AIA New York organizes several different walking tours throughout Manhattan and the boroughs, with a special focus on modern and contemporary architecture. Expert guides, all members of AIA New York, walk intimate groups of visitors through some of New York City’s most distinctive neighborhoods, exploring the city’s rich history and stunning new buildings, as well as creative examples of adaptive reuse, urban planning, and development.
Questions? Email [email protected].
Upcoming Walking Tours
Tour of the Amateur Comedy Club and Sniffen Court
There will be three tours at different times on Saturday, August 1, and three tours at different times on Sunday, August 2.
Join our exclusive tour of The Amateur Comedy Club and Historic Sniffen Court.
This is a rare opportunity to explore Sniffen Court, a mid-19th-century mews tucked away in Murray Hill, whose 10 brick carriage houses form the Sniffen Court Historic District and are listed on the National Register.
Built in the 1860s, Sniffen Court is one of the few surviving examples of a purpose-built courtyard in Manhattan. Featured on the tour will be The Amateur Comedy Club that in 1918 adapted two of these carriage houses for its theatre club. The Club is the oldest continuously operating theatrical society of its kind in the nation. Tours will include a look inside the Club’s historic spaces, such as Green Room, Prohibition-era liquor lockers, and its archive of theatrical art and memorabilia.
Guests will also enjoy refreshments and a surprise performance.
Guests should be aware that there are steep stairs.
Sunday, August 2
Walking Tour: Mid-Century Modernism Along Manhattan’s 53rd Street
In-Person- General Public: $30
Manhattan’s 53rd Street corridor, especially from Third Avenue to Sixth Avenue, is a benchmark for the development of NYC’s 1961 Zoning Resolution, a re-writing of the 1916 Zoning Regulation, the nation’s first comprehensive city zoning regulation. In addition to several of NYC’s iconic post-WWII buildings, such as the Lever House and CBS Building, is the creation of “heroic” open public space—the wide-open Seagram Building plaza to the intimate enclosure of the Paley “Vest Pocket” Park. While 53rd Street is primarily a commercial corridor, one finds high-rise and low-rise residential, a house of worship, an iconic hotel, and a globally recognized cultural institution. The underlying theme of the walk will be the post-WWII development of modern urbanism in NYC as demonstrated in the transition from the 1916 Zoning Resolution to respond to a post-WWII economic boom, the development of modern, high-rise office buildings with open office plans, and the increased use of the automobile. The 1961 Zoning Resolution coordinated use and bulk regulations, incorporated parking requirements, and emphasized the creation of open space.
AIANY Guide: William M. Singer, AIA, LEED AP BD + D
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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. Tour is limited to 19 attendees. Walkups cannot be guaranteed a spot on the tour.
Health and Safety Guidelines:
AIANY cannot be held liable and assumes no responsibility for any injury or loss incurred by participants in these programs.
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.
Walking Tour: Madison Avenue, High Fashion, and Historic Preservation
In-Person- General Public: $30
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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Please arrive 15 minutes prior to the start of the tour. Tour is limited to 17 attendees. Walkups cannot be guaranteed a spot on the tour.
Health and Safety Guidelines:
AIANY cannot be held liable and assumes no responsibility for any injury or loss incurred by participants in these programs.
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.
Walking Tour: Downtown New York Architecture in 1776
In-Person- General Public: $30
In 2026, the United States of America marks 250 years since its founding on July 4th, 1776 with the publication of the Declaration of Independence. This tour explores New York City’s central role in the War of Independence, the Articles of Confederation, the U.S. Constitution, and the nation’s early constitutional government. Although few NYC buildings from 1776–1790 survive, the city’s historic streets and sites can be traced using the Ratzer Map of 1766–1776. Guided by the Ratzer map and supplemental images, we will walk from the southern tip of Manhattan to City Hall Park crossing notable sites such as Fort George, Fraunces Tavern, Trinity Church, and Federal Hall.
As an eighteenth-century city with lack of fire prevention standards, poor sanitation, unreliable water and food supplies, and inadequate building egresses, New York was highly vulnerable to fire, disease, and hardship. After Washington’s defeat in the Battle of Brooklyn and retreat from New York, the Great Fire of September 1776 destroyed about a quarter of the city. The fire created lasting political conflict over its cause, property damage, economic loss, and displacement. The American Revolution was brutal and complex; it can be considered a war for independence, a civil war, a territorial conquest for colonial expansion, and part of a broader European conflict—with New York City at its nexus.
AIANY Guide: William M. Singer, AIA, LEED AP BD + D
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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. Tour is limited to 15 attendees. Walkups cannot be guaranteed a spot on the tour.
Health and Safety Guidelines:
AIANY cannot be held liable and assumes no responsibility for any injury or loss incurred by participants in these programs.
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.
Walking Tour: The Architecture of Park Avenue South
In-Person- AIANY Member: $25
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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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. Tour is limited to 15 attendees. Walkups cannot be guaranteed a spot on the tour.
Health and Safety Guidelines:
AIANY cannot be held liable and assumes no responsibility for any injury or loss incurred by participants in these programs.
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.
Walking Tour: Historic Buildings and New Interventions in SoHo
In-Person- General Public: $30
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
Please arrive 15 minutes prior to the start of the tour. Tour is limited to 17 attendees. Walkups cannot be guaranteed a spot on the tour.
Health and Safety Guidelines:
AIANY cannot be held liable and assumes no responsibility for any injury or loss incurred by participants in these programs.
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.
Walking Tour: Modern and Contemporary Architecture on Roosevelt Island
In-Person- General Public: $30
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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Please arrive promptly 15 minutes prior to the start of the tour. Tour is limited to 17 attendees. Walkups cannot be guaranteed a spot on the tour.
Health and Safety Guidelines:
AIANY cannot be held liable and assumes no responsibility for any injury or loss incurred by participants in these programs.
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.
Walking Tour: Privately Owned Public Spaces (POPS) in Midtown North
In-Person- General Public: $30
Meet at the IBM Building Atrium on the NW corner of Madison Avenue and 53rd Street.
The large, undeveloped, untaxed open spaces provided to the public by the Lever House and the Seagram Building triggered a significant innovation and experiment in New York City’s 1961 Zoning Resolution (61ZR). One of several new zoning initiatives was "Incentive Zoning", which, in this case, was implemented through the creation of Privately Owned Public Spaces (POPS). The concept of POPS is New York City’s reinterpretation of the modernist urban design concept of the “Towers in the Park,” applied to an extraordinarily dense, urban core where available land is limited and cost is at a premium. POPS are a triple win: owners and developers are allowed to build larger buildings as-of-right; the public gains access to additional public space; and New York City receives increased annual property tax revenue generated by the added taxable building square footage.
This walk weaves through a variety of POPS (Open, Enclosed, and Arcades) from 58th to 46th Streets and from Third to Sixth Avenues. If we encounter inclement weather, we can take refuge indoors. If it is brutally hot or frigidly cold, we will find relief in climate-controlled interiors. If it is gorgeous outside, we will enjoy the city from its open spaces. We may even find a rare New York City gem— a clean and available public restroom!
AIANY Guide: William M. Singer, AIA, LEED AP BD + D
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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. Tour is limited to 17 attendees. Walkups cannot be guaranteed a spot on the tour.
Health and Safety Guidelines:
AIANY cannot be held liable and assumes no responsibility for any injury or loss incurred by participants in these programs.
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.
Walking Tour: The Architecture of Madison Square Park
In-Person- General Public: $30
As the city moved rapidly northward in the 18th century, a series of small parks were established, anchoring neighborhoods such as Washington Square, Union Square, Madison Square, and Bryant Park.
In 1847, Madison Square Park (named for the fourth U.S. President, James Madison) was established as a residential neighborhood but quickly became a center for larger commercial and entertainment buildings. Today, it boasts a lively mix of insurance, finance, design, and residential uses. The park lays claim to home of the original Madison Square Garden, the founding of baseball, and the very first Shake Shack.
Early skyscrapers like the Flatiron Building, Metropolitan Life, and the NY Life Building will be discussed, as well as the architectural legacies of Stanford White, Daniel Burnham, Napoleon LeBrun, and Cass Gilbert.
Guide: Joseph Lengeling, AIA
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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. Tour is limited to 15 attendees. Walkups cannot be guaranteed a spot on the tour.
Health and Safety Guidelines:
AIANY cannot be held liable and assumes no responsibility for any injury or loss incurred by participants in these programs.
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.
Walking Tour: The Rise of the Skyscraper in Downtown New York
In-Person - Student with Valid ID: $15
In-Person - General Public: $30
In-Person: AIA Member (not AIANY): $30
Explore downtown New York through a mixed reality walking tour tracing the evolution of the skyscraper. Through direct observation of iconic landmarks, including the Equitable Building and Liberty Tower, participants will examine how early high-rise construction shaped New York City's landmark 1916 Zoning Resolution and the "wedding cake" massing profile it produced. The tour moves through historically layered neighborhoods, from Wall Street to Newspaper Row, revealing how shifts in zoning, fireproofing, prefabrication and elevator technology shaped the physical and social conditions of lower Manhattan across centuries. Experience historic Wall Street through Augmented Reality (AR), connecting archival urban history to present-day questions of public welfare, equitable access, and the livability of dense cities.
Participants will leave with a richer framework for evaluating how the built environment, regulations and advances in technology, directly affect the health, safety, and welfare of the people who lived and worked downtown.
Speakers:
Ananth Robert Sampathkumar, AIA, LEED, Co-founder and Partner, NDNY Architects; Co-chair, AIANY Historic Buildings Committee
About the Speakers:
Ananth Sampathkumar is a co-founder and partner at NDNY Architects and co-chair of the AIANY Historic Buildings Committee, bringing over 20 years of experience and a philosophy rooted in high-impact, low-footprint design to everything he does. His career has spanned landmark projects including the expansion of the Javits Convention Center and Teacher's Village in Newark, with earlier work at FXFowle and Richard Meier & Partners. A registered architect in New York and New Jersey, LEED accredited, and NCARB certified, Sampathkumar has been recognized with the Henry Adams Medal from the AIA, a Schiff Foundation Fellowship from the Art Institute of Chicago, and honors from both the Chicago Architectural Club and the Graham Foundation. Sampathkumar is passionate about preserving the built environment through the use of cutting edge digital technology and channels his passion for the city into architectural tours of New York, raising funds for causes close to his heart.
Walking Tour: Upper East Side Architecture Through Affluence and Ailments
In-Person- General Public: $30
Meet at the SW corner of 78th Street at Madison Avenue
Two critical events irreparably changed Manhattan’s Upper East Side into the residential district it is today—the creation of Central Park (1857) and Park Avenue north of Grand Central Terminal (1888). While Central Park defined the Upper East Side; Park Avenue refined it. Wealth followed the open and recreational spaces of Central Park while Park Avenue effectively separated the served from the servants—and those in between. In addition to the professional class that settled on Park Avenue, or closely to its eastside, artisanal and working-class immigrant ethnic communities developed between Lexington Avenue and the East River. Hospitals and medical facilities evolved along the East River because of its salutary open space (and distance from the wealthy)—no “Magic Mountain” here for those with Tuberculosis. From railroads to housing laws, the development of the urban fabric in the UES as a significant residential district in Manhattan captures major shifts in the social, economic, political, and physical evolution of NYC.
AIANY Guide: William M. Singer, AIA, LEED AP BD + D
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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. Tour is limited to 17 attendees. Walkups cannot be guaranteed a spot on the tour.
Health and Safety Guidelines:
AIANY cannot be held liable and assumes no responsibility for any injury or loss incurred by participants in these programs.
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.
Policies
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.
Accessibility
Please note that AIANY walking tours are not ADA accessible. However, since accessibility requirements can vary from person to person, please email [email protected] prior to purchasing your tickets for more information.