Upcoming Public Programs

TOURS, LECTURES AND PANELS

SPRING-SUMMER 2013

 

May 22nd (Thursday), 7:45 p.m.

Behind the Bright Lights: The Great Broadway Theaters

LECTURE sponsored by the New York Council on the Humanities; located at the Roslyn Landmark Society, at the Atria of Roslyn, Long Island, N.Y. Free and open to the public. Information: (516) 625-4363

With three-quarters of a century of history behind them, the 40 surviving Broadway theaters stand as stunning works of art in themselves, as well as monuments to the lively history of American theater. Many were built as lavish headquarters for Broadway’s great impresarios, who spared no expense in their decor. The Belasco Theater, designed for self-styled “Bishop of Broadway” David Belasco, boasts Tiffany glass, paneled wooden ceilings, and murals by the New York Ashcan School artist Everett Shinn. The Georgian facade of the Little Theater, built for aristocratic New England producer Winthrop Ames, suggests a Colonial New England manor house, into the intimate drawing room of which Ames cordially invited his audience. Other great Broadway houses include the recreation of the Petit Trianon in Versailles built for producer John Cort, the pseudo-Florentine palace built for the Theater Guild, and the delicately sculpted Music Box built by Irving Berlin for his Music Box Revues.

May 27th (Monday, Memorial Day), 2:00 p.m.

The Truth About Central Park

TOUR sponsored by the Municipal Art Society. Reservations required. $20 ($15 MAS members). To register, click here.

A Memorial Day 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.

June 2nd (Sunday), 3:30 p.m.

Grand Central Terminal: 100 Years of a New York Landmark

LECTURE sponsored by the  New York Council on the Humanities; located at the Quogue Library  in Quogue, N.Y. Free and open to the public. For information: 1-631-653-4224 ext. 4

On February 1st, 1913, the brand-new Grand Central Terminal opened its doors to an admiring public. On February 1st, 2013, the beautifully restored Terminal – rescued from destruction by a seminal 1978 Supreme Court decision – celebrated its Centennial, accompanied by exhibitions, events, and a new book: Grand Central Terminal: 100 Years of a New York Landmark. The Terminal’s creation combined engineering bravado (sinking two train yards below ground), technological wizardry (electrifying the trains to eliminate steam and enable their underground functioning), and real-estate savvy (replacing the original street-level train yard with 16 blocks of newly prime Midtown Manhattan real-estate, whose development paid for it all) with innovative planning (interior ramps and looping tracks) and Paris-inspired Beaux-Arts design. This illustrated lecture, by the author of the new book, brings the Terminal to life – its remarkable history, stunning architecture, and central role in creating midtown Manhattan.

July 7th (Sunday), 2:00 p.m.

What’s Up Downtown: From the Battery to Wall Street

TOUR sponsored by the Municipal Art Society. Reservations required. $20 ($15 MAS members). To register, click here.

From the spectacular skyline up in the air to archaeological relics down underground, Downtown remains one of the world’s great urban treasures. This tour, which includes the former Custom House, Steamship Row, Castle Clinton, Federal Hall, and the House of Morgan, will visit well known highlights as well as some unexpected delights, including two sites associated with George Washington in honor of Independence Day. $20 / $15 Members.

July 17th (Wednesday), 7:00 p.m.

Grand Central Terminal: 100 Years of a New York Landmark

LECTURE sponsored by the  New York Council on the Humanities; located at the Patterson Library  in Patterson, N.Y. Free and open to the public. For information: (845) 878-6121.

On February 1st, 1913, the brand-new Grand Central Terminal opened its doors to an admiring public. On February 1st, 2013, the beautifully restored Terminal – rescued from destruction by a seminal 1978 Supreme Court decision – celebrated its Centennial, accompanied by exhibitions, events, and a new book: Grand Central Terminal: 100 Years of a New York Landmark. The Terminal’s creation combined engineering bravado (sinking two train yards below ground), technological wizardry (electrifying the trains to eliminate steam and enable their underground functioning), and real-estate savvy (replacing the original street-level train yard with 16 blocks of newly prime Midtown Manhattan real-estate, whose development paid for it all) with innovative planning (interior ramps and looping tracks) and Paris-inspired Beaux-Arts design. This illustrated lecture, by the author of the new book, brings the Terminal to life – its remarkable history, stunning architecture, and central role in creating midtown Manhattan.

July 21st (Sunday), 2:00 p.m.

Grand Central Terminal and the Legacy of Warren & Wetmore

TOUR sponsored by the New York Transit Museum. Non-members $45 Members $30 For information click here.

From the turn of the 20th century into the 1930s, Grand Central’s architects Whitney Warren and Charles Wetmore formed one of the most successful and prolific architectural practices in the United States. This tour explores the Terminal’s Beaux-Arts inspired design.

July 28 (Sunday), 12:30 – 5:30 p.m.

Art Deco in the Bronx

BUS TOUR sponsored by the Art Deco Society of New York. Details TBA

A bus tour of the great 1930s monuments of the Bronx. We visit the Art Deco apartment houses on the Grand Concourse, Park Plaza (the borough’s first Art Deco apartment house), the Bronx County Court House, the Dollar Savings Bank, the Bronx Post Office with murals by Ben Shahn, Herman Ridder Junior High School, and Paul Manship’s Rainey Memorial Gates at the Bronx Zoo.

August 4th (Sunday), 2:00 p.m.

Grand Central Terminal and the Legacy of Warren & Wetmore

TOUR sponsored by the New York Transit Museum. Non-members $45 Members $30 For information click here.

From the turn of the 20th century into the 1930s, Grand Central’s architects Whitney Warren and Charles Wetmore formed one of the most successful and prolific architectural practices in the United States. This tour explores the Terminal’s Beaux-Arts inspired design.

September 1st (Sunday), 2:00 p.m.

Art Deco Central Park West

TOUR sponsored by the Municipal Art Society. Reservations required. $20 ($15 MAS members). To register, click here.

Take a pleasant stroll along Central Park West for a closer look at the buildings that form Manhattan’s major residential skyline. We’ll see the great twin-towered skyscraper apartment buildings – the Century, the Majestic and the El Dorado – and other multi-colored jazz-age fantasies of high living overlooking the park.

COURSES

The Re-invention of Midtown Manhattan

• Five Thursday afternoon walks, October 3rd through 31st, 2:00 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Sponsored by New York University’s School of Continuing and Professional Education. For more information, or to enroll on-line, watch this space.

Grand Central Terminal celebrates its 100th anniversary this year. The celebration, and the controversial proposed rezoning of East Midtown, offer an opportunity to re-discover this remarkable district. After exploring one of the world’s most beautiful train stations, we visit Rockefeller Center, another attempt to rebuild an entire section of midtown. We visit the Broadway theater district, to consider its story of resurrection via public policy and private development; and the garment district, created by reform movements. We end with a look at Midtown’s privately built  public plazas (SONY, Trump and IBM), which we compare to Greenacre Park, a Rockefeller project.