Hear from an author and map designer who has been creating maps of the NYC subway, officially and unofficially, for over forty years!
A new street art hotspot has some unconventional holiday decorations!
From giant menorah lightings to New Year's Day hikes, check out our picks for how to spend the holidays in NYC!
Discover all the ways you can rediscover NYC!
Join us this week as we dive into the origin story of the Brooklyn Bridge, revisit Times Square's forgotten red light district, uncover abandoned stations in the Brooklyn subway, taste rare coffees from around the world, and more! Check out all of this week's exciting events below from Untapped New York and partners like Village Preservation:
Hear about the heroic pooches of New York City's past in a live, virtual talk with author and volunteer firefighter Peggy Gavan! Meet a heroic Dalmatian who saved the lives of humans and cats from burning buildings, uncover the story of a monkey who saved her own firehouse from burning down, discover a miniature fire department at Coney Island's Dreamland Park, and hear more stories from Gavan's latest book, The Bravest Pets of Gotham: Tales of Four-Legged Firefighters of Old New York.
Get expert insight on the first-ever retrospective exhibit dedicated to J.P. Morgan's personal librarian and the first director of The Morgan Library, Belle de Costa Greene! Uncover Greene's fascinating life story, from her roots in Washington, D.C. to her distinguished career at the helm of one of the world’s great research libraries in New York City, and see some of the magnificent and rare items Greene curated for Morgan's illustrious collection such as Rembrandt etchings, old master drawings, and literary drafts by Elizabeth Barrett Browning and Edgar Allan Poe.
Presented by Village Preservation, Co-Sponsored by the Merchant’s House Museum
In Spaces of Enslavement, Andrea C. Mosterman addresses the persistent myth that the colonial Dutch system of slavery was more humane than later versions in either British or American New York. Investigating practices of enslavement in New Netherland and then in New York, Mosterman shows that these ways of racialized spatial control held much in common with the southern plantation societies. The author will discuss her work in a free, virtual book talk. Pre-registration required.
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Lower East Side residents, along with folks from all over the city, would flock to the Bowery to hear song buskers like Irving Berlin, see moving pictures, open a bank account, or get a bowl of soup when falling on hard times. Home to theaters, grand bank buildings, education centers, and flophouses, the historic 1.5-mile Bowery had it all. Visit numerous sites including the grand Cooper Union building, the former sites of Amato Opera House, music venue CBGB, and much more!
Sample a diverse selection of coffees sourced from around the globe, then roasted right here in New York City! See the inner workings of a busy Long Island City-based roastery, learn how to taste coffee (the way professionals do) from an award-winning roaster, sip on liberica coffee–a rare species of coffee not commonly sold in the United States, and uncover the fascinating history of coffee and how it is made. Tickets for Untapped New York Members are just $10, a $65 value!
Join Untapped New York's Irish History Tour guide Ashley Cathaláin for an afternoon of Irish history, delicious snacks, and drinks at a Manhattan restaurant named for an Irish rebel, John Devoy! Tickets are available at the door for $25, but you are encouraged to message Ashley on Instagram to secure your spot. A limited amount of free tickets are available to Untapped New York members at the Insider tier or higher.
Eat your way through Lower Manhattan as you sample traditional Italian, Jewish, and Chinese foods from dumplings and pizza to pickles or knishes. This walking tour offers a glimpse into the past with stops at off-the-beaten-track locations and a taste of the delectable flavors of each neighborhood. We will start at Columbus Park in Chinatown which was the initial site of the famous “Five Points.” After exploring Chinatown and eating tasty dumplings, we’ll move to Little Italy to see some sites and sample some traditional dishes. We’ll then move on to the Lower East Side to learn its history and sample authentic Jewish food.
Explore the history of New York City’s infrastructure by focusing on the East River and its islands, shores, tunnels, and bridges. Our tour begins with the birth of Consolidated Edison then we board the NYC Ferry Soundview route for a better look at the current and former electricity, steam, and gas plants along the banks of the East River and its infamous Hell Gate. As we traverse by U Thant, Roosevelt, Mill Rock, Randall’s, North and South Brother, and Rikers Islands, we examine the role they have played in New York City’s development. On the way back down, we take a look at the power infrastructure in Astoria Yard and DUMBO and their clean energy future.
Beyond the Brooklyn Bridge’s stately exterior lies an epic origin story. Now over 130 years old, the granite and limestone structure dazzles both tourists and residents alike. On the other side of this iconic span lies a transformed industrial waterfront now one of the most visited neighborhoods in all of New York—complete with a beach, roof-top parks, and great dining. Our unique walking tour will combine a walk across the bridge with a walk through the heart of DUMBO to give you a whole new appreciation for one of New York’s most iconic landmarks and the now-famous Brooklyn neighborhood right under it.
Join tour guide and native New Yorker Robert Brenner for a look back at the days when 42nd Street was the Deuce, Eighth Avenue was the Minnesota Strip, the Great White Way was a red light district, and the Crossroads of the World was XXX-rated. We will see former peepshows, grindhouses, adult bookstores, dive bars, hotsheet hotels, sex clubs, porno theaters, and massage parlors–not to mention all three locations of the New York Times. We will discover the personalities who made Times Square what it was: the King of the Peeps; the reclusive genius behind the McDonalds of Sex; the woman who built a gay and S&M porn empire; the slumlord with two suitcases filled with gold and five wives; and the Catholic priest who flew too close to the neon sun and crashed and burned.
Join us for the Brooklyn version of our popular NYC Underground Subway tour! Uncover abandoned IRT, BMT, and IND stations hidden in plain sight, experience the design of the oldest subway station in Brooklyn, explore the highest rapid transit station in the world, practice your moonwalk (no pressure) where Michael Jackson filmed the music video, Bad—and more!
Explore where New York began and see what is left of Dutch New Amsterdam in today’s lower Manhattan! Hear about New York’s founding myths and facts while standing in the very spots where they all happened. With New York City’s first map in hand, you will trace the streets of Manhattan in 1667 while discovering hidden relics. Physically touch history as you learn how Bowling Green got its name, see the foundations of New York City’s first City Hall (which was also a tavern!), stop at the long-forgotten oyster pasty cannon, and more.
Discover a 19th-century stone cottage from Ireland in the heart of downtown Manhattan, raise a pint of light or dark ale at the city's oldest Irish pub, and learn about the impact Irish immigrants have made on life in New York as you trace the Irish-American experience from the shores of Cobh to the streets of New York City with Irish podcaster Ashley Cathaláin, a Long Beach resident who hails from county Armagh!
Our award-winning Secrets of Grand Central Tour lets you peer into hidden tennis courts, find out what’s hiding beneath the iconic clock at the center of the main concourse, visit an office-turned-speakeasy, locate a forgotten celestial mural, and so much more! Discover hidden gems that daily commuters walk past each day inside the historic train terminal.
Discover the largest art installation in the subway system, see architectural ghosts of partially abandoned stations, and use the subway as your own time machine as you explore the evolution of the underground system from its opening in 1904 to today! Led by an expert New York City tour guide, you’ll discover hidden art and features of the subway that everyday commuters walk right by.
Presented by Village Preservation
Join Village Preservation for a book talk with author David Browne to discuss his new book, Talkin’ Greenwich Village: The Heady Rise and Slow Fall of America’s Bohemian Music Capital in conversation with Stephen Petrus, at Jefferson Market Library.
Talkin’ Greenwich Village is the first panoramic history of a now-mythical music community. David Browne's connection to the scene dates back to his days as a college student at NYU. For this book, he interviewed more than 150 people associated with the scene, including legendary musicians from its earliest days, including Judy Collins, Herbie Hancock, Tom Paxton, Sonny Rollins, John Sebastian, to those who emerged during its last great era of music in the neighborhood, including Suzanne Vega, Shawn Colvin, Terre, Suzzy Roche, Steve Forbert, and actor/musician Christopher Guest.
The iconic lobby of the Met Opera alone is a stunning space, and the massive theater is breathtaking, but all of the magic is created behind the scenes. On this special access tour, guests will see firsthand how the opera's extravagant productions come to life in buzzing backstage areas like the scenic and carpentry shops, the wig shop, costume shop, and see where the actors prepare in their dressing rooms.
Take a stroll along 5th Avenue and see it as it was during the Gilded Age when grand mansions of millionaires and New York City's high society lined the illustrious street! You will see stunning photographs of opulent homes that have been demolished and examine the facades of homes that still stand.
Presented by Village Preservation, Co-Sponsored by Anthology Film Archives
A tribute to acclaimed filmmaker Miloš Forman, who passed away in 2018, Village Preservation and Anthology Film Archives will host special screenings of Forman’s rarely-seen American debut, and one of the greatest of all his films, TAKING OFF (1971). Presented in collaboration with actor Miles Chapin, who appeared in Forman’s THE PEOPLE VS. LARRY FLYNT (1996) and MAN ON THE MOON (1999), the first screening, on Wednesday, November 20, will begin with a conversation between Chapin, the great playwright John Guare (who co-wrote TAKING OFF), and other special guests!
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