Upcoming MAS Tours

Sunday, February 7, 2:00 p.m.
Three Ways of Looking at Park Slope, 2: Park Slope Northeast – SOLD OUT!
This is the second in a three-part series of walks in Park Slope exploring different facets of the neighborhood’s history. This walk takes place in the traditionally most affluent part of Park Slope — the “Gold Coast” as it was once called. It includes Grand Army Plaza with “the finest triumphal arch of modern times, after the Arc de Triomphe,” in the words of Henry Hope Reed; such landmark streets as Montgomery Pl. and Carroll St.; the mansions of Prospect Park West; and works by such architects as Francis Kimball, Henry Ogden Avery, C.P.H. Gilbert, Stanford White and Montrose Morris. Leader: Francis Morrone, architectural historian. $15, $10 MAS members. Reservations required. Meeting place will be provided after RSVP.
Please note: this tour is sold out.

Saturday, February 13, 11:00 a.m.
In the Footsteps of Abraham Lincoln
To honor the Great Emancipator, we’ll revisit the Civil War metropolis, focusing on lower Broadway, from the site of Barnum’s American Museum to present-day SoHo. Stops include numerous structures associated with the 16th president and his wife, Mary Todd Lincoln, including City Hall, Matthew Brady’s daguerreotype studio, the Haughwout department store, as well as theaters, saloons and related amusements. Leader: Matt Postal, architectural historian. $15, $10 MAS members. Pay at tour. Meet outside the entrance to the Woolworth Building, 233 Broadway, at Park Place.

Sunday, February 14, 2:00 p.m.
The German Dimension of the East Village
Walk through, “Kleine Deutschland,” (Little Germany) and visit historic interiors of churches and synagogues filled with antique stained-glass, marble sculptures and engraved plaques. These havens are lasting gifts from immigrants who built their sanctuaries as reflections of their ethnic background. Leader: Terri Cook, author of Sacred Havens: A Guide to Manhattan’s Spiritual Places. $15, $10 MAS members. Pay at tour. Meet outside the Church of the Most Holy Redeemer, 173 East 3rd St. (between Avenues A & B). (Transit: F, V trains to Lower East Side, Second Ave.)

Monday, February 15, 2:00 p.m.
New York in the Time of George Washington
Join us for our annual Presidents Day stroll through Lower Manhattan looking at sites associated with our first president and with the revolutionary generation in general. Included are St. Paul’s Chapel, the site of Federal Hall, the grave of Alexander Hamilton, Bowling Green, Fraunces Tavern, and much more. Leader: Francis Morrone, architectural historian. $15, $10 MAS members. Pay at tour. Meet at the N.E. corner of Broadway and Park Row, near the gate to City Hall Park, directly across Broadway from the Woolworth Building.

Saturday, February 20, 11:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.
Arts for Transit: Midtown Loop – SOLD OUT
In celebration of the 25th anniversary of MTA’s stellar Arts for Transit program, join us for the first of six tours of notable contemporary artwork permanently sited throughout New York’s subway and rail system. Beginning at Grand Central Terminal, this Midtown survey will visit work by Donald Lipski, Jackie Ferrara, Roy Lichtenstein, Jacob Lawrence, Jane Dickson, Eric Fischl, Tom Otterness and Mary Miss, ending at Elizabeth Murray’s marvelous mosaics at 59th St. We’ll visit some 15 artworks in nine stations. Leader: Amy Hausmann, assistant director, MTA Arts for Transit. Bring a Metro Card. $15, $10 MAS members. Reservations required.

Saturday, February 27, 10:00 a.m.
Keeping Off Midtown Streets (West Side)
In the “post-modernist era,” New York City planning principles encouraged innovative new public spaces to be maintained by private entities. These new spaces typically offer shelter and shortcuts and add to the connections already provided by transit, stores and hotels. We’ll beat winter by touring public atriums, passageways, building lobbies and walkways that reveal a more intimate side of Midtown. Leader: Jack Eichenbaum, urban geographer. $15, $10 MAS members. Pay at tour. Meet inside “The Shops” of the Time Warner Building, first floor, in front of the “Pink” store at the 60th St. & Broadway entrance. (Transit: A, C, D, and #1 trains to 59th St.)

Saturday, March 6, 1:00 p.m.
Satchmo in Corona
A visit to Louis Armstrong’s Corona home of nearly 30 years is a window into the life of this extraordinary musician, vivid writer and witty collage artist. We’ll walk through the neighborhood he
regarded fondly, tour the house that he described as containing “…a whole lot of comfort, happiness + the nicest things.” The “nicest things” include a state-of-the-art kitchen, a dazzling bathroom, a Japanese-inspired garden, and a sophisticated sound system that enabled him to play duets with his younger self—and to document his home life. Admission is included in tour fee, as is a guided house tour and the current exhibition, Satchmo’s Stuff, which features some of his collages. $15, $10 MAS members. Reservations required. Purchase tickets online or call 212 935 2075. Meet Tamara Coombs, Director of Tours and Programs, in front of the Dunkin’ Donuts at the N.E. corner of 103rd St. and Roosevelt Ave. (Transit: #7 train to 103rd St./Corona Plaza.)

Sunday, March 7, 2:00 p.m.
Three Ways of Looking at Park Slope, 3: Park Slope South – SOLD OUT
The southern part of Park Slope developed very differently from the northern part. In the north were Brooklyn’s richest families. In the south was a largely working-class population including workers at the Ansonia Clock Factory and from the plants and warehouses along the Gowanus Canal. Southern Park Slope yields one surprise after another, from stately row houses to modest working-class blocks, to unexpected old farmhouses and country houses, to churches and institutional buildings that tell a rich story of city life and neighborhood change. (You’ll also learn about the Three Stooges.) Leader: Francis Morrone, architectural historian. $15, $10 MAS members. Reservations required. Meeting place supplied after RSVP. Please note: this tour is sold out.

Saturday, March 13, 11:00 a.m.
Closer to Home: Clubland!
This second club crawl examines the blocks north of 53rd St., where some of McKim, Mead & White’s and Delano & Aldrich’s finest works are located. These clubs are close to Central Park and to the homes of their original members. Architectural highlights include the monumental University and Colony Clubs, as well as the more intimate and less well-known Brook and Grolier Clubs. Leader: Matt Postal, architectural historian. Meet a few steps in from S.W. corner of Fifth Ave and 51st St.

Sunday, March 14, 2:00 p.m.
Exploring East Side Diversity: Islamic, Christian and Jewish Sanctuaries
Walk through sacred havens that reflect ancient traditions and New York City history. The Islamic Cultural Center, designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill and located at Third Ave. and 96th St., is a masterwork of modernity. (We’ll remove our shoes before entering the prayer room.) We’ll travel by bus down to 65th St., and walk to St. Vincent Ferrer Roman Catholic Church, the French Gothic landmark by Bertram Goodhue, and on to Central Presbyterian Church built in 1920 for a Baptist congregation. Our final stop is Temple Emanu-El which was founded in 1845 on the Lower East Side. Now located at Fifth Ave. and 65th St., it is the world’s largest synagogue of Reform Judaism. Be sure to bring a MetroCard. Leader: Terri Cook, author of Sacred Havens: A Guide to Manhattan’s Spiritual Places. Meet on the corner of 96th St. and Third Ave., outside The Islamic Cultural Center.

Saturday, March 20, 1:00 p.m.
Harlem Renaissance
Since the early 1900s, Harlem has been one of the most exciting, vibrant and largest African-American communities in the United States. We’ll walk from the beautiful homes of Hamilton Heights to the row houses of Strivers Row, from the night clubs and speakeasies of the 1920s to the famous Apollo Music Hall and Sugar Hill. Travel the streets where Langston Hughes, Madame C.J. Walker, Duke Ellington, Count Basie and other luminaries once lived. Leader: Marty Shore, urban historian. Meet at the N.E. corner of 125th Street and Adam Clayton Powell Blvd.

Sunday, March 21, 12:45–approximately 4:30 p.m.
A Stroll through Rosebank, Staten Island
Come along on a stroll through the Italian-American community of Rosebank, along narrow lanes lined with small-scale houses and gardens planted with grape vines and fig trees. We’ll visit two very different but equally significant structures: the folk art Grotto of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel and the Downingesque Alice Austen House. Leader: Francis Morrone, architectural historian. Bring a MetroCard. $15, $10 MAS members. Includes admission fee for Alice Austen House and refreshments. Reservations required. Purchase tickets online or call 212 935 2075. Meet at the top of the escalators in the Staten Island Ferry Terminal, next to Battery Park. (Transit: #1 train to South Ferry; R train to Whitehall)

Saturday, March 27, 11:30 – 2:00 p.m.
Where Does Harlem Begin?
In what is a most remarkable transition from wealth to poverty, the grand apartments on the Upper East Side of Manhattan yield to the tenements and projects of East Harlem in just a few city blocks. The slope where this transition occurs actually stretches from the Hudson River to the East River and, historically, has always marked a change in land use. Leader: Jack Eichenbaum, urban geographer. $15, $10 MAS members. Pay at tour. Meet at the NE corner of Lexington Ave. and 86th St. (Transit: #4, 5, 6 trains to 86th St.)

Sunday, March 28, 11:00 a.m.
Gramercy Park to Stuyvesant Square
These memorable historic districts contain some of Manhattan’s most beautiful and varied streetscapes. Both were developed around parks in the mid-19th century and feature impressive
homes, prestigious clubs and religious institutions. The origins of each neighborhood will be discussed, as well as how these residential districts have evolved and resisted change. Highlights include the homes of interior designer Elsie de Wolfe and thespian Edwin Booth, as well as architect Frederick Sterner, who transformed a section of 19th Street into the “Block Beautiful.” Leader: Matt Postal, architectural historian. $15, $10 MAS members. Pay at tour. Meet outside 111 East 15th St., just east of Park Ave. South.