Dear Untapped New York readers,

What if you could have a passport to NYC’s secrets? Today, I am beyond excited to announce Untapped New York’s’ latest initiative, Untapped New York Insiders, a members-only club that will bring our audience to the most off-limits, unique places in New York City for free with a monthly membership. Members will also get free tickets to talks and book launch parties that Untapped New York will be hosting each month with the city’s movers and shakers, tickets to happy hours where they can meet fellow insiders, early bird ticketing to our public tours, exclusive offers and experiences from our partners such as the Museum of the City of New York and the Design Trust for Public Space.

Insiders tours will include such off-limits places as the New York State Pavilion, deep below ground to an abandoned shooting range and hidden Veterans Museum, into the construction sites of some of the city’s most exciting development projects, like the American Copper Building and Freshkills Park, up to the top of historical buildings with magnificent views like the Jefferson Market Library clocktower, behind the scenes inside the opulent Loew’s Wonder theaters, like the United Palace and the Landmark Loews Jersey, inside places rarely opened to the public like the Cultural Services of the French Embassy and the historic Lott House in Brooklyn, and in some of the city’s most interesting sustainability initiatives, like the massive green roof of the Javits Center. Tomorrow, registration will open to our Insiders tour Behind the Scenes in NYC’s City Hall.

Upcoming talks include a book launch party for Damnation Island: Poor, Sick, Mad, and Criminal in 19th Century New York, focusing on Roosevelt Island’s institutions and a book party for Yellow Cab, the story of a French filmmaker who decided to become an NYC yellow cab driver as research for his film. Soon to be announced will be more talks about documenting NYC, with figures like photographers James and Karla Murray, about urban exploration, about oysters in New York, about urban archeology and more. There will even be theater performances, like the off-broadway play Glory Be Columbia, about the S.S. Columbia steamboat that’s headed for the Hudson River next year – and members can go for free! You can see the full list of upcoming events here.

On April 20th, we’ll be hosting an open house for Untapped New York Insiders at the TWA Lounge high atop 1WTC and we’re looking forward to seeing many of you there.

There are three membership plans for Untapped New York Insiders:

A $5/month Supporter level which is aimed for people outside of the New York region. Supporter members will get access to an archive of videos of our tours and talks, so they can experience the visits virtually. They will also get access to a members-only Facebook group, where they can join in Facebook live broadcasts of our tours and talks as they happen.

A $10/month Insider level will offer all the Supporter level benefits, plus a free ticket to the tours and talks, early bird access to our public tours which often sell out quickly, a 15% discount code off the Untapped New York Shop, and regular happy hours with Insiders.

A $25/month Explorer level will offer all the Insider level benefits, plus you can bring a friend for free to all the tours and talks and get 15% off our private tours.

Since the day I started Untapped New York back in 2009, the most exciting thing has been the community that has developed around our mission of discovery. Writers, photographers, readers, residents, academics, urbanites, and city influencers, across all ages, were so excited to engage with our content and tours. It has been this community of readers and tour goers that has kept us going, despite the uncertainty of the media industry. We first started hosting tours just to meet our readers, many who have become contributors, friends, and staunch supporters. Today, over 90% of our tour goers are New Yorkers by billing zip code – wow, right? You’re the folks that drive us to deliver the highest quality experiences we can come up with. Because after all, you can trick a visitor but certainly not a New Yorker, and definitely not New Yorkers who read Untapped New York.

Back in the fall, I promised some exciting things up our sleeve and this is just the first one. Thank you for continuing to support Untapped New York!

From,

Michelle Young, founder of Untapped New York
and the Untapped New York Team