MAS filed an amicus brief (that is, a brief filed as a friend of the court) in support of the designation.
Standard Podcast: 
After nearly 30 years at the Villard Houses, 
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.
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. 
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.