Celebrate the Holidays with an MAS Walking Tour
December 21st, 2009
Head outside for an invigorating walking tour this holiday season. Take in the last of John Kriskiewicz’s “Architecture of Aspiration” walking tours on Christmas Eve, and consider Tony Robins’ Christmas morning tour of Rockefeller Center — repeated on Sunday, December 27. Take (or send) your holiday guests on MAS Tuesday Downtown and Wednesday Grand Central Terminal tours — we’ll have two tour leaders at Grand Central Terminal between Christmas and the New Year.
Also, don’t forget to welcome in the New Year with Jack Eichenbaum’s tour of Flushing’s Koreatown on New Year’s Day. Happy Holidays!
Sold Out Christmas Day Deco Tour Repeats December 27
Rockefeller Center is always worth a visit for its splendid Art Deco art and architecture. And this time of year, it is at its festive best. Our annual Christmas Day tour is sold out, but we will repeat the tour on Sunday, December 27, also at 10:00 a.m. Unlike the Christmas Day tour, the Sunday tour is unreserved, so simply walk up and pay at the tour ($15, $10 MAS members). Both tours are led by architectural historian Tony Robins, a founding member of the Art Deco Society of New York.
New York’s Rue de la Paix: West 57th Street
Thursday, December 24, 10:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.
The years between the First and Second World Wars marked the emergence of this elegant enclave of exclusive boutiques, art galleries, and department stores housed in Art Deco skyscrapers and classically inspired structures. Today, major designers and luxury multinationals dazzle with the latest architectural trends. Leader: John Kriskiewicz, architectural historian. Meet at the S.W. corner of 57th St. and Madison Ave. $15, $10 MAS members. Pay at tour. MAP. Continue Reading>>
Even lifelong New Yorkers are unaware of one of the city’s best kept secrets — the tennis courts above Grand Central Terminal. This monumental station was designed by Associated Architects, Reed & Stem and Warren & Wetmore in 1901, and when construction was completed in 1913, a large attic space was left unoccupied directly above Vanderbilt Hall (the waiting room at the entrance on the 42nd Street side). If and how this attic was used before the 1930s is a bit of a mystery, though there is an unsubstantiated rumor that it served as a ballroom for some time.