Tours
NYC tours and tour guides (official links)
Fleet Week 2012 features tall ships, Blue Angels
NYC Fleet Week 2012 begins Wednesday morning with the Parade of Ships combined with a special tall-ship contingent, OpSail, commemorating the bicentennial of the War of 1812. The U.S. Navy’s Blue Angels will also do a flyover during the Parade of Ships.
The ships will get a cannon salute as they begin their journey at the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge and head toward the Statue of Liberty. The ships will head up the Hudson River to the George Washington Bridge before returning back down the Hudson.
Participating ships include the USS Roosevelt, the USS Wasp, USCGC Eagle, RFA Argus of the UK Royal Navy, Finland’s FNS Pohjanmaa, Canada’s HMCS Iroquois, Japan’s JS Shirane and tall ships from France, Brazil, Ecuador, Spain and Mexico.
Fleet Week events are scheduled from May 23 through 30.
Wednesday, May 23
The Parade of Sail schedule, according to the OpSail website:
8:11 a.m. - The first tall ships sail under the Verrazano Narrows Bridge
9:18 a.m. - The first ships reach the Statue of Liberty
10:30 a.m. - Military parade of ships begins under the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge
11:07 a.m. - The first tall ships reach the George Washington Bridge and begin the turn-around
Noon - Northbound warships pass southbound tall ships near the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum to coincide with the military aircraft flyover
2 to 4 p.m. - Ships moor at berths in Manhattan, Brooklyn and Staten Island.
Fleet Week and OpSail viewing cruises are offered by Circle Line Sightseeing, New York Water Taxi, Manhattan by Sail and Classic Harbor Line.
U.S. Navy livestream some Fleet Week events on May 23.
The Intrepid’s flight deck hosts the “Men in Black 3” premiere after party. Tickets are on sale to the public for $150.
Thursday, May 24
Throughout the remainder of Fleet Week, ships docked at Manhattan’s Pier 90 and Pier 92 as well as Staten Island’s The Sullivans’ (Stapleton Homeport) Pier will be open for free tours from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
The tall ship Gloria will be open for tours at the Intrepid’s Pier 86 in Manhattan.
A ceremony at the Intrepid at 11:30 a.m. will mark the 50th anniversary of the Mercury-Atlas 7 Mission, in which the USS Intrepid picked up astronaut Scott Carpenter, who will attend the ceremony.
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May 22, 2012 4:46 PM Comments (0)
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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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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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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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Apollo Theater offering February discounts
 The Apollo Theater throughout February is offering discounted admission to its shows and tours as part of a promotion with the city’s official tourism agency.
As culture spot of the month, the Apollo Theater will honor a coupon issued by NYC & Company that allows $3 off tickets for Amateur Night performances, $5 off shows at the Apollo Music Cafe or $3 off the price of Wednesday tours of the historic theater.
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February 8, 2012 3:10 PM Comments (0)
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Substations, Old City Hall opens for tranist tours
The NYC Transit Museum on Tuesday posted its winter list of transit tours, which offer rare access to century-old power stations as well as the ornate Old City Hall station.
The tours include a visit to Brooklyn Heights’ IRT Substation 21, which like the nearby subway ventilator building on Joralemon, are hidden in plain sight behind brownstone facades.
Two tours — to the MTA Signal Learning Center and the 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.
Tour registration for non-members opens Jan. 15.
Transit tours for winter 2012:
The Jewel in the Crown: Old City Hall Station
Museum membership required, plus $30 for adults, $20 for children ages 5 to 17.
Jan. 29 at 1:30 and 3:30 p.m.
March 3 at noon and 2 p.m.
John Simko leads a tour into the original City Hall subway station, now used only by downtown 6 trains at the end of their runs to loop up to the uptown Brooklyn Bridge/City Hall station. The otherwise abandoned station is outfitted with chandeliers, leaded skylights, a vaulted Guastavino ceiling, and decorative tile work.
Signals 101
Museum membership required, plus $50 for adults.
Feb. 15 at 5 p.m.
April 4 at 5 p.m.
The MTA’s Signal Learning Center opens for a survey of signals dating from the turn-of-the-century to the present.
Greenwich Substation Tour
Non-members price: $45; $30 for members.
Jan. 21 at 10 a.m.
Feb. 12 at 10 a.m.
Robert W. Lobenstein, former General Superintendent of New York City Transit and New York City Transit’s Historic Preservationist Sara McIvor will lead a tour of the Greenwich Substation, built in 1932 in the Art Deco style. The rotary converters and electrical switchgear that powered the Independent Subway System’s 8th Avenue Line are gone, but the tour will still cover power operations and the architectural significance of the structure.
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January 11, 2012 12:26 PM Comments (0)
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Open New Year's Day 2012 in New York City
All is not quiet on New Year’s Day. Many of New York City’s museums, Broadway theaters, movie houses, ice rinks, zoos, restaurants and other venues are open on New Year’s Day.
Here’s the list of what’s confirmed open for Jan. 1, 2012:
Sports
 Coney Island Polar Bear Club New Year’s Day swim begins at 1 p.m.
Kickoff for the NY Giants home game at MetLife Stadium vs. Dallas Cowboys has been rescheduled to 8:20 p.m.
The driving range at Chelsea Piers will be open from noon to 11 p.m.
Bowlmor Times Square will open at 1 p.m.
5 Borough Bicycle Club Rides include Polar Pancakes at 9:30 a.m. and New York Botanical Garden at 10 a.m.
Big Apple 2012 Handball Tournament at Riverbank State Park from 10:30 a.m.
Museums
Museum of Modern Art will be open from 9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.
Guggenheim Museum will be open from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.
American Museum of Natural History will be open from 10 a.m. to 5:45 p.m.
The recently renovated New-York Historical Society will be open from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.
The New Museum will be open from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.
New York Hall of Science will be open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
The always-free National Museum of the American Indian will be open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Musem of the Moving Image in Queens will be open from 10:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. with Magic and Movies workshops at 1 and 3 p.m.
Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island ferries depart from Battery Park and New Jersey from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. (Liberty Island is open but the interior of the Statue of Liberty is closed for repairs.)
Socrates Sculpture Park is open daily from 10 a.m. to sunset.
9/11 Memorial will be open from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. with the last admission at 7 p.m. (A free, reserved pass is required.)
General Grant National Memorial and Visitors Center will be open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Museum of Jewish Heritage will be open from 10 a.m to 5:45 p.m.
Jewish Children’s Museum will be open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Discovery’s Times Square Exhibition featuring the Dead Sea Scrolls with the Ten Commandments, and CSI: The Experience exhibitions will open from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Museum of Sex - 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. (last ticket sold at 7:15 p.m.)
Madame Tussauds wax museum opens 10 a.m. to 10 p.m.
Ripley’s Believe It or Not Odditorium is open daily from 9 a.m. to 1 a.m.
Bodies exhibition at the South Street Seaport is open from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m.
Dialog in the Dark at the South Street Seaport is open from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Ground Zero Museum Workshop on 14th Street offers tours at noon, 2 and 4 p.m.
Zoos, parks and gardens
Central Park Zoo will be open 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Prospect Park Zoo will be open 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Queens Zoo will be open 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
New York Aquarium - open 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
New York Botanical Garden opens with the Holiday Train Show from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.
The High Line will be open regular winter hours, from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Jane’s Carousel will be spinning in Brooklyn Bridge Park from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Concerts, shows and comedy gigs
Playbill’s list of Broadway shows on New Year’s Day include “Anything Goes,” “Chicago,” “Chinglish,” “Follies,” “How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying,” “Hugh Jackman, Back on Broadway,” “Jersey Boys,” “Memphis,” “The Mountaintop,” “On a Clear Day You Can See Forever,” “Other Desert Cities,” “Phantom of the Opera,” “Relatively Speaking,” “Rock of Ages,” “Sister Act,” “Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark” and “War Horse.”
Off-Broadway shows with Jan. 1 performance times include “Avenue Q,” “Blood and Gifts,” “Blue Man Group,” “Channeling Kevin Spacey,” “The Gazillion Bubble Show,” “NEWSical the Musical,” “Rent,” “Say Goodnight Gracie,” “Sistas: The Musical,” “Sons of the Prophet” and “Stomp.”
TKTS at the South Street Seaport will be open from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.; the Times Square booth will be open from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.; the Brooklyn location will be closed.
Radio City Spectacular will perform at 2 and 5 p.m.
Strauss Symphony of America plays the Salute to Vienna, New Year’s Concert at Lincoln Center at 2:30 p.m
New Edition plays the Paradise Theater in the Bronx at 8 p.m.
New York Gilbert & Sullivan Players stage “The Pirates of Penzance” at Symphony Space at 3 p.m.
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December 29, 2011 1:05 PM Comments (0)
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Governors Island opens for off-season access Friday
Otherwise closed for the season, Governors Island on Friday will offer limited public access this Friday through two free public events.
The National Park Service is offering a walking tour covering the history of aviation on Governors Island.
Among the island’s claims to fame is that it was the starting point for Wilbur Wright’s 1909 Statue of Liberty flights. Included on the island is a bronze propeller (pictured, top) cast directly from one of the Wright brothers’ wooden propellers.
Reservations are required for the free 90-minute tour: (212) 825-3045. The Dec. 9 tour is the last tour of 2011 but more off-season aviation tours may be scheduled for early 2012 if the weather allows, a park service ranger on Wednesday told NewYorkology.
Separately, the studios of the island’s 20 artists-in-residence at the Building 110 Arts Center will open to the public from noon to 6 p.m.
Free ferry reservations should be made through the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council.
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December 8, 2011 11:41 AM Comments (0)
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What's open Christmas Day 2011 in New York City
Much of New York City stays open on Christmas Day. Here’s the list of the major museums, restaurants, clubs, ice rinks, zoos and shows open on Christmas in 2011:
Shows
Playbill’s list of Broadway’s Christmas Day shows include “Billy Elliot,” “Bonnie and Clyde,” “Chicago,” “Follies,” “Godspell,” “Jersey Boys,” “Memphis,” “Phantom of the Opera,” “Priscilla Queen of the Desert,” “Rock of Ages,” “Sister Act,” “Hugh Jackman, Back on Broadway,” and “Mamma Mia!”
Off-Broadway shows with Dec. 25 performance times include “Avenue Q,” “The Gazillion Bubble Show,” “Million Dollar Quartet,” “Say Goodnight Gracie,” “Sistas: The Musical,” “Stomp” and “Voca People.”
TKTS at the South Street Seaport will be open from 11 a.m. to 6 4 p.m.; the Times Square booth will be open from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. for matinees and then 3 to 7 p.m. for evening shows; the Brooklyn location will be closed.
Radio City Spectacular will perform at 1, 4 and 7:30 p.m.
Big Apple Circus has shows at 12:30 and 4:30 p.m.
Michael Feinstein and Barbara Cook sing at Feinstein’s at Loews Regency at 8 p.m.
4 Generations of Miles- Mike Stern, Jimmy Cobb, Buster Williams, Sonny Fortune will play the Iridium Jazz Club at 8:30 and 10 p.m.
A Swinging Birdland Christmas will begin at 7 and 10 p.m. at Birdland.
Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater dances Streams, Journey, Minus 16 and Revelations at 7:30 p.m. at City Center.
Chris Botti plays the Blue Note at 8 and 10:30 p.m.
Cedar Walton Quartet plays the Village Vanguard at 9 and 11 p.m.
Maccabeats play B.B. King Blues Club & Grill at 7:30 p.m.
DJ Rekha presents Bollywood Disco Xmas at Le Poisson Rouge at 10 p.m.
230 Fifth rooftop lounge opens from 4 p.m. to 4 a.m.
Status uncertain/removed from Le Poisson Rouge calendar: Free The Village Gate’s “Old Fashioned Piano Party” starts at 9 p.m. at Le Poisson Rouge
Museums
Jewish Museum galleries are open from 11 a.m. to 5:45 4:30 4 p.m. with ticketed Macaroons family concerts at 11 a.m., 1 and 3 p.m. (Update as of Dec. 23: A museum spokesman told NewYorkology the museum will close early at 4:30 p.m. on Christmas. Update as of Dec. 25: The museum website now says it will close it 4 p.m. )
Museum at Eldridge Street will be open for tours from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. with a Klez for Kids family concert at 1 p.m.
Socrates Sculpture Park, which is always free, is open from 10 a.m. to sunset, at 4:33 p.m.
Museum of Jewish Heritage will be open with crafts, tours, and films in conjunction with the special exhibition, “Emma Lazarus: Poet of Exiles.”
Madame Tussauds wax museum will be open from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m.
Discovery’s Times Square Exhibition featuring the Dead Sea Scrolls and CSI: The Experience exhibitions will open from 10 11 a.m. with the last admission at 7 5 p.m.
Ripley’s Believe It or Not Odditorium is open daily from 9 a.m. to 1 a.m.
The Jewish Children’s Museum will be open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
9/11 Memorial will be open from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. with the last admission at 7 p.m. (A free, reserved pass is required.)
Update: Bodies and Dialog in the Dark at the South Street Seaport, which both had tickets on sale for Dec. 25, will be closed Christmas Day.
Zoos
Prospect Park Zoo opens from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. with Presents to the Animals — meerkats and North American river otters — at 11 a.m. and 3:30 p.m.
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November 29, 2011 2:50 PM Comments (3)
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