New York is defined by its Art Deco buildings, which has trnsformed the city into the thriving metropolis that stands today. In celebration of the city’s architectural legacy, Untapped Cities is partnering with Anthony W. Robins, New York’s best-known Art Deco guide, for a special walking tour series that will bring visitors past the stunning monuments of the 1920s and 30s. We’re holding this event series in conjunction with the launch of Robins’ guidebook, New York Art Deco: A Guide to Gotham’s Jazz Age Architecture,
which captures thirty years’ worth of Art Deco knowledge within its pages. Our first tour, covering Murray Hill to Gramercy Park, kicks off on July 18th. Purchase tickets to the event below (and check out our additional itineraries):
JULY 18th (PART I): Murray Hill to Gramercy Park: This walk through the east side of Midtown South includes an unusual collection of buildings, each different from the next. We have a surprising modernist apartment building among the genteel town houses of Murray Hill; Ely Jacques Kahn’s most impressive office building (Two Park Avenue; and another Kahn building that’s no slouch); a work by Edgar Brandt, the great French iron master; the iconic Empire State Building; an incomplete attempt by Metropolitan Life to capture the Empire State Building’s “world’s tallest” title; and George and Edward Blum’s Gramercy House, with some of the most enjoyable Art Deco terra-cotta ornament in the city. Click here for more information.
AUGUST 17th (PART II): Central Park West: Join us on a pleasant stroll along Central Park West for a closer look at the buildings that form Manhattan’s major residential skyline, including the great twin-towered skyscraper-apartment houses—the Century, the Majestic, and the Eldorado — that tower over Central Park, and other multicolored Jazz Age fantasies of high living. Click here for more information and to book.
SEPTEMBER 28th (PART III): Beekman Place to Rockefeller Center: Starting on the far east side of Midtown at posh Beekman Place, we visit a handful of modernistic residences ranging from the fabulously wealthy River House (6.3) to the more modestly middle-class Southgate apartments to the former Panhellenic Tower, a redoubt for young professional women taking on the big city in the 1920s. Pushing westward into the commercial heart of Midtown we visit the spectacular but lesser-known General Electric Building and continue with the Waldorf-Astoria, New York’s preeminent skyscraper hotel. We close with a brief look at Rockefeller Center, midtown Manhattan’s urbane urban wonderland. Click here for more information and to book.
DETAILS: Price: $35 What to know: The tour is 2-hours long What to bring: Comfortable walking shoes
