April 2011 Tours
Upcoming MAS Tours
New Series: Cultivating & Keeping Cultural Districts
Increasingly, cities and towns across the country are realizing that a vibrant cultural life is good for neighborhoods and vital to a healthy economy. Join us as we explore several New York City districts at different stages in their development and examine some key questions. Can cultural districts be created intentionally or should they emerge organically? How can such districts be maintained given real estate pressures and the cycle of gentrification that often accompany their development? View Cultural District I: East Fourth Street on April 2.
Saturday, April 2, 1:00 p.m.
Cultural District I: East Fourth Street
In the first tour of the series, we will visit the only official cultural district in Manhattan, and one of only two such districts in the city. East Fourth Street is a naturally occurring cultural district that has been at the forefront of New York’s cultural life for more than 40 years. Join us as we consider legendary institutions, such as La MaMa E.T.C., New York Theatre Workshop, Creative Time and Millennium Film Workshop, that continue this tradition into the 21st century.
Tour Leader: Laurence Frommer, urban historian.
Meet at: Provided upon registration.
Cost of Tour: $15, $10 MAS members.
Sunday, April 3, 2:00 p.m.
The First Walk
We’ll follow the route of the very first MAS walk, developed and co-led by architectural historian and author Henry Hope Reed, 55 years ago this week. The tour was such a novelty that newspapers sent reporters to cover it. We will begin in Madison Square Park, move on to Gramercy Park and Stuyvesant Square, and end—as that first tour did—at the venerable Pete’s Tavern on Irving Place.
Tour Leader: Francis Morrone, architectural historian.
Meet at: The Admiral Farragut Monument, just inside Madison Square Park from 26th St., about halfway between Fifth and Madison avenues. MAP
Cost of Tour: $15, $10 MAS members.
Saturday, April 9, 11:00 a.m.
Downtown Deco: Symbols & Spires
Discover how the roaring stock market of the 1920s transformed Lower Manhattan, from the creation of the John Street insurance district to the banking headquarters of Wall Street. An impressive group of richly embellished towers will be discussed, as we visit some of Manhattan’s most memorable and ornate public lobbies.
Tour Leader: Matt Postal, architectural historian.
Meet at: S.W. corner of Fulton and William streets. MAP
Cost of Tour: $15, $10 MAS members. Pay at tour.
Sunday, April 10, 11:00 a.m.
Conforming to the Grid (West Side)
This year marks the bicentennial of Manhattan’s 1811 street grid plan (the Commissioners’ Plan). This was the first significant act of city planning in newly independent New York City. It greatly facilitated transportation and the apportionment of real estate. This walk highlights how Fifth to Ninth avenues and 3rd to 14th streets meshed with Greenwich Village’s street patterns and viceversa. We will explore the Central and West Villages, particularly Washington, Father Demo, Sheridan, Abingdon and Jackson Squares.
Tour Leader: Jack Eichenbaum, urban geographer.
Meet at: S.W. corner Fifth Ave. and 14 St. MAP
Cost of Tour: $15, $10 MAS members. Pay at tour.
Saturday, April 16, 11:00 a.m.
Sharing the Streets: Buses, Bikes & Pedestrians
Join us for a firsthand look at the pros and cons of New York City’s reconfigured streets, pedestrian plazas, bike lanes and Select Bus Service. In addition to infrastructure, we will discuss efforts to improve our city’s bicycle riding culture through social marketing. This is a bus and walking tour, with a subway connection.
Tour Leaders: Cate Contino, Straphangers Campaign; Caroline Samponaro, Transportation Alternatives; and Nancy Gruskin, the Stuart C. Gruskin Foundation.
Meet at: The Select Bus stop outside the Staten Island Ferry Terminal. MAP.
Cost of Tour: $15, $10 MAS members. Bring a MetroCard.
This tour is part of the MAS Streets Month program.
Sunday, April 17, 11:00 a.m.
Upstairs, Downstairs: The Upper East Side
An all-new version of the classic 1970s series comes to PBS this month, so we will examine the history and development of the Upper East Side through the eyes of the rich and those who served them. After visiting a select group of mansions and exclusive clubs, we’ll cross Park Avenue to inspect humbler carriage houses once occupied by horses and grooms, as well as modest brownstones in the Treadwell Farm Historic District and the First Avenue Estate, an innovative housing project built for the working poor.
Tour Leader: Matt Postal, architectural historian.
Meet at: S.E. corner of Fifth Ave. and 62nd St. MAP
Cost of Tour: $15, $10 MAS members. Pay at tour.
Friday, April 22, 2:00 p.m.
Earth Day in Chelsea West
This tour focuses on a waterfront neighborhood with an intriguing past. Explore an exciting new section of Hudson River Park and the recently designated West Chelsea Historic District. We’ll address the area’s promise and potential, stopping to discuss the campus of the General Theological Seminary, the next stage of the High Line and the restored Starrett-Lehigh Building, a moderne masterpiece.
Tour Leader: Matt Postal, architectural historian.
Meet at: S.E. corner of 9th Avenue and 20th St. MAP
Cost of Tour: $15, $10 MAS members. Pay at tour.
Saturday, April 23, 10:15 a.m.-about 4:00 p.m.
Behind the Scenes at Snug Harbor
Snug Harbor was described in its National Historic Landmark nomination as a “rare surviving example of urban planning, landscaping and building in the Greek Revival style,” a site having “no equal in scale, extent or quality in America.” Once home to retired seamen, Snug Harbor is now a cultural center housing museums, galleries, artists’ studios and more. Included in this tour are visits to the interior of an 1833 Greek Revival temple, a romantic 1854 chapel, the second-oldest Music Hall in New York and a Chinese Scholar’s Garden constructed by Chinese artisans. Bring a lunch (we’ll eat at the Noble Maritime Collection).
Tour Leader: Francis Morrone, architectural historian.
Meet at: Provided upon registration.
Cost of Tour: $35, $25 MAS members. Fee includes site and museum admissions.
Also on Saturday, April 23, 11:00 a.m.
Rethinking the Sheridan: From Bronx River to Hunts Point
The impact of the Sheridan Expressway is best understood by walking through the neighborhoods that border it. As we walk, we’ll learn about the environmental, social and economic burdens the highway brings as well as see the many ways that local residents have already re-imagined and redeveloped the spaces along the expressway.
Meet at: Youth Ministries for Peace and Justice, 1384 Stratford Ave. MAP.
Cost of Tour: $15, $10 MAS members.
This tour is part of the MAS Streets Month program.
Sunday, April 24, 1:00 p.m.
Life on the Lower East Side
Beginning in the 1840s, waves of Irish, Italian, Eastern European, Hispanic and Asian immigrants landed at Castle Garden and Ellis Island. The majority settled in the Lower East Side. Come along on a nostalgic walking tour of the neighborhood. View the tenements where fires escapes served as bedrooms on hot summer nights. Packed within a 1.5 mile radius, you will see the past and present Lower East Side. Among the many places we’ll visit are the Jewish Daily Forward building, the historic Eldridge Street Synagogue and the Henry Street Settlement.
Tour Leader: Marty Shore, urban historian.
Meet at: S.E. corner of East Houston and Ludlow streets, across from Katz’s Delicatessen. MAP
Cost of Tour: $15, $10 MAS members. Pay at tour.