Walking Tours

Meet at NE Corner of Fifth Avenue and East 40th Street under the canopy.  Please arrive 15 minutes before the start of the tour.

Before Bryant Park became New York’s “Living Room” and home to the New York Public Library, this open space served as a potter’s field, a reservoir for the Croton Water System, and the site of the Crystal Palace Exhibition. During the Great Depression, Robert Moses implemented a sweeping new landscape plan. Following a decline in the social and physical conditions in the 1970’s the park underwent a major transformation completed in 1990 designed by Hanna/Olin. Today, Bryant Park, one of the premier outdoor spaces of Manhattan, serves as a model for public and private revitalization. This walking tour will explore the architecture lining the perimeter of the park which offers a timeline of the development of Midtown. Key projects include the New York Public Library by Carrère and Hastings, the Radiator Building by Howells and Hood, One Bryant Park by Cook + Fox, the Grace Building by SOM, and Bryant Condominiums and Hotel by David Chipperfield. Urban and architectural issues will be discussed, including NYC zoning law, business improvements districts, and the evolution of skyscraper design.

AIANY Guide: Joseph Lengeling, AIA

Health and Safety Guidelines:
AIANY cannot be held liable and assumes no responsibility for any injury or loss incurred by participants in these programs. Tour is limited to 15 attendees. A personal audio system will be in use for this tour. To insure each guest will receive a device, please arrive promptly 15 minutes prior to the start time. Walkups cannot be guaranteed a spot on the tour. 

Cancellation Policy: 
AIANY Walking Tours take place rain or shine, please dress for the weather. There are no refunds, cancellations, or exchanges, unless we cancel a tour. 

Join the project team behind Energies of Repair: Visualizing Community Power in NYC, a CFA Lab residency and upcoming exhibition, for a walking tour of Sunset Park. We'll visit sites of historical toxic exposure along the industrial waterfront and discuss the community's plan for a green re-industrialization, the GRID 2.0, and the way we'll get there with a Special Purpose District. 

Please wear sunscreen and comfortable shoes, and bring a refillable water bottle. 

Disclaimer & Notes
This event will be filmed for a May 2026 exhibition at the Center for Architecture. Participants will be asked to sign a photo/video release form. If you prefer not to be documented, that’s completely fine—we’ll support any level of comfort.

About CFA Lab
The Center for Architecture Lab is a multi-month, multi-disciplinary residency program that offers new voices in architecture and design full authorship over dedicated areas of the Center for Architecture’s platforms, allowing them to develop and share compelling and provocative content meant to elevate underrepresented perspectives. Created in 2021 in response to the destabilizing forces of the global COVID-19 pandemic and reinvigorated racial justice movement in the United States, Center for Architecture Lab programming invites a greater diversity of professionals to participate in the fields of architecture and design and encourages our community to consider new perspectives, critical questions, and innovative solutions to systemic problems.

Meet at 42nd Street Entrance to the Ford Foundation. Please arrive 15 minutes prior to tour start time. 

There was a time when this seven block long stretch of East 42nd Street from the East River to Grand Central Terminal was seen as the undesirable back door of Midtown Manhattan. Slaughterhouses lined the banks of the East River, and an assortment of manufacturing and industrial uses continued west along this major artery. With the establishment of three large scale projects in the 1930’s—Tudor City, the Daily News, and the Chrysler Building—stepping stones were created for further development. By 1954 two clearly established anchors were in place: the United Nations on the East River and Grand Central at Park Avenue. The Ford Foundation then followed in 1967. With recent new development, including the towering One Vanderbilt office tower and the cavernous construction of Grand Central Madison, the history of this famous street continues to unfold.

AIANY Guide: Joseph Lengeling, AIA

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Health and Safety Guidelines:
AIANY cannot be held liable and assumes no responsibility for any injury or loss incurred by participants in these programs. A personal audio system will be in use for this tour. The tour is limited to 17 attendees. To insure each guest will receive a device, please arrive promptly 15 minutes prior to the start time. Walkups cannot be guaranteed a spot on the tour. 

Cancellation Policy: 
AIANY Walking Tours take place rain or shine. Please dress for the weather. There are no refunds, cancellations, or exchanges, unless we cancel a tour.

Meet at the Madison Avenue BID offices: 29 East 61 Street, Third Floor, New York, NY 10065. Please arrive 15 minutes prior to tour start time. 

Join AIANY and the Madison Avenue BID as we set out to discover the history behind Madison Avenue’s landmark buildings and explore how high-fashion retail has been incorporated into the district to create a world-famous shopping destination. The area has evolved from brownstones built in the 1870s and 1880s to lavish Beaux Arts townhouses by celebrated architects such as McKim, Mead & White, Carrère & Hastings, and Ernest Flagg, to luxury apartment buildings designed by Rosario Candela, Emery Roth, and others. Since the early 20th century, many of these historic residential buildings have been transformed to accommodate prestigious stores. The tour will examine architecture from 1870 to the present on and near Madison in the East 60s and 70s, an area entirely within the Upper East Side Historic District. We will consider how landmark designation has preserved the avenue’s distinctive character.

This monthly tour is offered in partnership with the Madison Avenue Business Improvement District (BID), a public-private partnership established in 1996 with the goal of enhancing the quality of life for the community and its visitors. The BID focuses on public safety, sanitation, promotion and advocacy for the district, striving to make Madison Avenue a more attractive and dynamic place in which to shop, live, work and visit.

AIANY Guide: John Arbuckle, Assoc. AIA

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Health and Safety Guidelines: 

AIANY cannot be held liable and assumes no responsibility for any injury or loss incurred by participants in these programs. Tour is limited to 17 attendees. Walkups cannot be guaranteed a spot on the tour. 

Cancellation Policy: 
AIANY Walking Tours take place rain or shine, please dress for the weather. There are no refunds, cancellations, or exchanges, unless we cancel a tour. 

Meet at the Center for Architecture, 536 LaGuardia Pl New York, NY 10012

The SoHo-Cast Iron Historic District, created in 1973, is dominated by remarkably intact mid-19th century architecture. Originally designed for both commercial and manufacturing uses, most of these buildings have been adapted for residential use. Meanwhile, over the last three decades, several entirely new buildings have been approved by the NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission as “appropriate" for inclusion within the district.

This tour looks at these recent buildings as well as significant historic sites to examine a range of design strategies—some highly contextual and others more interpretive—for historic districts. The following buildings are included, among many others: Scholastic Building by Aldo Rossi, 40 Mercer by Jean Nouvel, 529 Broadway by BKSK, 27 Wooster by KPF, XOCO 325 by DDG, the 1857 Haughwout Building, the meticulously restored 101 Spring Street (Judd Foundation), 478-482 Broadway by Richard Morris Hunt, and the 1904 Little Singer Building by Ernest Flagg.

AIANY Guide: Tim Hayduk

Health and Safety Guidelines:
AIANY cannot be held liable and assumes no responsibility for any injury or loss incurred by participants in these programs. Tour is limited to 17 attendees. Walkups cannot be guaranteed a spot on the tour. 

Cancellation Policy:
AIANY Walking Tours take place rain or shine, please dress for the weather. There are no refunds, cancellations, or exchanges, unless we cancel a tour. 

Join the project team behind Energies of Repair: Visualizing Community Power in NYC, a CFA Lab residency and upcoming exhibition, to see how fossil fuel infrastructure, utility decisions, and pollution affect neighborhoods on both sides of Newtown Creek, and explore how communities are building alternatives. As we walk along the North Brooklyn waterfront with Sane Energy Project and Newtown Creek Alliance, we’ll also highlight how the creek impacts our neighbors just across the water in Western Queens. This isn’t just a tour, it’s a hands-on experience to learn, imagine, and take steps toward solutions that put people and the planet first.

Schedule (Approximate)
11:00 – Welcome & Grounding (Cooper Park)
– Set intentions and overview of the route
– Meet your fellow participants
11:30 – Depart
11:45 – Newtown Creek Waterfront (Maspeth Ave)
– Hosted by Newtown Creek Alliance
– Waterfront access, cleanup efforts, and history of pollution
12:30 – Beadel St (Local Residents)
– Hear from neighbors about how industrial infrastructure affects daily life
1:00 – Lombardy St / Greenpoint LNG Facility
– Hosted by Sane Energy Project
– Explore pipelines, fracked gas, and the connection to rising utility bills
– Understand the stakes of the LNG facility in North Brooklyn
1:20 – Under the K Bridge Park (Solutions + Refreshments)
– Hosted by CFA Lab residents Andrea Johnson and Ashley Dawson of Energies of Repair: Visualizing Community Power in NYC
– Imagine a restored, community-controlled Newtown Creek
– Participate in a light visioning activity to share ideas
1:40 – Walk to Penny Bridge (Closing & Next Steps)
– Review concrete actions you can take:

2:00 – Close at Penny Bridge

What’s at Stake
National Grid plans to expand fracked gas infrastructure into the 2050s, ignoring New York’s Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act. Toxic facilities like the Greenpoint LNG site sit in the heart of North Brooklyn, next to homes, businesses, and playgrounds. Every month, our utility bills pay for this pollution. Without action, we could be locked into decades of climate damage and health risks. This spring, National Grid will ask the Public Service Commission to raise rates again—your voice can make a difference.

What’s Our Vision
– What would a healthy, accessible Newtown Creek look like?
– How can communities shape energy systems to prioritize people and the planet?
– How can design and storytelling make struggles for public power visible and actionable?
– How You Can Participate
– Learn the issues and share your perspective on community solutions
– Take action on the upcoming rate case
– Support local environmental justice and waterfront access initiatives
– Stay connected with Sane Energy Project and partners

Disclaimer & Notes
This event will be filmed for a May 2026 exhibition at the Center for Architecture. Participants will be asked to sign a photo/video release form. If you prefer not to be documented, that’s completely fine—we’ll support any level of comfort.

Refreshments will be provided throughout the walk.
 

Meet at SW Corner of 42nd Street and Park Avenue inside the atrium of the Philip Morris Building; Please arrive 15 minutes prior to tour start time.

Park Avenue, below Grand Central Terminal, and Park Avenue South (formerly Fourth Avenue) pass through the historic neighborhoods of Murray Hill and Rose Hill and the more recently named Flatiron and NoMad districts. Once the insurance row of Manhattan, today these neighborhoods feature a lively mix of commercial, residential, and institutional uses, including transformed Class B office buildings and recent ground-up additions.

Within this corridor lies an encyclopedia of the architecture of New York City. Charles Follen McKim, Stanford White, and Horace Trumbauer prominently represent the 19th Century, while projects by Cass Gilbert, Ely Jacques Kahn, and Harvey Wiley Corbett usher in the first forty years of the 20th Century. Contemporary work by Ennead Architects, Michael Graves, Renzo Piano, Pelli Clarke Pelli, Christian de Portzamparc, and Gwathmey Siegel are also highlighted on the avenues and adjacent blocks.    
  
This tour examines urban design and architectural issues in Park Avenue South, including NYC zoning, the Manhattan grid, POPS bonus plazas, Class A and Class B office buildings, and façade organizing principles.

AIANY Guide: Joseph Lengeling, AIA

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Health and Safety Guidelines:

AIANY cannot be held liable and assumes no responsibility for any injury or loss incurred by participants in these programs. The tour is limited to 17 attendees. Walkups cannot be guaranteed a spot on the tour. 

Cancellation Policy: 
AIANY Walking Tours take place rain or shine. Please dress for the weather. There are no refunds, cancellations, or exchanges, unless we cancel a tour. 

Meet in front of the entrance to the Church of the Good Shepherd 15 minutes prior to tour start time.

This tour will begin with Nelson Rockefeller’s ambitious efforts to redevelop the island, previously occupied by institutions, such as the New York City Lunatic Asylum serving the city’s sick and destitute, into a mixed-income largely car-free “New Town in Town” following a master plan prepared in 1969 by Philip Johnson and John Burgee. While that plan was only partially completed due to the fiscal crisis of 1975, many buildings were designed by leading Modern architects of the day: John Johansen, Josep Lluís Sert, and Kallman & McKinnell. 

Four decades later, Cornell Tech, a new graduate campus of Cornell University, opened in 2017 with bold design and exceptional energy efficiency. When completed, The House, designed by Handel Architects, was the tallest and largest building ever built to the demanding Passive House Standard. Other highlights include the restored Blackwell farmhouse and Good Shepherd Chapel, James Renwick’s Smallpox Hospital ruins, and the Eastwood Apartment Complex. Finally, at the island’s southern tip, the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Four Freedoms Memorial, designed by Lou Kahn in 1973 and finally realized in 2012.

AIANY Guide: John Arbuckle, Assoc. AIA

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Health and Safety Guidelines: 

AIANY cannot be held liable and assumes no responsibility for any injury or loss incurred by participants in these programs. Tour is limited to 17 attendees. Walkups cannot be guaranteed a spot on the tour. 

Cancellation Policy: 
AIANY Walking Tours take place rain or shine, please dress for the weather. There are no refunds, cancellations, or exchanges, unless we cancel a tour.