Holiday lights are shining, the Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree will be lit, and we have a ton of exciting winter events to share! Join Untapped New York and our partners this week as we celebrate Loisaida, learn about the importance of everyday urban places, admire Manhattan's holiday decor, and so much more!
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Members get $10 off all public Untapped New York walking tours!
Wednesday, December 4th - Explore the New York Buildings of H.H. Richardson
Dive into the archives of Harvard's Houghton Library to uncover previously unpublished drawings by America's most preeminent architects of the 19th century! From H.H. Richardson to Stanford White, see how buildings go from ideas to finished products when you join the authors of the new book, Henry Hobson Richardson: Drawings from the Collection of Houghton Library, Harvard University, for an insightful virtual talk. This talk will focus on Richardson's New York commissions including the grand state New York State Capitol and the sprawling Buffalo State Asylum which he worked on with his Staten Island neighbor and close friend Frederick Law Olmsted, landscape architect of Central Park!
Wednesday, December 4th - On the Edge of Water and Change: An Exploration of John T. Krawchuk’s Photography of the West Village Waterfront in the Early 1990s
Join Village Preservation for a special evening with John T. Krawchuk as we explore the West Village waterfront on the brink of radical change and redevelopment in the early 1990s. Krawchuk will be joined in conversation with Village Preservation’s Executive Director Andrew Berman and Director of Preservation and Research Dena Tasse-Winter to help further highlight changes in this unique part of our neighborhood at a critical turning point in its history.
Thursday, December 5th - A Gilded Age Christmas: Decorating the Vanderbilts' Marble House
Photo Courtesy of Preservation Society of Newport County
Get a virtual behind-the-scenes look at how a grand Newport mansion transforms for the holidays on this live-streamed virtual tour! Join Jim Donahue, Curator of Historic Landscapes and Horticulture for the Preservation Society of Newport County, to learn tips and tricks for your own holiday decorating as he explains how he created the opulent displays inside Marble House, an $11 million birthday present from her William Vanderbilt to his wife Alva. Maria D'Amario, team leader at Marble House, will share historical stories of the family and each room we visit.
Friday, December 6th - Christmas in New York Walking Tour
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This tour also runs on Friday, December 13th!
Celebrate the shimmering scenes of the season on our annual holiday decor tour! Gaze at the iconic Plaza Hotel from classic Christmas movies like Home Alone 2 and Eloise at Christmastime, wander along Fifth Ave to admire the festive window displays of legendary high-end retailers, take in Rockefeller Center’s world-famous Christmas tree and ice skating rink, and more. Join us for some holiday cheer!
Friday, December 6th - Free Admission to Tingle Bells at Artechouse
Photo Courtesy of Artechouse
Soothe your holiday stress at a festive immersive show in the former boiler room below Chelsea Market, now an innovative digital art space! Immerse yourself in whispers, delicate sounds, and entrancing holiday visuals at Artechouse's holiday show (a $27 value). Can't make the dates offered to members? Purchase a ticket here!
Saturday, December 7th - Powering NYC: East River Ferry Tour
Uncover power plants, abandoned islands, and more overlooked pieces of power infrastructure on a ferry tour up the East River led by an energy professional! It takes a lot of energy to power the city that never sleeps. But where does it all come from? Hop aboard an NYC Ferry and discover the various methods used to supply power to the five boroughs while enjoying the many unique sights best viewed from the water.
Saturday, December 7th - Hard Hat Tour of Ellis Island's Abandoned Hospital
Explore buildings usually off-limits to the public on a hard hat tour of the abandoned hospital on the island's south side, in partnership with Save Ellis Island. This tour grants you access to spaces that have been closed off for decades including an autopsy theater, contagious disease wards, and laundry facilities. Learn about the immigrants who passed through and discover other surprising uses for the 29-building complex.
Saturday, December 7th - Explore the Gilded Age Mansions of Fith Ave
Photo Via Lobrary of Congress
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This tour runs on Wednesday, Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays!
Take a stroll along Fifth Avenue as it was during the Gilded Age when grand mansions of millionaires lined the illustrious street. As you revisit Millionaire’s Row, you will discover works of architecture lost to time and some that remain today with a new purpose. This tour will resurrect some of the magnificent mansions that no longer stand bringing those glamorous abodes back to life with stunning historical images and scintillating stories of the affairs that took place inside. We will have the opportunity to peek inside two of those gilded Age mansions, one currently used as a retail store and another used as an embassy’s cultural services.
Join Village Preservation in celebrating South Village month by coming down to the Sullivan-Thompson Historic District for some holiday shopping! Take a stroll among the district’s many wonderful independent stores and businesses while enjoying the festive decor. Several shops will be offering treats, prizes, or discounts for those who sign up!
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This event is free for all! Registration is suggested.
Sunday, December 8th - Backstage Tour of the Met Opera
Photo: Jonathan Tichler/Metropolitan Opera
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.
Sunday, December 8th - Remnants of the World's Fair Tour
Didn’t make it to the 1939/40 or 1964/65 World’s Fairs? Here’s your chance! This tour will uncover remnants of both fairs, with a focus on hidden time capsules, the Fountain of the Planets, the Unisphere, and the historic New York State Pavilion. Flushing Meadows-Corona Park has lived many lives from marshy tidal wetlands to an early 20th-century ash dump, to the site of not one, but two World’s Fairs. This tour explores the past, present, and future of this 900-acre park and ends at the Queens Museum where the New York Panorama, a 1964 World’s Fair remnant is on hand for viewing.
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!
Sunday, December 8th - Washington Square and the Birth of 5th Ave
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Free for members at the Insider tier or higher!
Join Untapped New York's Chief Experience Officer Justin Rivers to celebrate the 200th anniversary of NYC's famous thoroughfare on a tour of lower 5th Ave! In 1824, the central avenue of Manhattan’s radical new street grid system began at the foot of a potter's field and cut through marshy farmland in old Greenwich Village. On this tour, gaze upon some of the oldest remaining mansions of Washington Square, discover the last original gas lamp in Manhattan, wander over to some of Greenwich Village’s iconic residential alleys, see the Greenwich Village townhouse that was turned into a bomb in the 1970s, and more!
Monday, December 9th - Uncover the Secrets of Grand Central Terminal
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This tour runs every day of the week!
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.
View photographs and hear stories from Bendiner-Viani's latest book, The Cities We Need: Essential Stories of Everyday Places, which highlights the seemingly mundane locations that are vital to building community! In this virtual talk, Bendiner-Viani will explore the connection between belonging and place, examine the impact of changing neighborhoods, gentrification, and development, introduce you to "visual urbanism" and more!
This in-person event is free for all but registration is required!
Bimbo Rivas was a Puerto Rican artist and activist who lived and made his mark on the Lower East Side. He played a key role in the Nuyorican Movement and authored the poem “Loisaida,” which popularized the term and reinforced a sense of cultural identity in the neighborhood. To mark the 50th anniversary of that poem’s publication, this event will celebrate Bimbo’s life, work, and legacy with a live performance of the poem by one of his daughters, live music by one of Bimbo’s mentees, Daso, a photo montage by the great East Village photographer Marlis Momber, and much more!
Join Untapped New York's expert guide Richard Soden for a walk through several of the most dynamic and diverse areas of Manhattan! Discover who is buried in the Worth Monument, pass by the original locations of former Madison Square Garden sites, visit the historic Pete’s Tavern where O’Henry is believed to have written “Gift of the Magi”, stop outside the home of Theodore Roosevelt, and more! 100% of your tour ticket price goes to your guide.
Wednesday, December 11th - Underground Subway Tour
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.
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