Reservations required. Towering above the narrow streets of 17th-century Nieuw Amsterdam are some of the city’s finest 20th century skyscrapers. Included are the best of Ralph Walker, once voted the “architect of the century” by his peers: the delightfully decorative New York Telephone Company headquarters, the ponderously massive Western Union Building, and the Gothic-modern fantasy of the Irving Trust tower at No. 1 Wall Street. Other marvels include the Art Deco encrusted Cities Service headquarters.

Free and open to the public, but reservations required. The original Penn Station, built by the renowned architecture firm of McKim, Mead, and White in 1910, stood for over fifty years as a masterpiece of the Beaux-Arts style and a monument to New York’s aspirations as a world capitall. In 1963 the station was demolished. This program will examine how the preservation effort in New York has evolved since then, with a focus on each mayoral administration.

Reservations required. Starting with the spectacular General Electric Building, we continue with the Waldorf, New York’s preeminent and beautifully restored skyscraper hotel; and end with Midtown’s miraculously urbane urban wonderland: Rockefeller Center.

Reservations required. Tour of the Woolworth Building lobby, closed to the public for more than a decade and now open again. The tour includes a detailed look at the building’s unmatched polychromatic terra-cotta exterior, and an in-depth exploration of the lobby and its wealth of ornament, including hidden corners and staircases — plus a special visit to the mezzanine level for an up-close view of its extraordinary mosaic ceiling.

Reservations required. Tour of the Woolworth Building lobby, closed to the public for more than a decade and now open again. The tour includes a detailed look at the building’s unmatched polychromatic terra-cotta exterior, and an in-depth exploration of the lobby and its wealth of ornament, including hidden corners and staircases — plus a special visit to the mezzanine level for an up-close view of its extraordinary mosaic ceiling.

Reservations required. Tour of the Woolworth Building lobby, closed to the public for more than a decade and now open again. The tour includes a detailed look at the building’s unmatched polychromatic terra-cotta exterior, and an in-depth exploration of the lobby and its wealth of ornament, including hidden corners and staircases — plus a special visit to the mezzanine level for an up-close view of its extraordinary mosaic ceiling.