kids-family sites

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!


openhousenewyork cannot accept responsibility for changes made by site owners, as they control opening hours and security arrangements. Click here for updates.


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Bartow-Pell Mansion Museum
895 Shore Rd, Pelham Bay Park, Bronx
neighborhood: North Bronx
Sat: Closed
Sun: Closed
Maximum people: 25 per tour
building date: 1836-1842
architect: Attributed to Minard Lafever; grounds restoration, Delano & Aldrich, 1914.

This Greek Revival mansion's gracious proportions, refined exterior stonework, cast-iron balconies, and period millwork exemplifies country living in 19th-century Pelham Bay.

subway: 6 to Pelham Bay.
bus: #45 Westchester Beeline Bus.


Family friendly Landmark Restrooms Shop  MAP

New York Botanical Garden, The
Bronx River Pkwy/ Fordham Rd , Bronx
neighborhood: Fordham
Sat: Closed
Sun: Closed
Maximum people: 30 per tour
building date: Designed 1896; built 1898-1901
architect: Robert W. Gibson

The grand neo-Renaissance style New York Botanical Garden Museum Building, along with the Fountain of Life, form a distinguished and monumental Beaux-Arts civic space within the largest botanical garden in the country. Founded in 1891 and located within Bronx Park, the Garden showcases one of the world's greatest collections of plants and serves as an educational center for gardening and horticulture.

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.

Family friendly art/design exhibit/performance Landmark Wheelchair access Restrooms Food/beverages Shop  MAP

Wave Hill
W 249th St/ Independence Ave, Bronx
neighborhood: Astoria
Sat: Closed
Sun: Closed
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. Wave Hill was once home to Mark Twain, Theodore Roosevelt, and Arturo Toscanini.

subway: 1 to 242st St, transfer to Wave Hill Shuttle, which meets at 10 minutes past the hour from 9:10 am to 3:10 pm.
bus: Bx7, Bx10, BxM1, BxM2.
other transportation: Metro-North (Hudson Line) to Riverdale.

Reservations only Family friendly art/design exhibit/performance Landmark Wheelchair access Restrooms Food/beverages Shop  MAP

Woodlawn Cemetery
Webster Ave & E 233rd St or Jerome Ave/ Bainbridge Ave, Bronx
neighborhood: Woodlawn
Sat: Closed
Sun: Closed
Maximum people: 30 per tour
building date: 1863
architect: James C. Sidney; Charles Wellford Leavitt, 1875-1940.

More than 1,300 private mausoleums, many of which were designed 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.

Reservations only Family friendly Podcast Restrooms Shop  MAP

Barzel Iron Works
61 Jefferson St/ Bushwick Ave,   Brooklyn
neighborhood: Bushwick
Sat: Closed
Sun: Closed
Maximum people: 25 per tour
building date: 1950
architect: unknown

Metal artist Kristina Kozak’s 15,000 sq ft studio is located in a working blacksmithing shop owned by Nat Barzily, and features heavy equipment and several hot forges.

subway: J, M, Z to Myrtle Ave/ Bway.
bus: B15, B46, B47, B54.


Reservations only Family friendly art/design exhibit/performance Wheelchair access  MAP

Brooklyn Lyceum
227 4th Ave/ Union St, Brooklyn
neighborhood: Park Slope
Sat: Closed
Sun: Closed
Maximum people: 30 per tour
building date: 1910
architect: Raymond F. Almirall

This former public bathhouse is a creative example of adaptive reuse. Converted to a public gym under NYC planner Robert Moses, it has recently been revitalized as a theater and cafe.

subway: R to Union St.
bus: B37, B63, B71.


Family friendly art/design exhibit/performance Landmark Restrooms Food/beverages Shop  MAP

Brooklyn Museum
200 Eastern Pkwy/ Washington Ave, Brooklyn
neighborhood: Crown Heights
Sat: Closed
Sun: Closed
Maximum people: 20 per tour
building date: 1895 - 1926
architect: McKim, Mead & White; Polshek Partnership Architects, 2004.

One of America’s oldest and largest art museums, it 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.

subway: 2, 3 to Eastern Pkwy/ Brooklyn Museum.
bus: B41, B43, B45, B69, B71.


Reservations only Family friendly art/design exhibit/performance Landmark Wheelchair access Restrooms Food/beverages Shop  MAP

City Reliquary, The
370 Metropolitan Ave/ Havemeyer St, Brooklyn
neighborhood: Williamsburg
Sat: Closed
Sun: Closed
building date: unknown
architect: unknown

The museum celebrates NYC's rich history and Williamsburg's local charracter through its unique collections, relics and ephemera. Enjoy backyard and sidewalk camaraderie while experiencing obsessive collecting at its best.

subway: G, L to Metropolitan Ave, L to Lorimer St, J, M to Marcy Ave.
bus: Q59.


Family friendly art/design exhibit/performance Wheelchair access Restrooms Food/beverages Shop  MAP

Green-Wood Cemetery, The
500 25th St/ 5th Ave, Brooklyn
neighborhood: Sunset Park
Sat: Closed
Sun: Closed
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.


Family friendly art/design exhibit/performance Landmark Wheelchair access Restrooms Food/beverages Shop  MAP

Kentler International Drawing Space
353 Van Brunt St/ Wolcott St, Brooklyn
neighborhood: Red Hook
Sat: Closed
Sun: Closed
building date: 1877
architect: unknown

Founded by two artists in 1990, the gallery is housed in a former men's haberdashery, which served the Brooklyn seaport business workers.

subway: A, F to Jay St, F, G to Smith-9th Sts, then buses.
bus: B61, B77.


Family friendly art/design exhibit/performance Wheelchair access  MAP

Lafayette Avenue Presbyterian Church
85 S Oxford St/ Lafayette Ave, Brooklyn
neighborhood: Fort Greene
Sat: Closed
Sun: Closed
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 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.


Reservations only Family friendly Landmark Wheelchair access Restrooms Food/beverages  MAP

Mark Morris Dance Center
3 Lafayette Ave/ Ashland Pl, Brooklyn
neighborhood: Fort Greene
Sat: Closed
Sun: Closed
building date: 2001
architect: Beyer Blinder Belle

The company broke ground on the Dance Center in July 1999 and construction was completed in September 2001. The Center houses five rehearsal spaces, a theater/ performance space and a school for students of all ages.

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.


Family friendly Wheelchair access Restrooms  MAP

MINE metal/art
177 Grand St/ Bedford Ave, Brooklyn
neighborhood: Williamsburg
Sat: Closed
Sun: Closed
building date: 1900
architect: unknown

This retail store and design showroom features the work of local metalworkers and artists. Pick up a walking map to view Kristina Kozak’s outdoor commissioned pieces throughout the neighborhood.

subway: L train Bedford Ave, J, M, Z to Broadway.
bus: B61, Q59.


Family friendly art/design exhibit/performance Wheelchair access Food/beverages Shop  MAP

Old Stone House
336 Third St/ 5th Ave, JJ Byrne Park, 336 Third Street Brooklyn
neighborhood: Park Slope
Sat: Closed
Sun: Closed
building date: 1699; reconstruction, circa 1930
architect: unknown

The house is a reconstruction of a Dutch farmhouse built by the Vechte family in 1699 and incorporates stones from the original structure. It played a major role during the Revolutionary War-era in NY and was the original clubhouse of the team that was to become the Brooklyn Dodgers. An exhibit, Brooklyn Utopias, will examine the borough's history as an "urban frontier."

subway: F to 4th Ave, R to Union St.
bus: B63.


Family friendly art/design exhibit/performance Wheelchair access Restrooms Food/beverages Shop  MAP

Pier Glass Art Studio
499 Van Brunt St, #2A, Brooklyn
neighborhood: Red Hook
Sat: Closed
Sun: Closed
building date: 1869
architect: unknown

This Civil War-era warehouse sits on the upper Bay of NY Harbor facing the Statue of Liberty and is constructed of cut granite rock, virgin timber from the Hudson Valley, and Brooklyn bricks. It now houses a glassblowing studio and exhibition space.

subway: F, G to Smith-9th Sts.
bus: B61, B71.
other transportation: NY Water Taxi to Red Hook.

Family friendly art/design exhibit/performance Wheelchair access Shop  MAP

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