The Municipal Art Society of New York

As part of our ongoing campaign on preservation and climate change, MAS is teaming up with the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) to produce a guide on how to improve the energy efficiency of small landmark buildings. The guide will provide straightforward action steps that property owners can take to improve the efficiency of historic buildings while preserving their historic character. From changing light bulbs to installing solar panels, the manual will provide guidance on reducing energy usage and saving money. Continue Reading>>

On Monday, August 22, the St. Vincent’s Redevelopment Project entered the Uniform Land Use Review Procedure (ULURP), the process through which development projects are reviewed by the local Community Board, the Borough President, City Planning Commission, and the City Council.

Located in the West Village, the site is divided into three sections: the O’Toole Building, the Triangle Site and the East Site. Continue Reading>>

MAS is pleased to announce the winners of the 2011 MASterworks Awards. This year, the award recipients include the Hypar Pavilion at Lincoln Center, designed by Diller Scofidio + Renfro in collaboration with FXFOWLE, and Foster + Partners’ (with Adamson Associates, architect of record)  Sperone Westwater Gallery at 257 Bowery, which tied for Best New Building; Queens Theater in the Park for Best Restoration; Myrtle Hall at Pratt for Best Neighborhood Catalyst, with an honorable mention to the Whitlock Avenue Subway Station; and the High Performance Landscape Guidelines for Best Green Design Initiative. Continue Reading>>

This October is the ninth annual Art Beyond Sight Awareness Month, founded by Art Education for the Blind (AEB). The mission of AEB is to make art, art history, and visual culture accessible to people who are blind or visually impaired. Since AEB’s founding in 1987, it has worked with museums across the nation and around the world. Continue Reading>>

The visual history of MAS’s 118-year-long commitment to New York City is documented in our photography archive. When we moved from our long time home at The Urban Center to 111 West 57th Street, we unearthed many uncatalogued photographs. To date, nearly three-quarters of these images have been conserved, identified and cataloged. Continue Reading>>

Last summer, the City installed a bike lane in Park Slope, which runs along Prospect Park West from Union to 15th Streets. The Prospect Park West bike lane, like the 9th Avenue bike lane in Chelsea, is a two-way bike path set off from car traffic by a lane of parked cars. Continue Reading>>

The first wave of speakers has been confirmed as MAS is gearing up for the second annual MAS Summit for New York City — two days of energetic and fast-paced talks, panel discussions and conversations with opportunities for attendees to network and exchange ideas. The best and most innovative city-building ideas will be presented as we consider how to make New York City more livable, from sidewalk to skyline.   Early registration discounts are available now through August 22. Continue Reading>>

In June, annual maintenance on the James Gordon Bennett Monument (better known as the Bellringers) in Herald Square, took place. The larger than life size, multi-figure monument by the French sculptor Jean-Anton Carles, was restored through the Municipal Art Society’s Adopt-A-Monument program in 1989 and then again in 2007, with a grant from the George Trescher Monument Fund. The monument, one of the city’s great landmarks, consists of a 40-foot-tall Italianate granite structure with flanking Corinthian pilasters. Continue Reading>>

On July 28, MAS board members took the tram to Roosevelt Island for a tour of the future Franklin D. Roosevelt Four Freedoms, with Sally Minard and Gina Pollara, the park’s president and executive director, respectively. The park was architect Louis Kahn’s last project. In fact, Kahn was carrying the drawings with him when he died in 1974, a year after Welfare Island had been renamed in FDR’s honor. Continue Reading>>

Since the turn of the 21st century, dozens of new buildings and public spaces by celebrated American and international designers have been added to New York’s cityscape. This fall, MAS is offering four opportunities to view and visit a number of these exemplary designs in one concentrated, three-hour tour. We will travel by small motor coach, with stops to take a closer look on the ground and to step inside selected buildings. Continue Reading>>

On July 26 MAS hosted a design charrette for the former Con Ed Pier located between East 38th and East 41st Streets on the East River waterfront. The charrette (an intensive design workshop) was co-sponsored by local elected officials and Community Board Six.  This work is a continuation of MAS’ longstanding commitment to opening up access to the waterfront.  You can read the New York Times event recap here.
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Early registration continues through August 22nd for the second annual MAS Summit for New York City, which once again promises to be an energetic and fast-paced conference, combining talks, panel discussions, conversations and opportunities for attendees to network and exchange ideas with the people who are shaping New York and other cities from around the world. Continue Reading>>

Nominations are now being accepted for the MAS Livable City Awards. Every year, through our annual awards, we recognize outstanding individuals, groups, places and events that have made New York a more livable city. Beginning this year, these awards, now named the MAS Livable City Awards, will be celebrated at a special ceremony and reception on October 13, 2011, during the first evening of our signature event, the MAS Summit for New York City. The categories are described below. We invite you to submit your nomination online today!
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Carnegie Hall was one of the first places ever nominated to our Census of Places that Matter. We feature it today, focusing not on the music hall but on the little known artist studios that for more than 100 years have existed above the hall.

Today, these artist spaces are imminently threatened with joining the lengthening list of places lost to creativity all around the city.

Andrew Carnegie added the towers and artist studios in 1894 and 1896, shortly after erecting Carnegie Hall in 1890. Over the years, many artists have lived in the studios, like John Barrymore, Charles Dana Gibson, Leonard Bernstein, Martha Graham, and Bobby Short. Others artists “just” did their work there, like Isadora Duncan and George Balanchine. Today, fifty artists remain, but a few weeks ago Carnegie Hall served them eviction papers. Now the tenants of Carnegie Hall Studio Towers are filing suit to prevent the eviction. See Jim Dwyer’s article in the New York Times on August 1, and Laura Collins-Hughes’ in The Sun on August 8.

Carnegie Hall says it needs the space for operations. The tenants and their supporters say that destroying the studios destroys a rich, more-than-century-old tradition and an irreplaceable artist’s community. It also does away with yet one more source of affordable living space for the people making the art that sustains places like Carnegie Hall.

Retired Wall Street legend seeks to raise level of unrestricted support

The Municipal Art Society is pleased to announce a major challenge grant from long-term MAS donor Robert W. Wilson.

With the goal of helping MAS strengthen and sustain our base of unrestricted support, the philanthropist has committed $600,000 over the next three years to match new or increased gifts of $1,000 or more on a one-for-two dollar basis, effective August 1. Continue Reading>>