History
Transit tours offer access to LowLine, Old City Hall
Registration opened today for the NYC Transit Museum’s spring and summer transit tours, which offer rare access to abandoned stations, a century-old power station and rides on classic trains to Coney Island and the Rockaways.
Some of the tours, including the chandeliered Old City Hall station, are open only to members of the Transit Museum. Museum membership starts at $40 for an individual and includes free or discounted access to museum exhibits, programs and special events for one year. Members also get priority registration to the tours, which explains why some of them have already sold out. (Current members also have access to June tours of the new East Side Access tunnels under Grand Central.)
Public tours are scheduled June 7 and July 12 of the abandoned Williamsburg Bridge Railway Terminal, which is also the potential future home of the LowLine underground park. Although these two tours are currently sold out, museum officials will sometimes set up a stand-by list to take the place of no-shows.
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May 2, 2012 2:19 PM Comments (1)
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1 WTC officially tallest building in NYC
Shortly after 2 p.m. today, One World Trade Center became the tallest building in New York City.
 Since Sept. 11, 2001, the Empire State Building had been the tallest skyscraper in the city.
“What you see here today is this determination to remember what we lost, and rebuild even higher,” Bill Baroni, the deputy executive director of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, said during a ceremony marking the milestone. “This is a great day for the Port Authority, for the people of New York and New Jersey, but it will be greater when this building is teeming with tenants and teeming with people going to work and tourists coming up here to look at the amazing views.”
The Empire State Building is 1,250 feet tall (but if you count its broadcast tower, it’s 1,453 feet, 8 9/16 inches.) But even the owners of the Empire State Building aren’t quibbling over the broadcast tower today. “The world’s most famous office building, the ancestor of all super-tall towers, welcomes our newer, taller cousin to the skyline. We’ve watched you grow, and now we salute you,” reads the official statement issued on behalf of the Empire State Building.
The Empire State Building tonight will light up red, white and blue “in honor of 1 World Trade Center.” 1 WTC tonight will light up in blue and white, the official colors of the Port Authority, according to Port Authority Executive Director Pat Foye.
During today’s milestone, two, 26-foot steel interior columns were attached to the top of 1 WTC, reaching a height of 1,271 feet above street level, according to the Port Authority.
The public observation deck at 1 WTC will also surpass the ESB’s public’s outdoor deck on 86, indoor observation deck on 102 and the outdoor, VIP-only 103rd floor.
In the coming months, 1 World Trade Center will top out at 1,368 feet, (104 stories) and then get a 408-foot telecommunications spire that will push the tower’s height to 1,776 feet. It will be the tallest building in the Western Hemisphere.
The goal is to open the building in 2014, Foye said during today’s news conference.
Also rising rapidly at the World Trade Center complex, 4 WTCnear the southwest corner of the site, is close to reaching its full height of 977 feet, at 72 stories. At a construction update two weeks ago, 4 WTC was listed at 65 floors.
Often overlooked, the 52-story rebuilt 7 WTC opened on the north side of the site in 2006. (It replaced the 47-story WTC 7 that collapsed at 5:20 p.m. on Sept. 11.)
The plaza and waterfalls at the 9/11 Memorial have been open to the public since the 10-year anniversary of the attack. The museum remains under construction but there is a 9/11 Memorial Preview Site on Vesey Street and the Tribute WTC 9/11 center on Liberty Street.
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April 30, 2012 2:40 PM Comments (1)
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Two new Bronx hotels in old buildings
Although out-of-towners have few Bronx lodging options, two new choices are in the works in two old buildings.
A 10-room bed and breakfast will open at the end of this month in the New York City-landmarked Andrew Freedman home on the Grand Concourse. Originally built in the 1920s as a retirement home that would only accept poor people who had once been rich, the full-block building and grounds are operated by the Mid-Bronx Senior Citizens Council. Some of the building is filled with community facilities such as day care and computer training classes, and a large section of two floors has been given over to the No Longer Empty arts group, which has installed its funky “This Side of Paradise” exhibition.
The artwork ranges from sculptures and video to full-room takeovers by a single artist. When “This Side of Paradise” closes June 5, the Mid-Bronx Senior Citizens Council has its sights set on turning the building’s empty spaces into a BAM for the Bronx, MBSCC spokeswoman Marcia Fingal told NewYorkology.
The Italian Renaissance building was originally set up like a villa and guests were expected to dress up for dinner. The building was constrcted with funds from Freedman, who was a financier of the IRT subway and owner of the Giants baseball team.
 Rooms in the new bed & breakfast have been updated from their rich-now-poor retirement-home days and rates will start at $130 for a room with a single bed that shares its bathroom with the adjacent guest room. The rate is $150 for a room with a private bathroom and shower. The price is $250 for a family-style suite, which is made up of two adjoining rooms with the bathroom in between and a total of three beds.
The goal is to run the bed & breakfast as a jobs-training program, Fingal said, as that’s part of MBSCC’s mission. In addition to the on-site art on offer, the Freedman hopes to open a Speakeasy Lounge for guests, complete with pool table.
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April 16, 2012 1:22 PM Comments (0)
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Early preview of Governors Island 2012 season
Governors Island on May 26 will open for the season with major changes in store for this year, including no access on Fridays to allow for major construction projects.
To make up for the loss of Fridays, the island will stay open later on Saturdays in June and the access on holiday Mondays will feature free bicycle rentals.
The sandy “beach” area will return for the season and offer some concerts. However, the big concerts in the middle of the island be will not take place this year.
In December, the Governors Island Alliance newsletter spelled out the changes: “Note to Prince Harry: No polo next year. No big concerts either. The south Island fields will be closed. The officers’ houses on Nolan Park and Colonels Row will be closed, too, for rehabbing, but their outdoor spaces remain open. The rest of the Island will also be open, with various spaces closed at different times depending on construction schedules.”
Although the name “Water Taxi Beach” has been retired, The Beach at Governors Island will open for 2012. “There will be quite a few concerts at GI this year,” Tom Fox of The Beach told NewYorkology via email. The only other Water Taxi Beach still in operation this year is now known as the Beekman Beer Garden and Beach Club at the South Street Seaport.
No Friday access due to construction in 2012 and 2013 also means the end of Free Bike Fridays. However Bike and Roll New York City will still offer Governors Island rentals on the weekends and holiday Mondays. “We’re doing Free Bike Mondays this year on Memorial Day, 4th of July, and Labor Day weekends,” Claire Gorayeb of Bike and Roll told NewYorkology via email.
After a one-year delay, the historic Castle Williams fort built for the War of 1812 will open to the public. National Park Rangers will lead tours of 15 people at a time up to the roof, down into the artillery vaults and through other areas of the round red-brick building that has served as a fort, military prison and classroom to the children of U.S. Coast Guard personnel who once lived on the island.
The Castle Williams tours will depart every half-hour, 10:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Free tickets will be handed out first-come, first-served.
The National Park Service will offer very limited weekday access, but only as part of its childrens programs and tours of the island’s National Historic Landmark District. “Visitors during the week cannot explore the island on their own and will be with a National Park Ranger throughout their entire visit,” according to the NPS website. The free weekday programs begin June 13.
NPS rangers will also offer free weekend walking and biking tours.
Closed until 2014 for its own major renovation, the Smithsonian’s Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum will mount a free exhibition in Building 110 on Governors Island this summer. From May 26 through Sept. 3, “Graphic Design—Now in Production” will display contemporary posters, books, magazines, identity and branding, information graphics, typography and typefaces, and film and television title graphics.
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April 13, 2012 11:59 AM Comments (0)
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Titanic centennial tributes in NYC
On the centennial anniversary of the launch of the RMS Titanic, New York City is paying tribute to the maritime disaster in a number of ways. In addition to the permanent memorials, several exhibitions, tours and concerts are paying respects throughout April.
The South Street Seaport Museum today opens Titanic at 100: Myth and Memory exhibition with objects and documents from the shop and her passengers. The exhibition will be on view at the museum’s Melville Gallery on Water Street through May 16.
The Melville Gallery is adjacent to the Titanic Memorial Park, which is home to the lighthouse (pictured,) that in 1913 was built in tribute to the Titanic tragedy. Originally it was located at South Street and Coenties Slip on top of the Seamen’s Church Institute, which was demolished in 1967, according to the NYC Parks Department.
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April 10, 2012 12:59 PM Comments (0)
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Prohibition-era Bill's Gay Nineties closes on 54th St
Bill’s Gay Nineties Restaurant and Piano Bar, which traces its roots to the days of Prohibition, has lost its lease and closed its doors at 57 E. 54th Street.
The bar’s owner, Barbara Bart Olmsted, told the New York Times she’s looking for a new location in the same neighborhood where she can reopen and move all the memorabilia.
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March 26, 2012 1:15 PM Comments (0)
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Hidden Harbor tours set 2012 dates
The Working Harbor Committee has announced it 2012 schedule of Hidden Harbor tours along with plans for special circumnavigations cruises of Staten Island and Manhattan.
Cruisers will get terrific skyline views but the main focus will be on the industrial sights at the container ports, oil ports, tugboat berths of the New York Harbor.
The tours take place on the large Zephyr yacht (which includes two cash bars) and come with live narration by maritime historians, tugboat captains and other experts. All tours depart from Pier 16 at the South Street Seaport. Departure times are generally 5:30 or 6:15 p.m. Tickets are $29 for adults, $22 for seniors and $15 for children.
2012 Hidden Harbor tours:
May 20 - Newark Bay
June 5 - Brooklyn
June 19 - Newark Bay
July 10 - Brooklyn
July 24 - Newark Bay
Aug. 7 - North River
Aug. 21 - Newark Bay
Sept. 4 - Brooklyn
Sept. 18 - Newark Bay
Additional tours include a May 22 cruise near the visiting tall ships for OpSail to commemorate the Bicentennial of the War of 1812 and The Star-Spangled Banner.
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March 19, 2012 11:51 AM Comments (0)
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Fraunces Tavern $1 admission for Washington's Bday
 For Washington’s Birthday, the Fraunces Tavern Museum will today reduce its admission price to $1, the Colonial-era hotspot announced on Twitter.
The tavern, best known as the place where Washington said farewell to his officers at the end of the Revolutionary War, still operates a pub and restaurant downstairs while the museum is situated upstairs.
The museum will be open from noon to 5 p.m. today. Regular adult admission is usually $7.
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February 20, 2012 9:52 AM Comments (0)
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Renovation to retire Algonquin's Oak Room
 When The Algonquin reopens after renovations, its Oak Room will be gone, the hotel announced today on its Facebook page.
“The Oak Room was a launching pad for Harry Connick Jr., Michael Feinstein, Andrea Marcovicci, Diana Krall, Jane Monheit, Peter Cincotti, and Jamie Cullum,” according to the hotel’s website.
The room also has ties to the Round Table, according to Kevin Fitzpatrick, the president of New York City’s Dorothy Parker Society.
“The Round Table first met in June 1919 in what was called the Pergola Room, now called the Oak Room,” Fitzpatrick said today in an email to NewYorkology. “After the group expanded, management moved them to the restaurant, which was named the Round Table room in 1998. So they ate in both rooms.
“I’ve spoken with Intra-Spec and Gary Budge, the Algonquin GM. They are being very respectful,” Fitzpatrick continued. “I think the renovation is important to update the hotel to compete in today’s market; the spirit of Dorothy Parker and the rest are being minded but they can’t be kept under glass. I think the hotel is going about it in a smart way without trying to run a museum.”
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February 2, 2012 6:27 PM Comments (0)
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Last look: Admirals Row at Brooklyn Navy Yard
Demolition crews are scheduled to move in soon to raze nine buildings on Brooklyn Navy Yard’s Civil War-era Admirals Row.
Two will be saved. The “Quarters B” building, in Greek Revival and Italianate style, was likely constructed between 1859 and 1870. “This would have been housing for the captain of the yard,” David Naczycz said Saturday while leading an Urban Oyster tour of the Navy Yard.
Despite severe damage to roof, the Timber Shed at the edge of Admirals Row will also be saved. The shed probably dates to 1853, according to the Brooklyn Navy Yard Development Corp.
Last week the federal government transferred the Admirals Row property to the City of New York, which will turn it over to the Brooklyn Navy Yard Development Corporation (BNYDC) for redevelopment. Plans call for a supermarket and new industrial space for the Navy Yard, which already has a wait-list for tenants.
Extensive interior and exterior pictures of the decay can be seen at Officer’s Row and Nathan Kensinger’s photography website.
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January 30, 2012 1:19 PM Comments (0)
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