Become a paid member to listen to this articleWe’re particularly excited about our behind the scenes tours offerings this week: Our Secrets of Grand Central Tour is back with a vengeance this weekend, with four time slots. Wednesday’s tours of the disappearing neon signs of Greenwich Village, led by author Tom Rinaldi, is almost sold out but a few tickets are still left. We’re heading back to Rooftop Reds, the world’s first commercial viable rooftop vineyard led on a tour and tasting led by the founders of the company. And we’ll explore the Gowanus Canal with Joseph Alexiou, author of
Tour the Disappearing Neon Signs of Greenwich Village: Wednesday, September 21st
On September 21st at 7:30 pm, join Thomas Rinaldi, author of New York Neon will take us past about a dozen signs dating to the 1930s, ’40s and ’50s, marking the locations of some of the neighborhood’s most stalwart restaurants, bars and small businesses. We will see them at dusk, as they start to come to light and when they look their best. Some have been beautifully restored; all are in perpetual danger of disappearing.
Tour and Tasting at Rooftop Reds: Saturday, September 24th
Did you know the world’s first commercially viable rooftop vineyard is hidden within the Brooklyn Navy Yard? Untapped Cities will be bringing readers on a special wine tasting and tour at Rooftop Reds, led by one of its founders who will share their knowledge of winemaking.
Within the 14,800 square foot rooftop, you will see a unique urban planter system that is the first of its kind, developed with Cornell University and Finger Lakes industry leaders. As an added bonus: all guests will get 20% off purchases of Rooftop Reds wines. Get in on this experience early, as the first harvest will be taking place in October 2017. Take in an amazing view, lounge in a hammock, and sip on Rooftop Red wines in our tours. Please note that the wine served on the rooftop is from Rooftop Reds partners in the Finger Lakes until the first harvest off the Navy Yard rooftop are ready.
The Secrets of Grand Central Tour: Saturday and Sunday, September 24 and 25 (+ more dates this fall)
Did you know there is a tennis court inside Grand Central? Or that the ceiling is backwards? Our popular “Secrets of Grand Central” tour is led by Tamara Agins, a project manager at the New York City Department of City Planning. Tamara is also the author of our popular series on the secrets of Grand Central. On this tour, you will see the hidden tennis courts, locate the lost armchairs of Grand Central, peek into the entrance of the glass walkways and more.
Secrets of the Gowanus Canal Tour: Saturday, September 25th
Photo by Joseph Alexiou
Untapped Cities is thrilled to produce a tour of the Secrets of the Gowanus Canal led by writer Joseph Alexiou, author of Gowanus: Brooklyn’s Curious Canal, a source for our popular article on the canal’s historical secrets. On this tour, learn how real estate speculation and Gilded Age denizens transformed the once naturally-occurring creek and salt marsh into a stinking cesspool and toxic dump. Although the barges are long gone, the sewage remains—as does toxic waste and the architectural monuments to Brooklyn’s industrial heyday. The landscape of industrial buildings that remained are transforming the neighborhood into a creative hub, in turn encouraging a flurry of new development.
On this tour, you’ll see sites and landmarks like the Coignet Stone Company Building, one of the first moulded concrete buildings in the United States, the former Batcave/BRT Powerhouse, the National Box Packing Factory, the Green Building, the 4th Street Basin and more.
