Join Untapped Cities this week to explore some of New York City’s most iconic and little known locations on our behind-the-scenes tours. Every week we offer exciting, expert led experiences designed to help you rediscover your city. Check out all of the tours offered this week:
Tuesday, January 8th
Special Access Tour of the Woolworth Building
Photograph Courtesy of Jochen Enderlin
TOUR HIGHLIGHTS:
- Special Access inside the Woolworth Building, which is normally off-limits to the public
- Learn about the history of the building, how it was created and has been restored over the years
- Visit the spectacular “cathedral-esque” lobby and mezzanine of the building, nicknamed the “Cathedral of Commerce”
- Explore the cellar level where you will see an abandoned bank vault and entrances that once had direct access to the NYC subway
- Contemplate many Art Deco details including the gorgeous mailboxes and elevators
Insider Tour of the Woolworth Building
Wednesday, January 9th
Special Access Tour of The Players Club
TOUR HIGHLIGHTS:
- Learn about the history of the Club and its members
- See the Stanford White designed façade and interiors of the Gothic-Revival mansion
- Visit the room in which actors met secretly in 1913 to form the Actors Equity Association, and walk inside Edwin Booth’s bedroom, where you can find the skull that was used in his famous 100 consecutive performances of Hamlet
- Visit the Hampden-Booth Theatre Library, which contains a vital collection of books, plays, theatre magazines and other artifacts of 19th and early 20th century American and British theatre history
- View the Players Club’s impressive art collections, including portraits by Everett Raymond Kinstler, Edwin’s theater costumes, and more
- Get a close look at Mark Twain’s poker table
Insider Tour of the Players Club on Gramercy Park
Saturday, January 12th
Secrets of the Brooklyn Bridge Walking Tour
TOUR HIGHLIGHTS:
- Discover the Brooklyn Bridge‘s secrets, including its old Cold War fall out shelter, the hidden champagne vaults, the bridge jumper survivor’s support group and so many others… *NOTE: we will not be going inside the shelter or vaults.*
- See an abandoned park hidden in plain sight as you explore the perimeter of the Manhattan anchorages of the bridge
- Uncover the hidden statue of the family of engineers who built the bridge
- Locate the site of the nation’s first White House
- Cross the bridge span, which offers one of the best vantage points in New York City
The Secrets of Brooklyn Bridge Walking Tour
Behind the Scenes Tour of the Abandoned Ellis Island Hospital
TOUR HIGHLIGHTS:
- Explore the over 100-year-old contagious disease hospital, which has been abandoned since 1954
- See an exhibition by the world-renowned artist JR, who has placed life-sized historic photographs of Ellis Island immigrants on interior walls of the hospital buildings
- Visit the Laundry Building, where 3000+ pieces of laundry were washed and sanitized daily
- Discover the kitchen, autopsy room and other usually off-limits places
- Get special access inside the original morgue and long abandoned FBI offices
Behind-the-Scenes Hard Hat Tour of the Abandoned Ellis Island Hospital
Tour of the Secrets of Grand Central Terminal
TOUR HIGHLIGHTS:
- Learn about the secrets of one of NYC’s most iconic buildings
- See Grand Central’s hidden tennis courts
- Peek into the entrance of the glass walkways
- Learn about the design flaw as large as Grand Central Terminal‘s main atrium
- Discover a multi-million dollars jewel hidden in plain sight and more!
Tour of the Secrets of Grand Central Terminal
Underground Tour of the NYC Subway
Photograph Courtesy of Jochen Enderlin
TOUR HIGHLIGHTS:
- Explore City Hall Park as the birthplace of the NYC subway system, including elements of the famed, decommissioned City Hall Station you can see right in the park
- Learn about the comically short route of the mythical “Subway before the Subway,” Alfred Ely Beach’s Pneumatic Transit System
- See the architectural ghosts of the now nearly forgotten, and partially abandoned, Chambers Street station then nicknamed the “Grand Central of Downtown”
- Use the 6 train as your own time machine as you ride through abandoned subway stations
- Discover the remnants of Union Station as you learn about a hidden art installation thousands of riders walk by everyday
Underground Tour of the NYC Subway
See our full lists of public tours and Insider Events!