If you haven’t gotten Mom anything for Mother’s Day yet, check out some of the exciting events going on this week for an experience you can share together. From garden tours and farm festivals to hotel openings and symphony concert performances, here are our Untapped Picks for things to do this week in New York City:
Friday, May 10th
Tour The Sailing School Vessel (SSV) Corwith Cramer currentlydocked at Brooklyn Bridge Park. The Cramer is a 134-foot, two-masted brigantine owned and operated by Sea Education Association of Woods Hole, Massachusetts and serves as laboratory, office, and home for its 30-plus crew members, which include 20 undergraduates studying at sea for a semester. From 11:00am through 4:00pm the public can stop by for free deck tours at Pier 5. No reservations are required. When no docked, the boat hosts voyages throughout the Atlantic Ocean, including ports of call in Bermuda and the Caribbean islands.
Celebrate the world of design at NYCxDesign which kicks off a 12-day series of events throughout all five boroughs starting today. Presented by New York City Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC), NYCxDesign is made explores the world of design through exhibitions, installations, trade shows, panels, product launches, open studios, and more.
Saturday, May 11th
Here’s something you don’t usually get to do in New York City, give a sheep a haircut at the Queen’s County Farm Museum’s Sheep Shearing Festival. Throughout the day there will a variety of activities including shearing demos with the farm’s flock of Cotswold and Cormo sheep and fiber arts demonstrations in needle-felting, wool spinning and weaving as well as in-depth tours with farmers. The day will be set to the soundtrack of a live bluegrass duo, Coyote & Crow. The festival is fun for the whole family with crafts, hayrides and fresh picked food from the farm. New this year, Queens’ own Bridge & Tunnel Brewery will host a Beer Garden with featured brews especially for Sheep Shearing Festival!
Gain access to the stunning interiors of the landmarked Woolworth Building, a Gothic structure in Lower Manhattan that was once the tallest skyscraper in the world, on a VIP Tour led by the architect’s great-granddaughter. The Woolworth Building was designed by Cass Gilbert for five-and-dime store magnate Frank Woolworth. On this special tour, go inside the lobby of the building which is usually closed to the public to view the shimmering mosaic ceiling, visit the cellar level vault, and learn about the unique features of this magnificent early 20th century skyscraper.
Enjoy a special evening of symphony music performed by over eighty musicians in the sub-level of the Annex at the historic Brooklyn Army Terminal at So &So // The Titan. So&so is a curating collective whose symphony-centric performances feature a full-size orchestra of young professional top-caliber musicians from all over the world. This performance will feature Gustav Mahler’s epic 1st symphony. The main performance will be preceded by an opening with two cellos and dancer Kibrea Carmichael. After the show, there will be an after-party with Cuban band is Sonido Costeño. A custom light installation has been created by LowRes for this show.
Become an urban explorer for the day and venture inside the abandoned hospital complex at Ellis Island on abehind-the-scenes hard hat tour. As part of this experience, guests will be allowed into the contagious disease wards, morgue, laundry facilities, and other off-limits areas that have been shut down for over sixty year. Along the way, learn about the history of the hospital complex and its many functions from an FBI field office to a Coast Guard training facility and psychiatric hospital.
Spend a special day out with Mom at the New York Botanical Garden’s Mother’s Day Weekend Garden Party. There will garden party games like hula hoops, bean bag toss and giant chess, floral bouquet making workshops, live music, and garden tours of the beautiful spring flowers and trees. You can even picnic on Daffodil Hill with drinks and food from visiting food trucks.
Take Mom out for breakfast at a museum this Mother’s Day at the New York Historical Society’s Mother’s Day Breakfast and Museum Tour. Breakfast will be served in the museum’s Dexter Hall which is adorned with Picasso’s Le Tricorne. After breakfast guests will take part in a 90-minute combination tour of the Society’s exhibitions Augusta Savage: Renaissance Woman and Hudson Rising, guided by an expert at the Museum.
If Mom is more of the adventurous type, take her on our hard hat tour of theabandoned Ellis Island Hospital complex. Offered twice this week, this special tour gives you access to spaces you can’t see any other way. Learn about the history of the complex and immigration through island as well as view a site-specific art installation as you explore.
Be one of the first to visit the new Essex Street Market. After a ribbon cutting ceremony in the morning, the market will be open with twenty-one of the vendors from the original market across the street, as well as sixteen new vendors like Lower East Side Ice Cream Factory, Samesa, Don Ceviche, and Heros & Villains. The new market also features a state of the art demonstration kitchen which will hosts cooking events, and two full service restaurants.
Tuesday, May 14th
Take advantage of another opportunity to go inside the lobby of the Woolworth Building, a hidden gem in Lower Manhattan that is usually closed off to the public, on our Special Access Tour! Learn about the empire built by Frank Woolworth and the towering skyscraper he created to commemorate it. Guest will get to see the shimmering mosaic ceiling up close at the mezzanine level of the lobby, descend into the cellar for a peek inside the original bank vault and uncover the hidden treasures of this landmark.
This afternoon the highly anticipated TWA Hotel opens to the public! Grab a drink at Connie, a restored plane-turned-cocktail lounge where you can play with the cockpit controls, or in the Sunken Lounge. Take a plunge in the rooftop pool or and grab a bite to eat in the Paris Cafe. The TWA Hotel
Enjoy Wildflowers and Wine at The Battery. Stroll through the perennial gardens of the park, which were designed by renowned Dutch designer, Piet Oudolf, with the guidance of an expert gardener. After the tour, guests receive a $1 discount on happy hour wine at the Table Green kiosk in the Bosque gardens overlooking the harbor. This event if free and open to the public.
Photo Courtesy of Boroughs of the Dead
Celebrate the anniversary of Edgar Allan Poe’s marriage to his beloved Virginia Clem on a one-night-only walking tour of Edgar Allan Poe’s Greenwich Villagewith Boroughs of the Dead. Guided by Boroughs of the Dead’s founder, guests will follow Poe’s path through the village at the height of his fame in the mid 19th-century when he wrote some of his most famous poems. Participants will visit three of Poe’s New York City homes and have the chance to win a copy of two new Poe-related books!
Join a discussion on the effects of “fake news” and other media issues at the Brooklyn Historical Society’s An Objective Media—Fact or Fiction?. This discussion, presented by BHS and the Social Science Research Council, will explore America’s long-standing romanticizing of what the media is and how it functions. The panel will feature SiriusSM host and former New York Daily News columnist Karen Hunter; Kim Gallon, founder and director of the Black Press Research Collective and assistant professor of history at Purdue University; and Andie Tucher, director of Columbia Journalism School’s PhD program who is currently working on a book about the history of fake news. It will be moderated by Kathryn Cramer Brownell, associate professor at Purdue whose work focuses on how media and popular culture influence American political institutions.
Thursday, May 16th
Rendering for Dutch Kills, Courtesy of NYCDOT
Preview a new public art project at NYCxDesign, El-Space, created by the Design Trust for Public Space and the New York City Department of Transportation. El-Space in Long Island City. Guest will see the latest pilot installation in Long Island City and preview the planning framework which will apply to millions of square feet of El-Space across the five boroughs. Meet Design Trust and NYC DOT employees who can answer any questions you may have about the project then attend a panel discussion. This event is free and you can reserve a spot with Untapped Cities Insiders.
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Visit Snug Harbor Cultural Center and Botanical Garden for a Spring Flowers Walk. This guided walk will wind through the Perennial, White, and Pond gardens, while guest learn about the different plants’ origins and significance from Snug Harbor’s Director of Horticulture, Greg Lord and professional horticulturalist Wambui Ippolito. This event is rain or shine.
Nicole Saraniero is the Insider-in-Chief at Untapped New York, leading our Untapped New York Insiders membership program. Nicole graduated from Hofstra University with a Bachelor of Science in Televis
