Open House New York -- historical and architectural sites throw doors open

http://static.flickr.com/28/91455323_e92a237e7b.jpg

Coming Oct 6 & 7

but not telling us any details until Sept 28

but they're hyping Red Hook and Roosevelt Island

Thanks, Morbs! I forgot last year.

I saw the Masonic Lodge a couple of years ago...was kinda disappointed...they did a good job at hiding the rooms where the initiates get paddled and such...

I was not disappointed in the Masonic Lodge! I imagined the rites w/ no problem...

up gabbneb's alley:

5th annual openhousenewyork Weekend

friday, October 5, 2007
7-9 pm
The Torch Club
18 waverly place

join the party and meet the architects, designers,
planners, and OHNY friends who help make
OHNY Weekend America's largest
architecture and design event!

$25 per person in advance / $35 at the door

I don't live on Waverly Pl!

washington mews?

The guide is in the Times on Sunday.

I got mine today - maybe it's different for delivery?

It's up online:

http://www.ohny.org/weekend/listings.cfm

and gabb is right, it's in the paper TODAY.

Oh no, it wasn't ... at least, not in many...

The 2007 openhousenewyork (OHNY) Weekend Event Guide will be inserted into the New York Times city edition at all newsstands in Queens, Brooklyn and the east side of Manhattan on Wednesday, October 3.

On Friday, September 28, home subscriptions received the OHNY Weekend Event Guide, but, due to circumstances beyond OHNY's control, many newssstands did not receive the New York Times edition with our guide. We are remedying this inconvenience with the October 3 insert, and, as of September 28 through the Weekend, guides are available at any OHNY info centers in Manhattan.

In addition, free guides will also be available during the OHNY Weekend at all OHNY sites and info centers.

http://www.ohny.org/weekend/listings.cfm

Please note that advance reservations for sites and programs has started and all reservation information is in the OHNY Event Guide. OHNY does not take reservations; you must contact the specific site or program directly.

And of course, I bought my NYT at a Brooklyn deli and there's no fucking guide in it. Off to 536 LaGuardia Place later...

all reservation info is on the site too

Oh lordy, Floyd Bennet Field or the MTA substation, well-dee well-dee, which will it be?

mta substation is booked

site updates - http://www.ohny.org/weekend/updates.cfm
program updates - http://www.ohny.org/weekend/updates.cfm?upd=2

Rats, that always happens. A nice bike ride to the airfield it is.

I've pencilled in Roosevelt Island's Southpoint - The Encampment (though I don't really understand it), Astoria Pool (in my new neighborhood) and the Jacob Riis Bathhouse at Rockaway Beach. However, I will probably be running around trying to buy furniture of off Craigslist people instead.

http://rooseveltislander.blogspot.com/2007/08/encampment-public-art-project-are-gates.html

bump

I hate the architecture firms opening their offices to tours, I can't help thinking that's SO MUCH BS, and it's like they're becoming the bulk of the sites, over historical ones. How totally totally boring.

Also, how totally up their own collective ass, as if their OFFICE SPACE is as significant as something 200 years old that only the park rangers and the cleaning crew have ever seen apart from this one weekend a year.

also, many of the outerborough sites are museums that are open anyway.

Yeah, I saw some of those, too -- I should go on this one day to see the regular exhibits...? I want the water tower, the substation, the little red lighthouse, the inside of the Grand Army Plaza arch! Etc. Oh well.

i'm not much for the architecture firms, but i'll bet there are a lot of people who are. some of the museums are of architectural interest and have tours. but even the ones that aren't are, you know, free.

Obviously there are people who are, because they've had more and more company addresses for the past few years. I just think it's self-promotey and in questionable taste to be shoehorned into an event that is (well, was) about historical New York.

http://www.thecityreview.com/giovani1.jpg

And here's some extra good news on Brooklyn's Floyd Bennett Field, New York City's first airport: Despite what it says on the OHNY site, no reservations are required to tour the control tower and passenger tunnels. "It's an open day," according to the National Park Service spokesperson who answered the "reservation" line today.

http://www.newyorkology.com/archives/2007/10/ohny_updates_hi_1.php

also
http://www.newyorkology.com/archives/2007/10/open_house_ny_r_2.php
and
http://www.newyorkology.com/archives/2007/10/a_couple_more_o.php

tomw, maybe Rock Ctr UK roof garden & Montauk Club

TS: Montauk Club v Litchfield Villa

The Roosevelt Isl Octagon was a total waste of time, except for the nice bike ride. It's been gutted and not restored to any approximation of the original, they simply modernized the whole interior and while it's not ugly, necessarily, I would never go out of my way to see it. Plus they use the tour to try and sell you on their pricey rental apartments which are unfortunately really poorly laid out and underwhelming in every way except the view of the river. Gross.

Haha, I'm glad I missed that one. The only one I had time for was the Encampment, which was very interesting. Walked past this spooky dark trail to the crumbing edifice of the smallpox hospital, then further along to the Southpoint field, which was set up with illuminated tents. I didn't really understand all of the exhibits within the tents--a lot of them you had to read stuff, but it was hard to read. I didn't want to make the time to actually crawl into each tent, so I just peered in. Great views of the Coca Cola sign, Chrysler and Empire State buliding, and bridges galore. Also took the tram there and back, which was a first for me. New York, why are you so loud when I am trying to sleep at night? I thought Ditmars was supposed to be quiet.

Oh bummer! I wanted to hit the smallpox hosp, you can sneak into the ruins without too much trouble, but when we got to the main gate at about 5pm it was locked up tight and you couldn't get into the south point at all.

Wish me luck and good directions, I'm going to try to bike to Floyd Bennett field. Should be interesting.

Oh my god, you guys, the airfield was so, so cool. It's an NYC Parks Dept holding now, and clearly there's not much money allocated for it cos the place is basically falling down, but there's still some v interesting stuff going on there. They were taking people up to the old control tower, even! Except I'm pretty sure the old man who was showing us around was a Nazi sympathizer of some stripe, b/c he was wearing an otherwise inexplicable giant skull ring. Weird day! I recommend the trip, it's open a few days a week and there's also a hanger where old aircraft are being restored that you can apparently tour (I missed that).

Interesting. I'm back in VA so couldn't do any more OHNY. Next year maybe. Laurel, I didn't know you could sneak into the smallpox hospital--how exciting. Yeah, they had it locked down until they opened it at 7 for the night viewing. I want to learn more about the history of Roosevelt Island--for instance, I didn't know that it used to be called Blackwell Island.

yesterday - control group as excuse to get into the woolworth building (hi mike!) was, as advertised, "well worth" it, even if the most exciting thing in the office was the collection of 1984 BYTE magazines. talk was reasonably good considering it was an IT dude (?). now i wanna see the pool. tour of the very new teardrop park, led by 20/30-something landscape architects, unbiddenly-aided by Paris Gellar-esque Stuy senior and perhaps more welcomely by local moms, wasn't high-call, but interesting to see what people your age are doing and the park's a really nice surprise. hit of the day was NY Academy of Sciences, inside 7 WTC (which I like more and more as time goes on). skipped the Kushner residence for other obligations. stopped by the Battery Park City thing instead while i grabbed some food, but woman turned up late and seemed lame. Project for Public Spaces was interesting-looking, but I got there at the end of a presentation and it was probably over 90 degrees inside. 163 Charles - cool building - was worth a look from outside on the way to the piers. Lilac wasn't a waste of time, but not terribly interesting either and i hope they've got liability insurance. didn't get to linger too long at the paul rudolph foundation, but it's nice design, and the sir-john-soane-lite-gone-modern collection was diverting, the transformers especially.

today - AM skipped the lighthouse and the harlem river boathouse for other obligs. afternoon, did the mt morris park tour, which was slow-paced (our improvising didn't help tho) and a little heavy on the neighborhood galleries and the architectural stuff wasn't terribly deep, but good local pov and zoning/planning content; worth it if you don't have to be somewhere the following hour (or two). the rest of the day didn't quite come off - rock ctr lines insane/prohibitive/replaced by overrated halal cart, prince george ballroom closed early - but a few minutes at the japan society at the end of the day redeemed it. (somehow i'd never been to dag hammarskjold plaza (across the street) before? at least, not as far as i can remember.) thought my day was done til i remembered the ukrainian institute - inside upstairs is moderately evocative old new york.

events/exhaustion eliminated southpoint.

Next Year in BK?

apparently my grandfather used to live near mt morris park, i guess in the 60s

The lighthouse could have been the highlight of your day. :( It was for me a couple of years ago.

I waited about 25 mins of line for the rooftop garden on the Brit Empire Bldg at Rock Center, which would've been worth it if no one else was there... Did get an aerial view there of the Polish parade on 5th and his Eminence in front of the Cathedral (wd've been better w/ a telescopic sight).

The Prince George Ballroom was nice, but familiar from other rooms of the period I've seen.

2008 guide in today's Times for )ct 4-5.

http://www.ohny.org/weekend/listings.cfm

I made a res for the Coney walk but don't know if I was in time.

woohoo, I got into the Louis Armstrong House! (which is always open anyway. They better show us an old spliff or something)

lmk what whets your appetite

https://ohny.org/weekend/event-guide

reservations open

Hamilton Grange, anyone been?

It's open!

we're on our way out to some sightseein'!