Events &amp; Things To Do

The Shed, New York City’s first arts center dedicated to commissioning, producing, and presenting new work across the performing arts, visual arts, and popular culture, has unveiled the first seven commissions for its 2019 inaugural season. The Shed will open to the public at its home on Manhattan's west side in spring 2019 with an expansive multi-use hall, two floors of column-free galleries, and an intimate theater that lends itself to a wide variety of performance. Also, The Shed’s largest and most iconic space has been newly named The McCourt in recognition of a $45 million gift by Frank McCourt, Jr. and his family. The new space, formed when The Shed’s movable shell is extended over the building’s adjoining plaza, will be able to accommodate large-scale performances, installations, and events.
Find out who's heading to The Shed

Rendering: MoMA PS1 courtyard featuring ‘Hide & Seek’ by Jennifer Newsom and Tom Carruthers of Dream The Combine.

March 6, 2018

MoMA PS1’s Young Architects Program winner adds elements of ‘Hide and Seek’ to summer courtyard

The Museum of Modern Art and MoMA PS1 have announced that the 2018 winner of their annual Young Architects Program is 'Hide & Seek' by Jennifer Newsom and Tom Carruthers of Dream The Combine, in collaboration with Clayton Binkley of ARUP. Opening in June, the winning construction, a "responsive, kinetic environment that features nine intersecting elements arrayed across the entirety of the MoMA PS1 courtyard" will serve as a backdrop for the 21st season of Warm Up, MoMA PS1’s outdoor seasonal music series.
Find out more

Image: DBOX

March 6, 2018

Bjarke Ingels reveals new rendering for West Chelsea hotel/condo project, The Eleventh

Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG) has released new design details and a teaser site for its first New York condominium and hotel project at 76 Eleventh Avenue near the High Line in West Chelsea (h/t Designboom). Known as "The Eleventh," or as it's being written now, The XI, the project is comprised of a pair of twisting asymmetrical bronze and travertine towers joined by a skybridge. The building’s windowed facade is said to be inspired by the Meatpacking District’s iconic warehouses.
Check in on construction, this way

Celebrate Women’s History Month with these 15 feminist shops, events, and exhibits in NYC

The Female NY Giants before a baseball game in 1913; via Library of Congress

March 6, 2018

Celebrate Women’s History Month with these 15 feminist shops, events, and exhibits in NYC

It's not surprising one of the original observances of Women's History Month got its start in New York in 1909; the first women's rights convention in the U.S. happened upstate at Seneca Falls, the first large-scale suffrage parade ran through the city and in 1917, the state became the first on the East Coast to grant women suffrage. A century later, there are countless ways to celebrate Women's History Month in New York City, so to narrow it down, we've rounded up 15 feminist-friendly bookstores, art galleries, and educational events. Whether you want to shop for girl-power-themed swag at Bulletin or enjoy a female-led mediation session at the United Nations, there's something empowering for everyone this month.
Get the scoop

Events & Things To Do

All of New York City’s Saint Patrick’s Day parades

Photo via Richie S/Flickr

March 5, 2018

All of New York City’s Saint Patrick’s Day parades

By Hannah Frishberg

Some cities are lucky to have a single St. Patrick's Day parade, but New York City is blessed with a whopping nine parades dedicated to the holiday. While Saint Patrick's Day is not until March 17, three communities have already celebrated: Staten Island held its annual parade on Forest Avenue and Queens held its 43rd Saint Paddy's parade in Rockaway, as well as its LGBT-friendly St. Pat's For All in Woodside. No worries, though: There are still six other St. Patrick's Day Parades coming up, including NYC's biggest, in Manhattan.
Here's where and when to attend the remaining five

Events & Things To Do

March 2, 2018

A 17-year-old artist created a model of Midtown out of recycled motherboards and hot glue sticks

Zimbabwe-based artist Zayd Menk spent three months working on this 165 by 80 centimeter model of Midtown Manhattan. The 17-year-old student, who built the piece of art for a school project, used a plethora of electronic bits and pieces to build the reduced model: 263 hot glue sticks, 11 CPUs, 27 motherboards, 10 CRT motherboards, 15 batteries, 2 clocks, 4 watches, 3 hard drives, 3 graphics cards, 4 audio cards, 7 power supplies and 13 floppy disk readers (h/t designboom). The used electronics, plus lots of math and scouring of the internet, come together in Menk's project in an art form he refers to as "recyclism."
Learn more

Events & Things To Do

As of today, the Met will start charging non-New Yorkers $25 for admission

Photo via Wiki Commons

March 1, 2018

As of today, the Met will start charging non-New Yorkers $25 for admission

At the beginning of the year, the Met announced that it would begin charging non-New Yorkers (i.e. those without a state ID) $25 for admission, waiving its pay-what-you-wish policy that had been in effect since 1970. And as of today, that policy is officially being implemented through signs at all entrances, 14 new kiosks in the Great Hall, roaming museum staff with iPads, and a brochure that explains the new fee system, reports the Times.
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Events & Things To Do

You can buy a $14,000 mantle and more salvaged items from the Waldorf Astoria

Photo via Wikimedia; Auction images via Olde Good Things

March 1, 2018

You can buy a $14,000 mantle and more salvaged items from the Waldorf Astoria

As 6sqft recently reported, ownership of the iconic Waldorf Astoria was among the properties involved when the Chinese government temporarily took over the debt-ridden Beijing-based Anbang Insurance Group, a firm known for snatching up prominent and expensive properties around the world. There has long been speculation about a condominium project in the works, and Bloomberg reports that the project is moving forward. Signs of change: Effects from the building's guest suites have been carted off by Scranton, Pennsylvania-based architectural salvage purveyor Olde Good Things, who is already is selling pieces of the storied hotel on its website.
See what's for sale

Events & Things To Do

New renderings for ODA’s archway-filled hotel in Crown Heights

ODA Architects' boutique hotel planned for the Brooklyn neighborhood of Crown Heights got fresh renderings this week, revealing more details about its archway-filled, concrete design. Developed by All Year Management, the Bedford Hotel is located at 1550 Bedford Avenue, right by the Prospect Park, Brooklyn Museum and the Botanic Gardens. As designboom learned, the 100-room hotel's archway design stems from the classic Brooklyn architecture found elsewhere in the neighborhood, like the Soldiers' and Sailors' Arch at the Grand Army Plaza.
More this way

Events & Things To Do

February 28, 2018

Local artists will bring 10 public art installations to NYC parks this summer

New York City's parks department will bring art installations to 10 designated parks across the five boroughs this June. As part of "Art in the Parks: UNIQLO Park Expressions Grant Exhibit," public art will be displayed in parks that currently lack cultural programming. Japanese clothing company UNIQLO, as the initiative's sponsor, will give grants worth $10,000 to 10 emerging artists for the installations. The city's Art in the Parks program began in 1967 and is responsible for bringing over 2,000 public pieces of art to the city's parks.
Details this way

Events & Things To Do

February 27, 2018

‘Store Front’ photographers plan a life-size memorial to lost Lower East Side mom-and-pops

Photographers James and Karla Murray published their first account of small businesses in NYC a decade ago with their seminal book “Store Front: The Disappearing Face of New York,” which captured hundreds of mom-and-pops and their iconic facades, many of them since shuttered, along with interviews with the business owners. They've since published two follow-ups, "New York Nights" and "Store Front II-A History Preserved," winning countless awards and gaining local and national fame for their documentation of a vanishing retail culture. And this summer, they're bringing their work to a larger scale than ever. The Lo-Down reports that the husband-and-wife team has designed an art installation for Seward Park, a wood-frame structure that will feature four nearly life-size images of Lower East Side business that have disappeared--a bodega, a coffee shop/luncheonette (the recently lost Cup & Saucer), a vintage store, and a newsstand.
More details

Events & Things To Do

Highly elegant and highly classified: The history of espionage at the St. Regis

Photo via Wally Gobetz/Flickr

February 26, 2018

Highly elegant and highly classified: The history of espionage at the St. Regis

By Lucie Levine

You know that Old King Cole had a pipe and bowl, but did you know he also had a cloak and dagger? New York’s hyper-illustrious St. Regis Hotel, home to the famous King Cole Bar, has a clandestine pedigree that goes straight to its core. Founded by a family of spies, the Hotel became headquarters for the nation’s wartime spy service, and in the process helped inspire not only the Bloody Mary cocktail but also the Invasion of North Africa.
Read on for the history of Midtown’s preeminent spy den

February 23, 2018

Win two tickets to GVSHP’s comedy night at the Village Underground

There's probably no neighborhood in NYC more associated with the history and current success of the comedy scene than Greenwich Village, and here's a chance to hear some of today's top comics in one of the neighborhood's most iconic venues. On Monday, March 12, GVSHP's Brokers Partnership will hold their fourth annual Comedy Night at the Village Underground, featuring comics Emmy Blotnick, Matthew Broussard, Phil Hanley, Matteo Lane, Lenny Marcus, Brian Scott McFadden, and more to come. The Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation is offering one lucky 6sqft reader the chance to win two tickets to the event--worth $90!
Find out how to enter

Events & Things To Do

The Chinese government now owns the Waldorf Astoria

Photo via Wikimedia

February 23, 2018

The Chinese government now owns the Waldorf Astoria

The Chinese government has taken control over debt-ridden Anbang Insurance Group, a Beijing-based firm known for snatching up prominent properties around the world for billions of dollars. One of those high-profile properties includes New York City's iconic Waldorf Astoria, which the group purchased for $1.95 billion in 2014. According to the New York Times, the government takeover comes after Abang violated regulations, although the exact violations committed are unclear so far. Anbang will be overseen for one year by a group that includes China's central bank, the country's securities and banking regulator, the regular of foreign exchanges and other government agencies.
Find out more

Events & Things To Do

Photo via Richard BURGER/Flickr

February 20, 2018

The 8 best places in Times Square that don’t suck

By Rebecca Fishbein

One of the true marks of a New Yorker is an aversion to Times Square, where slow-walking out-of-towners clog sidewalks, costumed characters try to hug you for tips, and overpriced suburban chains like Olive Garden and Applebees abound. But a few bright spots exist amid the touristy madness and Broadway shows, and they’re worth a visit if you happen to be in the area, if not a specific trip (seriously, avoid Times Square at all costs if you can).
Here are a few of our favorites

Events & Things To Do

February 16, 2018

The Panorama Challenge is back! See if you can answer past years’ toughest trivia questions

By 6sqft

For the 11th year, the City Reliquary, Queens Museum, and The Levys’ Unique New York! have partnered for the Panorama Challenge, considered the ultimate NYC trivia. On Friday, March 2, using the Panorama of the City of New York at the Queens Museum – a room-sized scale model of the entire city, a relic from the 1964 World's Fair – teams will answer questions in categories that may include McKim, Mead, & White sites; the Grammys; the movie Wonderstruck; and the Museum's Never Built New York exhibit. In anticipation of the event, quizmaster Jonathan Turer is testing 6sqft readers with five (one for each borough!) of past years' toughest clues.
Test your knowledge!

Events & Things To Do

Fearless Girl and Charging Bull statues might relocate from Wall Street

Fearless Girl and Charging Bull statues on Wall Street; via Anthony Quintano’s Flickr

February 15, 2018

Fearless Girl and Charging Bull statues might relocate from Wall Street

The temporary bronze sculpture that has attracted millions of tourists and locals could become a permanent fixture in New York City, according to Adweek. Commissioned by State Street Global Advisors, the Fearless Girl statue was installed last March, a day before International Women's Day, sending a message to Wall Street for the need of gender equality in the financial world. With her chin up and hands firmly on her hips, the 250-pound statue defiantly faces the iconic Charging Bull statue, which has stood in the same spot since 1989. And now the city might relocate the pair of statues from Bowling Green Park in lower Manhattan to another, more pedestrian-friendly home to ease safety concerns.
Find out more

Events & Things To Do

Collection of antique Valentines explores expressions of love over three centuries

Fold-open Valentine card, German (1900); courtesy of The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens

February 14, 2018

Collection of antique Valentines explores expressions of love over three centuries

While a simple and perhaps less swanky gesture than diamonds and roses, a Valentine's Day card remains one of the most popular ways to say "I love you" every February 14. This year Americans will exchange about 190 million greeting cards during the holiday, spending nearly $1 billion on them. A collection of antique paper Valentines from The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens proves this is not a 21st-century phenomenon. The museum, located in San Marino, CA, acquired a collection of about 12,300 romantic greeting cards, sentimental notes and drawings made in Europe and North America from 1684 to 1970 (h/t NY Times). A historian from New Jersey, Nancy Rosin, put together the impressive collection of cards over four decades and her family recently donated them to the museum.
More this way

Events & Things To Do

February 14, 2018

Designer Sebastian Errazuriz opens up his South Bronx studio full of functional art and furniture

6sqft’s series “Where I Work” takes us into the studios, offices, and off-beat workspaces of New Yorkers across the city. In this installment, we’re touring the South Bronx design studio of Sebastian Errazuriz. Want to see your business featured here? Get in touch! Sebastian Errazuriz is a Chilean-born artist, designer, and activist but over the years, he's grown his multidisciplinary studio to incorporate everything from virtual reality to activism. But nothing he does is cookie-cutter. His cabinets undulate and mimic kaleidoscopes; his public art makes social commentary on issues from Wall Street and capitalism to Chile's politicide; and he's created sculptures that mix a boat with a coffin and a crystal chandelier with taxidermy birds. Sebastian likens his ability to work in these mediums separately but together to how he can speak both English and Spanish but also Spanglish. "It's the freedom to incorporate words that do not exist in one particular language but that enrich communication with someone else that I really enjoy within the boundaries of art and design," he explains. Now, Sebastian is at the forefront of yet another new frontier. Though he has a 5,000-square-foot space at the uber-hip Industry City, he opened his second location last summer in Mott Haven, one of the city's newest artist enclaves due to its affordable warehouse spaces and non-residential nature that sets it apart from the more gentrifying parts of the area. 6sqft recently paid Sebastian a visit here to learn how his firm is growing, the process behind his "functional art," and why he moved to the South Bronx.
Tour the studio and meet Sebastian

February 13, 2018

The Urban Lens: ‘Impossible Landscapes’ bend the reality of life in NYC

6sqft’s series The Urban Lens invites photographers to share work exploring a theme or a place within New York City. In this installment, Juan Jose Egusquiza shares his "Impossible Landscapes" series. Are you a photographer who’d like to see your work featured on The Urban Lens? Get in touch with us at [email protected]. Juan Jose Egusquiza describes himself as a "visual storyteller, image maker, and reality bender." In his latest photo manipulation series titled "Impossible Landscapes," he bends the reality of New York, a city that lent itself perfectly to the project since it's constantly changing and being reimaged. From plopping Downtown's skyscraper in the middle of the desert to adding a rushing river through Chinatown to inverting the entire skyline, Juan has created a view of NYC that inspires endless curiosity and stories. Ahead, see all of the images and learn a bit more from Juan about his process and inspiration.
Everything, this way

Events & Things To Do

A Queens festival will reimagine the World’s Fair with 100+ food vendors representing over 100 cultures

Photo courtesy of Bill Cotter/worldsfairphotos

February 8, 2018

A Queens festival will reimagine the World’s Fair with 100+ food vendors representing over 100 cultures

Experience "diversity through cuisine" at CitiField this spring at an event paying homage to the iconic 1964 New York World's Fair. Dubbed the World's Fare, the event will feature over 100 food vendors from more than 100 cultures, as well as live music and art (h/t QNS). Highlights include an international beer garden that will offer tastings of 80 craft beers from 45 breweries and exhibits of LEGO Art and 4-D drawings.
Get the details

February 8, 2018

Put your NYC history knowledge to the test at Urban Archive’s trivia night

By 6sqft

You may know Urban Archive as the fun app that brings together the digital collections of New York City’s museums, archives, and libraries, but did you know they also host equally fun history-themed events? After three successful scavenger hunts, they're now holding their first trivia night later this month. Hosted by Andrew Gustafson of Turnstile Tours, the event will take place at the Housing Works Bookstore Cafe in Soho, where staff mixologists will provide libations to accompany the competition.
Find out how to sign up

Events & Things To Do

February 7, 2018

Treat your sweetie (or yourself) to a chocolate tour of Brooklyn this Valentine’s Day