If you are looking to own property in New York City, this may be the cheapest way to do it. For as little as $100 you can “purchase” a piece of New York City real estate on the The Panorama of the City of New York inside the Queens Museum. As part of the Museum’s Adopt-a-Building program anyone can make a donation and receive a deed to their place of choice on the world’s largest architectural scale model. The purchase of a piece of the panorama can make a unique gift this holiday season to commemorate a special place in New York City.
Photo by Max Touhey, Courtesy of the Queens Museum
The museum’s Adopt-a-Building program launched in 2009 as a creative way to raise funds for the care and maintenance of the beloved panorama display which was commissioned by Robert Moses for the 1964 World’s Fair. Suggested donation levels range from $100 to $1,000 for the “purchase” of a small apartment to an entire commercial building or warehouse. For each purchase donors receive a title deed declaring the adoption of the property.
Sample title deed courtesy of the Queens Museum
Over the years, buyers of panorama property have shared their stories about why they bought a certain property with the museum. Adopting a place on the panorama is a special way to commemorate your first apartment in the city, where you got married, or your favorite place. Here is one sentimental story the Queens Museum shared with Untapped Cities from a building donor:
“In honor of my mom, Joy, beloved wife, mother, food historian, and lover of all things New York. She and my father moved into this former factory in 1979 and she lived here the rest of her life. My mom loved New York City so much that she spent the last several years of her life researching and recounting it’s rich culinary history in a book called “Food City: Four Centuries of Food Making in New York.” Not only is her book a gift to the city, but she also created a wonderful home for us in this Chelsea loft.” — Anonymous building adopter
Photo by Max Touhey, Courtesy of the Queens Museum
The panorama is made up of 895,000 plastic and hand-painted wooden structures built by a team of more than 100 people working for the architectural model makers Raymond Lester & Associates over the course of three years. Every single building constructed in all five boroughs before 1992 is represented in the panorama. To secure your own piece of the panorama you can fill out this online form or contact the Sydney Gilbert at sgilbert@queensmuseum.org or 718.592.9700 x 128.
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
