For Free! Over 300 Venues Invite Visitors for Open House NY Weekend
The annual event, which began in 2003, will take place this year from October 20 to 22. It gives New Yorkers a free pass to many places they might not otherwise never get to visit.
| 13 Oct 2023 | 06:27
The National Academy of Design, in Chelsea (
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Gracie Mansion, the mayor’s official residence in Carl Schurz Park (
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Grace Church in Greenwich Village (
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Westbeth Artists Housing, in West Village (
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The Mary A. Whalen, a tanker docked at the Atlantic Basin (
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Frick Madison, temporarily housing the Frick Collection in the Upper East Side (
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Open House New York Weekend is returning on October 20 with the biggest lineup they’ve sponsored since first opening in 2003. More than 300 places across all five boroughs will open up in this year’s event for tours, talks, and behind-the-scenes access, up from 84 in the 2003 iteration. Some of those are “open access,” meaning that visitors can show up at any time during the site’s open hours, while others are limited capacity and required participation in a lottery that ended October 12 to obtain a ticket. For the first time since its inauguration, OHNY Weekend will be free to the public.
OHNY was founded as a nonprofit in 2001 by Scott Lauer, who then consulted with organizations in other cities to set up open house programs there. Per OHNY’s website, the weekend festival, along with other events sponsored by OHNY throughout the rest of the year, is designed to provide an insider’s look at how the city functions and whom it serves. “The theory of change guiding our work,” their mission statement says, “is that an informed public fosters greater civic participation, which in turn catalyzes an open city.”
The places opening up this weekend include houses of worship, historical sites, office buildings, museums, and cultural centers. Many of these buildings are not regularly open to the public. There are also neighborhood walking tours on offer, such as one that looks at art and architecture on Park Avenue, as well as virtual walkthroughs like a tour on the Upper West Side that covers two dozen sites important to the quest for civil rights. Among the open access sites are the Westbeth Artists Housing in West Village, the Museum of Bronx History at the Valentine-Varian House in Norwood, the Mary A. Whalen tanker moored at Pier 11 in the Atlantic Basin, the National Academy of Design in Chelsea, the glassmaking Allison Eden Studios in Bushwick, and Gracie Mansion, the mayor’s official residence in Carl Schurz Park.
Open access sites are first-come-first-served, which means that while there is no need (or option) to reserve or enter into a lottery, visitors may have to wait in line. Rain or shine, the event as a whole will last from October 20 to 22.