This week of September marks a somber anniversary in New York City’s history as we commemorate the 18th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. In addition to the Tribute in Lights and official commemoration ceremony, museums across the city are holding special events to remember the day. The rest of the week is full of fun events to welcome in the new month. From an ice cream tasting to hold on to that last bit of summer to behind-the-scenes tours and a panel discussion on a house built by robots, check out our Untapped picks:

Friday, September 6th

Photographs Courtesy of Staten Island Urby

Tour an urban farm and taste a new farm fresh ice cream flavor at Staten Island Urby. The historic Staten Island ice cream parlor Egger’s Ice Cream has partnered with the Rabbit’s Garden urban farm to create Green Dream, a one-of-a-kind homemade ice cream flavor made from ingredients grown at the 5,000 square foot urban farm. If you are an Untapped Cities Insider, you can join us for a tour of Rabbit’s Garden’s with current farmer-in-residence Olivia Gamber, and an ice cream tasting! Not an Insider yet? Become a member today to gain access to free behind-the-scenes tours and special events all year long!

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Saturday, September 7th

Uncover the secrets of Grand Central Terminal on an expert led tour from Untapped Cities. On this tour guests will discover the turbulent history of the iconic landmark and find little known treasures hidden in plain site such as the world’s largest Tiffany clock and a major design flaw in the famous ceiling mural.

Tour of the Secrets of Grand Central Terminal

Explore the abandoned hospital complex on Ellis Island on a behind-the-scenes hard hat tour. This experience will lead guests through off-limits spaces that have been closed to the public for over sixty-years. Built as a hospital over 100 year ago, the complex has served also as an FBI field office, training facilities for the U.S. coast, and even a detention camp. Now you can walk through the former wards, morgue, laundry facility and other areas where you will find a site-specific photography installation by world-renowned artist JR.

Behind-the-Scenes Hard Hat Tour of the Abandoned Ellis Island Hospital

Sunday, September 8th

Discover secret tunnels, mystic rituals and hidden codes on our Secrets of Prospect Park walking tour! This pastoral oasis in the heart of Brooklyn boasts rolling meadows, indigenous forests, tranquil man-made bodies of water a hidden cemetery and more fascinating features to discover.

Monday, September 9th

Take an evening stroll through Central Park with the Friends of the Upper East Side Historic Districts. Led by FRIENDS Vice President and seasoned tour guide David Karabell, this leisurely walk from the southeast corner of the Park to Bethesda Terrace will reveal fascinating stories from the park’s history. As you stroll past the Zoo, the Lake, and the Mall, find out how one of the Park’s oldest buildings turned from fortress to museum to weather bureau, step inside the Arsenal for a special chance to view two 1930’s WPA murals, explore one of the largest and last remaining stands of American Elm trees in North America and more!

Catch the finale of Bryant Park’s Picnic Performances series as the New York City Opera celebrates its 75th anniversary! The NYCO chorus and soloists will be accompanied by a 30-piece orchestra and narration by Michael Capasso, General Director of the company. The performances will be led by a quartet of conductors starting at 6:00pm. This event is free and open to the public.

Tuesday, September 10th

Take part in a screening and Q&A of the documentary Wall Writers with director Roger Gastman at Nitehawk Cinema in Williamsburg. Narrated by John Waters, Wall Writers follows TAKI183, CORNBREAD and other legendary writers of the 1960s and 1970s through photographs and archival footage. Gastman, who has worked on other documentaries including Infamy and Banksy’s Oscar-nominated Exit Through the Gift Shop is a curator, graffiti historian, urban anthropologist and collector. The Q&A will be moderated  by Sacha Jenkins SHR, co-founder of the hip-hop newspaper Beat Down and Ego Trip magazine and chief creative officer at Mass Appeal.

Join the Columns Club for an Urban Ranger led tour of sites spread across the northernmost and wildest parts of Central Park. The tour will also grant guests access to the rarely-opened Blockhouse, a remnant of the War of 1812. The tour will be followed by drinks!

Wednesday, September 11th

Commemorate the tragedy of 9/11 at the Brooklyn Historical Society with two special events. The Historical Society will host a real-time daylong screening of Wolfgang Staehle’s 2001 which is made up of footage captured on that fateful day from two cameras set up in Brooklyn. The screening, which is free and open to the public, will be followed by Narrators of 9/11: The Power of Word. This panel will feature writers whose works of fiction and non-fiction focus on our shared experience of the attacks. You can also catch a screening of 2001 at the Queens Museum. Look out for our September 11th event guide coming out on Monday for more ways to honor the day.

Thursday, September 12th

Learn about New York City’s ballparks both past and present at the Museum of the City of New York’s Ballparks and our Changing City talk. Presented in conjunction with the museum’s exhibit on Jackie Robinson, this talk will feature Pulitzer Prize-winning architecture critic Paul Goldberger, author of the new book Ballpark: Baseball in the American City, and author Kevin Baker who will discuss the connection between the physical transformation of New York’s ballparks and America’s changing attitudes toward cities and shared civic space, past and present. If you are an Untapped Cities Insider, you can attend this talk for free!

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Check out the new Queens Museum exhibit Who Takes Care of New York? at the opening reception. Through maps, art, and storytelling, this exhibition explores a variety of civic groups and the ways that they care for and support their local environments, empowering visitors “with an understanding of their capacity to make lasting changes in their neighborhoods.”

See the exhibit Celia Cruz, the Queen of Salsa at Woodlawn Cemetery. Back by popular demand, the exhibit features costumes, wigs, stage hats, shoes, personal photographs and a documentary video which tells the story of the “Queen of Salsa” who is buried at Woodlawn in The Celia Cruz & Pedro Knight mausoleum. The mausoleum will be open for viewing from 9:00 A.M. to 4:00 P.M. and the Woodlawn Conservancy Trolley will escort passengers to and from the exhibit to the mausoleum.  Exhibit Curator, Omer Pardillo Cid, President of the Celia Cruz Foundation, who was her longtime manager and estate trustee, will share his first-hand accounts of memories with Celia. This exhibit is free and long lines are expected!

Attend a panel discussion and the opening reception for How to Build a House: Architectural Research in the Digital Age. This new exhibit at Cooper Union showcases the conception and making of the DFAB HOUSE, the world’s first fully inhabited building to have been digitally planned and largely built with the help of robots and 3D printers. The event is free and open to the public. Seating is first come first served.

See our full lists of upcoming public tours and Insider events!