Midtown Manhattan Architectural and Art Walking Tour

This Midtown Manhattan walking tour includes every aspect of the built environment: the city's historical move uptown, public and private works of art and architecture. This tour is unique for the underground passages, tunnels and POPS (privately-owned-public-places) that link these curated blocks of the city's most interesting and engaging spaces.

Meeting Point

810 8th Ave

810 8th Ave, New York, NY 10019, USA

We meet in front of the Food Emporium supermarket on the northeast corner of 49th Street and 8th Avenue.

What's included:

• Expert guide

What to expect:

Duration: between 3 hours and 4 hours

Hell's Kitchen

New York City, New York

We start the tour by dipping our toe into the tenements of Hell's Kitchen, a good juxtaposition for the residential history we see on Fifth Avenue at the end of the tour.
We discuss zoning laws and POPS (privately-owned-public- spaces) at Worldwide Plaza.

15 minutes

Times Square

Broadway, , New York City, 10036, New York

At the Citizen Hotel in tims Square we discuss the history of New York and its move uptown.
In the hotel lobby we see works by Julien Opie

15 minutes

Times Square

Broadway, , New York City, 10036, New York

787 Axa Equitable (now, BNP Paribas). Here we deconstruct a Roy Lichtenstein mural, then head out back to more works of art and 6 1/2 Avenue, a quirk of zoning and creative urban planning.

Pass by without stopping

Midtown

New York City, New York

We pass into an underground tunnel netwoek that links a series of Midtown Manhattan corportate lobbies with stunning works of art, from Frank Stell and Fritz Glarner to Sarah Morris and Mark Bradford.
Skyscraper Alley is the nickname for these buildings by Wallace Harrison, part of the consortium of architects who built rockefeller Center.

30 minutes

Rockefeller Center

45 Rockefeller Plaza, New York City, 10111-0100, New York

We pass through Rockefeller Center and along the way discuss the fascinating, inordinate history, incuding: Columbia University, holdouts, Alexander Hamilton, Diego Rivera, radio and televison, the Rockefellers themselves , the architectural genius of Raymod Hood, and an incredible array of art. One key to understanding the hisotry of Modern architecture is in Rockefeller Center's program of art, not ornament, in its architecture (thoguh we'll see where John. D. Rockefeller Jr. won out over his architects and got a bit of ornament in his buildings)

30 minutes

St. Patrick's Cathedral

50th Street & 5th Avenue, Wheelchair accessibility located off the corner of 51st Street and 5th Avenue, New York City, 10022-6863, New York

You will always remember the view up the escalator to behold St. Patrick's Cathdrel across the Street.
We admire one of New York's most beautiful spaces, the last room in Rockefeller Center before heading out on Fifth Avenue.
Becuase they are long gone, pictures bring back the era when Venderbilt manisons stretched from this part of Fifth Avenue up to Central Park.

15 minutes

Fifth Avenue

5th Ave, , New York City, 10118-4810, New York

We discuss the history of Fifth Avenue and its periods of development.

Pass by without stopping

Olympic Tower

641 5th Ave, Northeast Corner of Fifth Avenue and 51st Street, New York City, 10022-5908, New York

We pass through the POPS of Olympic Tower and depending. We may use this time to discuss history or architecture if seating is availabe,

20 minutes

Seagram Building

Seagram Building, New York, NY 10022, USA

This building represents the height of Modern architecture; we put it in context with the development of the rest of the block.

10 minutes

Park Avenue

New York City, 10028-1061, New York

There's a tone of hiostry to talk about here: Grand Central Terminal, the grid, the transformation of Park Avenue, twice! And the current "history" underway.

20 minutes

Monkey Bar

60 E 54th St, , New York City, 10022-4612, New York

A must see stop on the tour.

3 minutes

Midtown

New York City, New York

The tour ends with two of New York's most prized POPS that are across the street from each other: 550 Madison and the IBM building's POPS.

20 minutes