General MAS Tour Information

Unless otherwise noted, all MAS tours are open to the public. Tours proceed rain or shine and usually last approximately two hours. Be advised that subway construction is under way on weekends. Check the subway service advisories on the MTA website: www.mta.info/nyct/service/subsrvno.htm. For specific subway directions, go to http://tripplanner.mta.info/

Starting March 1, 2009, MAS members pay only $10 for most tours and programs.
Join MAS now at www.mas.org/membership or call 212-935-2075.

*Members-only tours are a benefit of MAS membership. Sorry, but MAS may not purchase tours for non-members. If you are not yet a member, please join MAS today, support our work and enjoy members-only tours.
Tour hotline: 212-439-1049.

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Upcoming Walking, Bus & Boat Tours

Saturday, July 4, 10:00 a.m.
C. B. J. Snyder Schools on the Lower East Side
Superintendent of School Building from 1891-1923 during the glory days of public education, C.B.J. Snyder designed nearly 400 schools and additions. Replacing unsafe, unsanitary factory-like buildings, his “palaces of the people” (Jacob Riis’ phrase) convey Progressive and reform beliefs in light, play, health, good ventilation, schools as neighborhood anchors. His innovative designs sparked a decade or more of City Beautiful schools all over the country. This walk will look at six of his Lower East Side schools. Leader: Jean Arrington, Snyder scholar. Meet in the park on the southeast corner of Houston and Chrystie St (which becomes 2nd Ave north of Houston). $15, $10 MAS members. Pay at tour. MAP

Sunday, July 5, 1:00 p.m.
A Saint in New York
Pierre Toussaint arrived in New York in 1797, a date only recently ascertained.  He was 16 years old and a slave in the company of his master and mistress, the Berards.  As time wore on he became New York’s most sought-after hairdresser, with an expertise in designing the elaborate coiffures of the 19th century. He easily secured the patronage of the city’s wealthiest ladies, many of whom spent as much as a thousand dollars a year on their tresses. While still a slave, he could have been one of the city’s wealthiest men, had he not given away everything he earned to the poor and to institutions that cared for them. In 1996 Toussaint was declared “venerable” by Pope John Paul II, and is now on the path toward sainthood. Follow in his footsteps from Read St. to St. John’s Park to the Battery and learn why he was the jewel of antebellum New York. Leader: James Sullivan, urban historian. Meet at Pierre Toussaint Square, corner of Church and Barclay streets, opposite Old St. Peter’s Church. Bring Metro card. $15, $10 MAS members. Pay at tour. MAP

Tuesday, July 7, 6:00 p.m.
Cool Green Edge: Central Park West
The distinctive skyline of Central Park West tells the story of changing fashions and attitudes in architecture and planning over a 150 year period. Uncover the layers of architectural and landscape history from the Dakota to Columbus Circle. Leader: John Kriskiewicz, architectural historian. Meet at the N.E. corner of Central Park West and West 72nd St. $15, $10 MAS members. Pay at tour. MAP

Saturday, July 11, 10:00 a.m. Members-Only
High Line Park & The Standard Hotel
For nearly a decade, MAS has offered tours beside and beneath the High Line, a former elevated railway which has now been transformed into an imaginatively-designed urban park. We’ll ascend the stairs to gain new perspectives on the adjoining blocks and the former railway’s history. Highlights include a private tour of the new hotel straddling the park—the Standard, an MASterwork award-winning design by the Polshek Partnership. Leader: Matt Postal, architectural historian. $30. RSVP online here or call 212-935-2075. Meet outside Clement Clarke Moore Park, S.E. corner of 22nd St. and 10th Ave. MAP

Sunday, July 12, 10:00 a.m.
Bushwick: A Tribute to Our Dutch Heritage
Bushwick is one of five the original Dutch settlements that would become the City of Brooklyn. Chartered in 1661, it retains a remarkable legacy of 19th century row houses, mansions, churches and civic buildings from its post-Dutch days as an affluent German community. Today Bushwick is a tribute to revitalization and diversity. Our walk includes a former brewery, the new Rheingold Gardens, Arion Hall and the magnificent St. Barbara’s Church. Leader: Joe Svehlak, urban historian. Meet at the intersection of Myrtle Ave. and Broadway, beneath the Myrtle Ave. Station. (Transit: J or M trains to Myrtle Ave.) $15, $10 MAS members. Pay at tour. MAP

Saturday, July 18, 10:00 a.m.
Historic Hamilton Park in Jersey City
Hamilton Park is the centerpiece of the historic district which includes an eclectic assortment of 19th century architecture–brownstones, and wooden frame houses. The area features a number of adaptive reuses of existing buildings such as a Wells Fargo stable converted to residences and library. Facing the park is a church designed by Patrick Keely. Leader: Pat Guida, urban historian. Meet in the park outside the entrance to the Newport-Pavonia PATH station, Jersey City. (Transit: Journal Square-Hoboken train from stations along 6th Ave. at 33rd, 23rd, 14th and 9th streets or Christopher near Hudson St. Newport-Pavonia is the second stop. Allow half an hour for trip. Fare is $3.50 round trip or use pay-per-ride MetroCard.) $15, $10 MAS members. Pay at tour. MAP

Sunday, July 19, 10:00 a.m.
Hooray for Hopper!
Celebrate the birthday of Edward Hopper, the great American painter, with a walk through once-Bohemian Greenwich Village, visiting sites associated with Hopper and his celebrated contemporaries. Included on the walk are the artist’s studio and home on Washington Square, the 10th Street Studio Building, and the original location of the Whitney Museum of American Art. Leader: Matt Postal, architectural historian. Meet in front of the Salmagundi Club, 47 Fifth Ave. $15, $10 MAS members. Pay at tour. MAP

Tuesday, July 21, 6:00 p.m.
Cool, Green Edge: Prospect Park West and Grand Army Plaza
The “Central Park West” of Brooklyn is Prospect Park West. Along this beautiful parkside street, you’ll discover heroic public art, historic mansions, gracious apartment buildings and contemporary work by Richard Meier. Along this cool green edge you’ll discover heroic public art, historic mansions, gracious apartment buildings and contemporary work by Richard Meier. Leader: John Kriskiewicz, architectural historian. Meet at the N.E. corner of Flatbush Ave. and Plaza St., street level of the Grand Army Plaza station. (Transit: #2, 3 trains to Grand Army Plaza.) $15, $10 MAS members. Pay at tour. MAP

Saturday, July 25, 10:00 a.m.
Where Brooklyn Meets the Middle East 
This is a tour of Brooklyn’s earliest Arab American neighborhood. Beginning in the 19th century, this community grew up around Atlantic Ave. in what are now the landmarked districts of Brooklyn Heights and Cobble Hill. Learn how and why this area became a Middle Eastern center and discover its cuisine, shops and restaurants. The tour includes information about two architecturally significant churches in the area and visits to longtime Arabic retail establishments. Leader: Mary Ann Haick Napoli, local historian. Meet at the N.W. corner of Remsen and Court streets, on Remsen St. side of Signature Bank. $15, $10 MAS members. Pay at tour. MAP

Sunday, July 26, 10:00 a.m.
Chelsea Northwest
A waterfront neighborhood with an intriguing industrial past, this tour focuses on upcoming stages of High Line Park, a recently-opened section of Hudson River Park, and the newly-designated West Chelsea Historic District. We’ll address the area’s promise and potential, with stops to discuss the history of Manhattan’s last freight railway, North Chelsea Cove and Pier 64, as well as the colossal Terminal Warehouse Central Stores and the restored Starrett-Lehigh Building. Leader: Matt Postal, architectural historian. Meet at S.E. corner of 10th Ave. and 22nd St. $15, $10 MAS members. Pay at tour. MAP

Wednesday, July 29, 6:00 - 9:00 p.m.
18th Annual MAS Summer Boat Tour
This year we will head up the Hudson River in celebration of the 400th anniversary of the 1609 Dutch exploration under Henry Hudson. $75, $50 MAS members. Purchase tickets online or call 212-935-2075. Meeting location and other information will be forwarded to registrants closer to the event.

Saturday, August 1, 10:00 a.m.
Remembering Mr. Wright
From his suite in the Plaza Hotel to Rockefeller Center, New York City played a critical role in the late career of architect Frank Lloyd Wright.  We’ll visit various sites and structures associated with Wright, his clients and critics, including the Museum of Modern Art, Peggy Guggenheim’s Art of This Century Gallery, and a rare, surviving commercial interior from 1955. Leader: Matt Postal, architectural historian. Meet at the statue of Atlas, 5th Ave, between 50th and 51st streets. $15, $10 MAS members. Pay at tour. MAP

Sunday, August 2,  9:30 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. 
Three Chinatowns 
Since the 1965 change in immigration laws, the Chinatown in Brooklyn (Sunset Park) and the Chinatown in Queens (Flushing) have developed in different ways and with different demographics than Manhattan’s traditional Chinatown.  Tour leaders Joe Svehlak and Jack Eichenbaum, natives of Sunset Park and Flushing, respectively, will lead walks focused on the transformation of these neighborhoods and Wellington Chen, executive director of the Chinatown Partnership, will lead a walk and discussion of contemporary issues in Manhattan’s Chinatown.  We’ll begin the day with an optional dim sum meal in Flushing at 9:30 a.m. Tour begins at 10:30 a.m. $59, $49 MAS members.  Fee includes transportation from Flushing to Manhattan to Sunset Park by Chinatown van. Dim sum not included. RSVP online here or call 212-935-2075. Meeting place and schedule distributed before event.    

Thursday, August 6, 6:00 p.m.
Cool, Green Edge: The Williamsburg Waterfront
The 2005 rezoning of this North Brooklyn neighborhood was the catalyst for its current transformation from an underutilized, industrial district to include a mix of residential and commercial buildings, historic and modern, open space and public riverfront access. Leader: John Kriskiewicz. Meet at the domed HSBC Bank building on the N.W. corner of Driggs Avenue and Broadway. $15, $10 MAS members. Pay at tour. MAP

Saturday, August 8, 10:00 a.m.
The Old Waterfront in New Amsterdam
Since Dutch colonial times, the area below Chambers St. has more than doubled by the process of canal building and landfill refined by the Dutch in their native Netherlands. We’ll follow the original shoreline beyond Battery Park and along Pearl St., commenting on the evolution of the waterfront along the East River. Then we’ll ascend the hill to Broadway, the high point of Dutch New Amsterdam to Wall Street, its Northern defense. Leader: Jack Eichenbaum, urban geographer.  Meet inside Castle Clinton (the brown stone fortress in Battery Park), outside the dioramas in the Castle Clinton exhibit. (Transit: #4, 5 trains to Bowling Green, #1 to South Ferry, R to Whitehall.) $15, $10 MAS members. Pay at tour. MAP

Sunday, August 9, 1:00 - 4:00 p.m.
Paris in New York
The Riverside-West 105th Street Historic District is an exquisite Beaux Arts neighborhood with what must be some of the most imposing developer-built houses in all New York City. Elegant limestone mansions boast of majestic details: mansard roofs, carved pediments, fluted Ionic columns, and scallop-shell arches, among other architectural flourishes. Then, off to visit the Nicholas Roerich Museum. The Russian-born Roerich was a well-known artist whose paintings explore the mythic origins, natural beauty, and spiritual strivings of humanity. The museum’s displays include Roerich’s stage-designs for the premiere of Igor Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring, first performed in Paris in 1913. Leader: Justin Ferate, architectural historian. Meet at 106 St. and Broadway, in Straus Park in the middle of the street, where Broadway and West End Ave. converge. $20, $15 MAS members. Fee includes extended tour plus museum admission. Pay at tour. (Transit: #1 train to 103rd or 110th St.) MAP

Saturday, August 15, 10:00 a.m.
Back to the Bronx, Part II: Melrose 
After an onslaught of 20th Century ills, the Bronx neighborhoods of Mott Haven, Melrose and Morrisania were perceived as an amorphous and depressed “South Bronx.” In recent decades, planning and new buildings have begun to restore their viability. This series of walking tours stresses renewal in response to basic urban geography. We’ll enter Melrose from the Bronx Hub and view the revived retail strip, new housing, and soon-to-be-redeveloped courthouse near the former transportation spine of Third Ave. Further afield are more innovative housing projects and the Melrose MetroNorth station. Leader: Jack Eichenbaum, urban geographer. Meet in front of Chase bank north of 149 St/Melrose Ave  (Transit: #2,5  trains to Third Ave./149 St.)  $15, $10 MAS members. Pay at tour. MAP

Sunday, August 16, 4:00 p.m.
Cool, Green Edge: Mosholu Parkway and Norwood
With the highest percentage of parkland of the boroughs, this North Bronx neighborhood is ringed in green. Discover a range of architecture from an 18th century British Colonial farmstead to work by the 20th century modernists Paul Rudolph and Philip Johnson. Leader: John Kriskiewicz, architectural historian. Meet at the Mosholu Parkway Station Token Booth on the # 4 line. $15, $10 MAS members. Pay at tour. MAP

Saturday, August 22, 10:00 a.m.
Sunset Park
First settled by Dutch and Huguenot farmers, Sunset Park has many fine streets of late 19th and early 20th century row houses and churches. Today its varied ethnic groups — European, Hispanic, Arabic and Chinese — make it one of New York’s most diverse neighborhoods. Discover its charms as we walk the hillside streets of New York’s largest National Register Historic District and enjoy spectacular harbor views. Leader: Joe Svehlak, urban historian. Meet at the N.E. corner of 43rd St. and Fourth Ave., by the old courthouse. (Transit: R train to 45th St., Brooklyn). $15, $10 MAS members. Pay at tour. MAP

Sunday, August 23, 2:00 p.m.
Anonymous Craftsmen on the Upper West Side
Join us in celebrating the contributions to the New York scene of the scores of anonymous artists and artisans who created the beautiful, often brilliantly sophisticated, ornamentation and decoration on the buildings of the Upper West Side. Whether in carved stone or molded terra-cotta or cast-iron, these buildings’ embellishments — grotesques, gargoyles, masks, and maidens, as well as all manner of Classical patterns — continue to surprise, delight, charm, and awe passersby. Leader: Francis Morrone, architectural historian. Meet at the S.W. corner of Central Park West and 72nd Street. $15, $10 MAS members. Pay at tour. MAP

Saturday, August 29, 10:00 a.m.
Coney Island
Explore America’s first great seaside resort with its amusement parks and fine beach. Walk the boardwalk, view historic rides, Nathan’s Famous, the popular ball park, and lots more. Learn about those who have lived, worked, and played here and consider what the future may hold for “Sodom by the Sea.” Leader: Joe Svehlak, urban historian. (If you want to go for a swim with Joe after the tour, wear your swimsuit!) Meet outside the Coney Island/Stillwell Ave. subway station at the N.E. corner of Stillwell and Surf avenues. (Transit: D, F, N, Q trains to Coney Island.) $15, $10 MAS members. Pay at tour. MAP

Sunday, August 30, 2:00 p.m.
The Truth about Central Park
A summer walk through Olmsted & Vaux’s urban paradise. For New Yorkers, Central Park offers refuge, recreation and rejuvenation, a temporary haven from a city of brick and steel, concrete and glass. And yet this park which delights us with its lakes and streams, wild flowers and grand open spaces, is almost entirely artificial — carefully designed right down to the hidden pipes feeding a rustic waterfall — making it Manhattan’s largest work of art. Leader: Tony Robins, architectural historian. Meet by the equestrian statue of General Sherman, west side of Fifth Ave. between 59th and 60th streets. $15, $10 MAS members. Pay at tour. MAP

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