Events &amp; Things To Do

Instead of hitting the bars this Friday night, check out the "Library After Hours" event at the main branch of the New York Public Library. On select Fridays, the landmarked library hosts a party after closing that lets guests mingle with food and drinks, music, and a behind-the-scenes look at some of their collections. This Friday, March 31st, the library is holding the event, “Women Marching Through History,” to coincide with the last day of Women’s History Month, where guests can admire feminist manuscripts, rare books, photographs, artwork, and films as well as participate in an interactive project to record one's own story about living through this time in women’s history.
Find out more here

Events & Things To Do

Anbang taps Skidmore, Owings & Merrill for Waldorf Astoria renovation

Proposed rendering of the Park Avenue foyer, via Skidmore, Owings & Merrill

March 29, 2017

Anbang taps Skidmore, Owings & Merrill for Waldorf Astoria renovation

By Dana Schulz

On March 1st, the Waldorf Astoria closed its doors to the public so that its new owners, Chinese insurer Anbang (who just today backed out of an even larger project to redevelop the Kushner Companies' 666 Fifth Avenue) can undertake a two- to three-year renovation to convert 1,413 hotel rooms into 840 renovated hotel rooms and 321 condos, as well as spiff up the public spaces. This last part was worrisome at first, but earlier this month, these iconic Art Deco interiors were designated an official city landmark, meaning Anbang will need to preserve them and receive approvals for any work from the LPC. Wasting no time, they've now released plans for both the interior and exterior renovations and announced that architectural firm Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM) and renowned interior designer Pierre Yves Rochon (PYR) will "protect [the] beloved spaces and restore original features of the Waldorf not seen for decades."
See all the renderings

March 29, 2017

A fanciful miniature New York City is coming to a 49,000-foot space in Times Square

Minimodel maven Eiran Gazit's latest project is anything but small: The former Israeli soldier and his team are putting the finishing touches on Gulliver's Gate, a sprawling exhibit of the world made of minimodels set to open on April 4 in a 49,000-square-foot space at 216 West 44th Street in Times Square, reports Crain's. The $40 million extravaganza represents a decade of dreams and hard work for Gazit, in this case the chief dreamer, plus years of seeking investors, coordinating with dozens of artists around the world and months of installation.
Find out more

Events & Things To Do

March 29, 2017

Art Nerd New York’s top event picks for the week – 3/30-4/5

In a city where hundreds of interesting events occur each week, it can be hard to pick and choose your way to a fulfilling life. Ahead Art Nerd founder Lori Zimmer shares her top picks for 6sqft readers! Spring is upon us and so is a whole new week of great art events. This weekend, see some of the best of the photography world at AIPAD or head to Brooklyn to check out Welancora Gallery’s new partnership with Nu Hotel. The Brooklyn Museum is also deconstructing the artist’s persona and hosting a new Georgia O’Keeffe exhibition. #MidnightMoment also kicks off a new film in Times Square—this April, Naoko Tosa’s "Sound of Ikebana" will take over the screens every night. Finally, come pick up my new book, "The Art of Spray Paint," and check out its corresponding exhibition at Wallworks Gallery in the Bronx.
More on all the best events this way

Events & Things To Do

March 28, 2017

Brooklyn cheesemongers to open their underground 1850s brewery tunnels for one night

Thirty feet below street level, Benton Brown and Susan Boyle of Crown Finish Caves age their deliciously moldy wares in the lagering tunnels of a former brewery beneath the Monti Building in Crown Heights, where 26,000 pounds of cheese ripens to perfection in one of the facility's 15-foot-high brick tunnels. This weekend Crown Finish is opening up one of the unused former brewery tunnels, seldom seen by the public, to host a cheese-and-wine tasting event to benefit the expansion efforts of Maple Street School, Prospect-Lefferts Gardens' cooperative preschool (h/t DNAInfo).
Find out more

Events & Things To Do

March 27, 2017

Ai Weiwei will bring over 100 fence art installations to NYC this fall

By Dana Schulz

Internationally renowned Chinese contemporary artist and activist Ai Weiwei was banned from leaving his home country for more than four years, but this past fall, a year after his passport was returned by police, he returned to New York with an unheard-of four gallery shows that all opened on the same day. As a metaphor for his personal travel ban--as well as the current political climate of the U.S., particularly as relates to immigration, and the global migration crisis--the Times shares news that Weiwei has been commissioned by the Public Art Fund for a major art installation opening in October. Titled "Good Fences Make Good Neighbors," the piece will be one of his most large-scale public art projects ever. He'll place 10 large fence-themed works and more than 90 smaller installations across Manhattan, Queens, and Brooklyn, all in an attempt to bring attention to "a retreat from the essential attitude of openness in American politics," as he explains.
Get more details ahead

March 23, 2017

Art Nerd New York’s top event picks for the week – 3/23-3/29

In a city where hundreds of interesting events occur each week, it can be hard to pick and choose your way to a fulfilling life. Ahead Art Nerd founder Lori Zimmer shares her top picks for 6sqft readers! See the newest of American art according to curators Christopher Y. Lew and Mia Locks at the Whitney Biennial, then check the original intent of Solomon R. Guggenheim’s collection at the museum bearing his name. Put your arty dancing shoes on for a party at the Knockdown Center, then celebrate fashion at the House of Yes. Get an insider’s look at Daniel Gustina’s designs for Old Hollywood at FIT, and check out Ventiko’s sanctuary at Chinatown Soup. Finally, spend an evening with funny artists at Muchmore, or indulge in your favorite French things at a screening of Coppola’s Marie Antoinette.
More on all the best events this way

Events & Things To Do

Swale floating park returns this spring with a new look

Photo courtesy of Strongbow

March 21, 2017

Swale floating park returns this spring with a new look

With spring officially here, it’s the perfect time to visit your favorite park. While there are plenty to choose from, there’s only one that floats on water. As reported by Time Out, Swale, the collaborative floating food forest, which let visitors pick free produce last summer, is back with an updated design--"a blossoming apple orchard surrounded by garden beds filled with herbs, fruits and vegetables." In a collaboration with Strongbow, the newly designed barge will be docking at public piers from April through October.
Find out more here

Artist who created Wall Street’s ‘Charging Bull’ angered by ‘Fearless Girl’ statue

A post shared by Melanie Hunt (@melaniehunt1331) on Mar 7, 2017 at 4:50am PST The creator of the iconic Wall Street "Charging Bull” is snorting mad over the appearance of the bull's new companion, artist Kristen Visbal’s bronze "Fearless Girl” statue. 76-year-old Arturo di Modica, the artist who made the iconic sculpture that, like its young challenger, was installed in the wee hours, says the girl is “an advertising trick,” reports MarketWatch.
Find out more

Events & Things To Do

March 20, 2017

Two Trees looks to local artists to help elevate everyday living

By 6sqft

Developers are increasingly using art as a way to turn their buildings into more than just stacks of expensive apartments. Many see adding sculptures or installations as ways to activate a place, making it an integral part of the urban experience. But while most are eager to jump on the biggest names in the business, there […]

258 years ago, the first recorded St. Patrick’s Day parade was held in NYC

The parade in 1904 at Fifth Avenue and 59th Street via The Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Division of Art, Prints and Photographs: Picture Collection, The New York Public Library

March 17, 2017

258 years ago, the first recorded St. Patrick’s Day parade was held in NYC

By Annie Doge

Sure, New York has plenty of interesting history, but who would have thought the first recorded St. Patrick's Day parade was held not in Ireland, but in our fair city? It was on March 17, 1762, 255 years ago and 14 years before the signing of the Declaration of Independence, that Irish soldiers serving in the British army marched to honor the Catholic feast day of St. Patrick, their country's patron saint. With Irish immigrants flocking to the United States, and in large numbers to New York, in the mid-19th century, the parade became an annual tradition and spread elsewhere in the country.
Find out more

March 17, 2017

‘Bach in the Subways’ brings classical music underground this weekend

This weekend, celebrate Johann Sebastian Bach's 331st birthday by listening to musicians play all the Baroque hits in subway stations across the city. From Saturday to Monday, Bach in the Subways will bring hundreds of performers underground and above, sharing the German composer's work with New Yorkers for free as part of the MTA's Music Under New York program.
Find out how it all started

Events & Things To Do

March 16, 2017

Bid on a VIP tour of Yale with Robert A.M. Stern and other starchitect experiences

The Van Alen Institute announces their fourth annual Auction of Art + Design Experiences, offering a rare international sampling of curated events with leading names in the creative world. Like an omakase of "distinctive experiences" with some of today's most notable innovators in the architecture, design and culture spheres, the benefit auction, available via Paddle8, offers a Robert A.M. Stern-led VIP preview of the architect’s addition to the Yale University campus, an afternoon in the archives of Lina Bo Bardi’s Casa de Vidro outside São Paulo, a workout at Medellín Sports Coliseum with its architect, Giancarlo Mazzanti, a visit to a collection of stilted Miami beach houses with architect Terry Riley, meditation studio time with Winka Dubbeldam and a tour of John Lautner-designed horror story homes in the Hollywood hills, to name just a few.
More cool experiences to bid on, ahead

March 16, 2017

Art Nerd New York’s Top Event Picks for the Week- 3/16-3/22

In a city where hundreds of interesting events occur each week, it can be hard to pick and choose your way to a fulfilling life. Ahead Art Nerd founder Lori Zimmer shares her top picks for 6sqft readers! Break out after the blizzard cabin fever, and get into an evening at MoMA for their yearly Members Party (yes, that means you need to become a member if you aren’t already!) If architecture is more your thing, celebrate the Van Alen Institute at The Tunnel, or if you’re just not into parties, get cultural at the opera in Bushwick. BBQ joint/gallery Fort Gansevoort welcomes guest curator Hank Willis Thomas for a new show, and Creative Time stages a Shirin Neshat talk at the beautiful Cathedral of St. John the Divine. Enjoy historic postcards of synagogues of the past at Museum at Eldridge Street, then appreciate the surreal illustrations of You Jung Byun. Finally, get an insider’s tour of Grand Central Terminal, including a jaunt across its catwalk to get your very own aerial pictures of the beautiful concourse.
More on all the best events this way

Events & Things To Do

March 14, 2017

Fewer young foreigners traveling to NYC because of Trump

New York City expected tourism from foreigners to fall after President Trump’s chaotic announcement of his first executive order in January which banned travel from seven majority-Muslim countries because it was unclear which travelers would be allowed into the country. However, as reported by Crain’s, it’s not just money-spending travelers that have avoided the Big Apple; it’s student and youth groups that are canceling trips to the city.
Learn more here

March 13, 2017

Studio Tack transforms an old motor lodge into a minimalist boutique hotel in Upstate New York

By Rebecca Paul

This 1960s guesthouse in upstate New York was recently transformed into a charming boutique hotel by the Brooklyn-based design firm Studio Tack. The Scribner's Catskill Lodge boasts a modern yet rustic aesthetic, highlighting both good design and the property's expansive mountain views. The hotel is located close to Hunter Mountain's popular ski slopes, which are all visible from inside the cozy hotel.
READ MORE

March 13, 2017

A pavilion created from 300,000 recycled cans is coming to Governors Island this summer

"Cast & Place" is the winner of FIGMENT’s 2017 City of Dreams competition, an annual design contest that challenges architecture and design firms to build a pavilion out of recycled materials to be assembled on Governors Island and displayed during the summer. This year, it will be made out of more than 300,000 aluminum cans (the number of cans used in NYC in an hour), melted down and cast into cracked clay. According to the group’s Kickstarter page, the material will be soil excavated from the East River, recycled cans, and reclaimed wood, which will form lightweight, strong panels to provide structure and shade.
See their design here

March 10, 2017

At $31B, Airbnb now second most valuable private company behind Uber

After raising an additional $1 billion in a financing round that began last summer, Airbnb, the short-term stay rental company, is now listed as the second most valuable private company in the United States, following Uber, the ride-hailing business, as the New York Times reported. Airbnb, based in San Francisco, has raised more than $3 billion and secured a $1 billion line of credit since the company was founded in 2008. It is now worth nearly $31 billion dollars.
Find out more here

March 9, 2017

Art Nerd New York’s top event picks for the week – 3/9-3/15

In a city where hundreds of interesting events occur each week, it can be hard to pick and choose your way to a fulfilling life. Ahead Art Nerd founder Lori Zimmer shares her top picks for 6sqft readers! A new month means a new art film across the screens in Times Square, with March inviting folks to jump into Matteo Zamagni’s "nature abstractions." Graffiti kings Crash, Bio and Nick Walker host an exclusive exhibition in the West Village, while Donna Ruff’s lace-like paper pieces are taking over Rick Wester in Chelsea. Artist Dionisios Fragias does a familial collaboration with his wife at Emmanuel Fremin, and Dexter Wimberly guest curates at Ground Floor Gallery presenting Tammy Nguyen. Spend the day fusing art and activism at MoMA’s Wikipedia edit-a-thon, then head to the French Consulate’s gorgeous bookstore, Albertine, for a talk with famed designer Agnes B. Finally, check out the Brooklyn Bazaar, at the former Polonaise Terrace, and pick up medical history ephemera, taxidermy, and other oddities at their special annual flea market.
More on all the best events this way

Events & Things To Do

March 8, 2017

Exciting new details emerge for the TWA Terminal hotel

By Diane Pham

The excitement was palpable yesterday evening as New Yorkers packed into the SVA Theatre for a special presentation on one of the city's most important rehabilitation projects: the redevelopment of Eero Saarinen’s iconic TWA flight center into a hotel. Taking the stage were the development and architecture teams who divulged a slew of new details regarding the design, the hotel's offer, and even the pricing of the rooms.
more details from the night's event here

March 8, 2017

Kristen Visbal’s ‘Fearless Girl’ statue defies Wall Street’s bull to promote women in business