October 06, 2007
Customs House Collector's Room now closed for OHNY
 A few updates on Open House New York from Saturday's outings:
Despite what's printed in the OHNY guide and on the OHNY website, the Alexander Hamilton U.S. Customs House does not plan to open its doors for OHNY on Sunday. NewYorkology dropped by around 4 p.m. today and was told the Tiffany Studio-designed Collector's Room was only open to the public from 1 to 3 p.m. today and there are no plans to open it to the public again. (The guide lists the site as open for OHNY from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday.)
If you don't have reservations for the High Line, don't plan on showing up to get the spot of a no-show. Organizers told NewYorkology today that they intentionally overbooked each tour by three slots in order to account for no-shows. (But if all 18 show up, they all still get to go.) A total of 708 people are slotted to walk the High Line this weekend - the first time it's ever been open to the public.
The OHNY Twitter update says times have changed for the Science Barge on Sunday. Tours are now set for noon, 1, 3, and 4 p.m.
At the New York Public Library, the free tours on the hour do indeed offer some access normally unavailable to the public: the Trustees Room.
It looks like there were long lines outside Washington Irving High School (which, according to the OHNY guide, is open again Sunday from noon to 3 p.m.)
Kevin Walsh at Forgotten NY e-mails with a full rundown of his Saturday -- along with some tentative picks for Sunday:
Here's my day...we saw 4 places which is a realistic total but is immensely frustrating when you consider that there are over 200 listings total:
The Chrysler lobby features several Art Deco era paintings in the ceiling, the whole lobby awash in burnt orange. I also visited James Renwick's Out Lady of the Scapular Church (1854) on 28th near 3rd, an embarrasssment of stained glass riches plus some tromp l'oeil (3-D in appearance) wall paintings. Then on to the Paul Rudolph House on 58th near 2nd, an ingenious approach of how to design and furnish an extremely narrow space. White, white and white. Then, Bar Americain on 52nd near 6th, an example of modern design (2005) that I enjoy. Lots of orange, my favorite color. ...
... I want to get to the Prince George Ballroom, Grand Masonic, and roof of the Rock. Fortunately I was able to score an OHNY brochure. A weakness of the brochure though is that they list everything alphabetically by borough. That means it skips all over the island, and leads to a confusing number jumble.
I love OHNY but it SHOULD be a 2-weekend or all-week event because you just can't get to enough places and have to leave stuff off that you would like to see. News and pictures online from OHNY Saturday:
Tom Otterness Studio and Ellis Island hospital (NYC Hoosier)
Mike Nelson’s Psychic Vacuum labyrinth (Gamma Blog)
House of the Redeemer (gmpicket at Flickr)
Atop the arch at Grand Army Plaza (jaymegordis via Flickr)
Sunday morning updates:
It looks like OHNY has abandoned their update pages and is instead adding (just a few) updates via Twitter and along a new ticker on their front page. Among the changes -- SixPoint Craft Ales, which had been listed as completely canceled on the update page this past week, was apparently open for tours Saturday.
Also, check out the Flickr OHNY photo pool (although note it also includes pictures from prior years.)
There's a New York Times story about the Woolworth tour and MTA substation, and elsewhere, pictures of "The Encampment" at night - and a note about extra bus service there.
Unable to confirm which is correct, but the NYC parks website says the Astoria Pool is also open for tours Sunday - although the OHNY site says Saturday only.
Also, the NYC Parks site says Staten Island's Seguine Mansion is only open Sunday until 3 p.m. (not 4 p.m. as listed in the OHNY guide.)
One update for Floyd Bennett Field in Brooklyn: A call to the field today turned up the news that Sunday's tours are not going down into the tunnels. Today's only go up to the air control tower and into a couple hangars where antique airplanes are being restored.
October 6, 2007 07:13 PM in Architecture, Cheap Stuff, Downtown, History, Kids, Midtown, Museums, Sightsology, Tours
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