family sites
In addition to our programs designed especially for kids, the openhousenewyork Weekend features many family friendly sites. These special places and spaces highlight unique built-environment elements of New York City in accessible, intriguing ways for the whole family to enjoy!
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BankNote, The UPDATE: TOUR FULLY BOOKED! 890 Garrison Ave/ Lafayette Ave, Bronx neighborhood: Hunts Point Sat: 12 - 5 pm Sun: 12 - 5 pm opendialogue Sat 2 pm, tour with renovation architect. Reservations required: ohny@bbbarch.com. Maximum people: 25 per tour building date: 1911 architect: renovation Beyer Blinder Belle Architects & Planners LLP. Newly landmarked, this 420,000+-sq-ft three-building complex was home to the American Bank Note Company, a firm founded in 1795 to print currency, war bonds, and stock certificates. The Roman Revival structure is now being being redeveloped into a center for creative frims, service businesses, and nonprofit organizations. subway: 2, 5 trains to Prospect Ave, 6 to Longwood Ave. bus: Bx6, Bx19.  
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Bartow-Pell Mansion Museum 895 Shore Rd, Pelham Bay Park, Bronx neighborhood: North Bronx Sat: 12 - 4 pm Sun: 12 - 4 pm Regular open tours, first come, first serve basis - Tours on the hour. Maximum people: 25 per tour building date: 1836-1842 architect: Attributed to Minard Lafever; grounds restoration, Delano & Aldrich, 1914. The gracious proportions, refined exterior stonework, cast-iron balconies and period millwork of this Greek Revival mansion exemplify country living in 19th-century Pelham Bay. subway: 6 to Pelham Bay. bus: #45 Beeline Bus.  
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Bronx Charter School for the Arts 950 Longfellow Ave/ Garrison Ave, Bronx neighborhood: Hunts Point Sat: 10 am - 4 pm Sun: Closed opendialogue 1, 2, 3, pm, tours with architects. Maximum people: 10 building date: 2004 architect: Weisz + Yoes Reflecting the importance of arts education, the architects used color theory and spatial clarity to transform this former factory into a unique, light-filled space. subway: 6 to Hunts Point Ave. bus: Bx6 to Garrison Ave. 
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Bronx Museum of the Arts, The 1040 Grand Concourse/ 165th Street, New York neighborhood: South Bronx Sat: 12 - 6 pm Sun: 12 - 6 pm Continuous open access, first come basis, lining up if necessary building date: 1961 architect: Simon B. Zelnik; north wing addition, Arquitectonica, 2006. A dramatic double-height lobby is the focal point of this museum extension. Exterior patterns of black and white blocks recallt he neighborhood's ubiquitous ornamental brick walls. subway: B, D to 167 St/ Grand Concourse. bus: Bx1, Bx2, BxM4 Express. 
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New York Botanical Garden, The UPDATE: ROSE TOURS ADDED! Bronx River Pkwy/ Fordham Rd , Bronx neighborhood: North Bronx Sat: 10 am - 6 pm Sun: 10 am - 6 pm Regular open tours, first come, first serve basis - 11a.m. - Bird Walks (Meet at the Reflecting Pool in the Leon Levy Visitor Center) 11:30a - Forest Tour – 50 acres of untouched New York Forest Sat & Sun, 3 pm - Rose Tour - Meet at the entrance of the Rose Garden for an hour tour of the Rose Garden and discussion about rose care building date: 1891 architect: Beatrix Jones Farrand, original design, 1916; completed in 1988 Surround yourself with fragrance, color, and beauty in the award-winning Peggy Rockefeller Rose Garden. Originally designed in 1916, completed in 1988, and beautifully renovated in 2006–2007, this stunning garden now displays more than 3,000 rose plants, from exquisite antique roses to modern hybrid teas, floribundas, and shrub roses. subway: 4, B, D to Bedford Park Blvd, transfer to Bx26 to Garden's Mosholu Gate entrance. bus: Bx26 other transportation: Metro-North (Harlem Line) to Botanical Garden.  
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PS 86 Kingsbridge Heights School Library 2756 Reservoir Ave/ 195th St, Bronx neighborhood: North Bronx Sat: 11 am - 2 pm Sun: Closed Regular open tours, first come, first serve basis - Tours every half hour. Maximum people: 20 per tour building date: 2002 architect: Tsao & McKown other architects/consultants: artist, Lynn Pauley Explore the renovated library in this elementary school, designed to draw in students with its innovative design, colorful supergraphics, kid-friendly furnishings and an impressive book inventory. subway: D, 4 to Kingsbridge Rd. bus: Bx28.
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Wave Hill W 249th St/ Independence Ave, Bronx neighborhood: Riverdale Sat: 9 am - 5:30 pm Sun: 9 am - 5:30 pm Regular open tours, first come, first serve basis opendialogue Sat & Sun 11 am, behind-the-scenes tour of Wave Hill’s historical houses with Garden Guide and historian Deirdre LaPorte. Registration required: register at Perkins Visitor Center on the day of tour only. Maximum people: 30 per tour building date: 1843 architect: Original Wave Hill House, William Lewis Morris; Perkins Visitor Center, Robert A.M. Stern, 2004. The garden offers spectacular views overlooking the Hudson River, the Palisades and historic mansions. Get to know the people who once called Wave Hill home, such as Mark Twain, Theodore Roosevelt and Arturo Toscanini. subway: 1 to 231st St, transfer to buses. bus: Bx7, Bx10, BxM1, BxM2. other transportation: Metro-North (Hudson Line) to Riverdale. 
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Woodlawn Cemetery Webster Ave & E 233rd St or Jerome Ave/ Bainbridge Ave, Bronx neighborhood: Woodlawn Sat: 8:30 am - 5 pm Sun: 8:30 am - 5 pm Regular open tours, first come, first serve basis Sun 2 pm, tours of the mausoleums. Reservations required: (718) 920-1470. Maximum people: 30 per tour building date: 1863 architect: James C. Sidney; Charles Wellford Leavitt, 1875-1940. other architects/consultants: McKim Mead & White, John Russell Pope, Tiffany Studios, Sir Edwin Lutyens, Peabody & Sterns, and several others. More than 1,300 private mausoleums, many by well-known architects, dot this meticulously planted landscape. Tour private mausoleums by designers such as McKim, Mead & White, Carrere & Hastings, John Russell Pope, Tiffany and Hunt & Hunt. subway: 2 to E 233rd St, 4 to Woodlawn. bus: Bx16, Bx34. other transportation: Metro-North (Harlem Line) to Woodlawn.
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Brooklyn Museum 200 Eastern Pkwy/ Washington Ave, Brooklyn neighborhood: Prospect Heights Sat: 1:30 pm Sun: 1:30 pm Regular open tours, first come, first serve basis Reservations required: grouptours@brooklynmuseum.org. Maximum people: 25 per tour building date: 1895 - 1926 architect: McKim, Mead & White; Polshek Partnership Architects, 2004. One of America’s oldest and largest art museums is part of a 19th-century network of parks and gardens. This 560,000-sq-ft Beaux Arts building has been modernized with a glass and steel entry pavilion and its own newly renovated subway station. subway: 2, 3 to Eastern Pkwy/ Brooklyn Museum. bus: B41, B43, B45, B69, B71.
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City Reliquary, The 370 Metropolitan Ave/ Havemeyer St, Brooklyn neighborhood: Williamsburg Sat: 9 am - 6 pm Sun: 9 am - 6 pm Continuous open access, first come basis, lining up if necessary Regular open tours, first come, first serve basis - Tours of the window museum/ fire alarm boxes upon request. building date: unknown architect: unknown The museum collection celebrates NYC's rich history and Williamsburg's local character with displays of unique and intriguing relics and ephemera. Enjoy sidewalk camaraderie while learning about the history of the neighborhood and the nature of obsessive collecting. subway: G to Metropolitan Ave, L to Lorimer St, J, M to Marcy Ave. bus: Q59.
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Floyd Bennett Field Ryan Visitor Center, Flatbush Ave/ Floyd Bennett Dr, Brooklyn neighborhood: Rockaway Beach/Neponsit Sat: 9 am - 5 pm Sun: 9 am - 5 pm Regular open tours, first come, first serve basis - Tours Sat 11 am, 1 pm. Reservations required: (718) 338-3799. Maximum people: 40 per tour building date: 1931 architect: Hugh McLaughlin other architects/consultants: Clarence Chamberlain Crowds used to gather at NYC’s first airport to cheer pioneer aviators such as Howard Hughes. A rare opportunity to visit the site’s historic control tower and the underground access tunnel that led to the runways. subway: 2 to Flatbush Ave, transfer to Q35 bus. bus: Q35.
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Green-Wood Cemetery, The 500 25th St/ 5th Ave, Brooklyn neighborhood: Sunset Park Sat: 8 am - 5 pm Sun: 8 am - 5 pm Regular open tours, first come, first serve basis - Tours Sat 12, 3:30 pm, rain date Sun (same times). Reservations required: (718) 788-7850. building date: 1838 architect: David Bates Douglass The final resting place of some of NYC’s most memorable people covers 478 picturesque acres of rolling hills, ponds, trees, lawn and sculpture. On Sat., the cemetery landscape comes alive with Angels and Accordions, a site-specific tour and dance/ live music performance. subway: R to 25th St. bus: B63.
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Lafayette Avenue Presbyterian Church 85 S Oxford St/ Lafayette Ave, Brooklyn neighborhood: Fort Greene Sat: Closed Sun: 1 - 5 pm Regular open tours, first come, first serve basis - Tours on the hour. Reservations required: lrogers@lapcbrooklyn.org Maximum people: 25 per tour building date: 1862 architect: Grimshaw & Morrill The Romanesque Revival church with its distinctive four-finial tower is known for its Tiffany stained glass windows (the latest installed in 1920) and artist Hank Prussing's 1970s mural, "Mighty Cloud of Witnesses." Long a center for activism, the church once sheltered runaway slaves. subway: C to Lafayette Ave, G to Fulton St, 2, 3, 4, 5 to Nevins St. bus: B25, B26, B38.
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Liberty Sunset Garden Center 204-207 Van Dyke St/ Conover St, Brooklyn neighborhood: Red Hook Sat: 10 am - 6 pm Sun: 10 am - 6 pm Regular open tours, first come, first serve basis - opendialogue Sat & Sun talks with owner, Sandor Gubis. Maximum people: 60 building date: unknown architect: unknown Formerly a shipping warehouse, the garden center offers an outdoor pier space, that includes a waterfall and many driftwood-based displays. subway: F, G to Smith-9th Sts, 2, 3, 4, 5 to Borough Hall. bus: B61, B77. other transportation: NY Water Taxi to Red Hook.
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Mark Morris Dance Center 3 Lafayette Ave/ Ashland Pl, Brooklyn neighborhood: Fort Greene Sat: 10 am - 4 pm Sun: Closed Continuous open access, first come basis, lining up if necessary Maximum people: 25 building date: 2001 architect: Beyer Blinder Belle The contemporary Dance Center houses five dance rehearsal studios, two terraces, two lounges, administrative offices, locker rooms, and ancillary spaces. subway: B, D, M, N, Q, R, 2, 3, 4, 5 to Atlantic Ave/ Pacific St, C to Lafayette Ave, G to Fulton St. bus: B37, B41, B45, B67.
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