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Admit it, are you a nosy New Yorker? Same here. Then you can't miss Open House New York this year. The annual event opens the doors of typically off-limit spaces during its festival running from October 17 through 19.
This year, more than 300 sites are on the roster, including an exclusive rooftop garden in Rockefeller Center, a city compost facility, an Ellis Island boat and a private gallery in the World Trade Center. Even sites that are public, like Wagner Park and Astoria Pool, offer special behind-the-scenes experiences. Nearly half of the festival is fully free and open to the public—no advance registration or tickets are required. But select venues do require tickets, which are released on October 3 at noon (and they typically go fast!).
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Every year since 2003, Open House New York has tapped architects, engineers, historians and curators to give everyday New Yorkers a glimpse into the spaces they create and work in. The event was founded in the wake of 9/11 by a grassroots group of architects, led by Scott Lauer, on the belief that "the openness of our shared urban fabric is the foundation of civil society," event organizer explained.
"Open House New York Weekend is rooted in the simple but radical act of sharing the city," Kristin LaBuz, executive director of Open House New York, said in a press release. "This festival gives curious New Yorkers a hall pass to explore the people, projects, and places that make this the greatest city in the world."
Here's what to see at Open House New York this year.
New Open House sites for 2025
- Wagner Park: A green space with climate-resilient design where the Hudson River meets New York Harbor
- Jack Shainman Gallery: A legendary art dealer’s new space in Tribeca’s iconic Clock Tower Building
- Starrett-Lehigh Building: A massive freight terminal that just reopened after a $150 million renovation with sleek offices and a trendy restaurant
- Bike Tour of Floyd Bennett Field: Pedal through the vestiges of NYC’s first municipal airport, with panoramic city views from a vintage air-traffic control tower
- Fulton Fish Market: Behind-the-scenes of the market, bustling round the clock, that brings seafood from the port to New Yorkers’ plates
- Printemps: A French department store’s first outpost in the US with shimmering Art Deco murals
- Yankee Ferry: An Ellis Island vessel turned into a palatial floating home
- Radio Park at Rockefeller Center: A rooftop garden oasis with a view of St. Patrick’s Cathedral known for hosting swanky private parties
- Owls Head Waste Water Resource Recovery Facility: A Bay Ridge plant where 120 million gallons of water a day are treated and purified to serve almost 800,000 Brooklyn residents
- MADE Bush Terminal: A brand-new waterfront hub for manufacturers, artisans, designers and entrepreneurs
- Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Arch at Grand Army Plaza: A 1892 tribute to Civil War veterans that just emerged sparkling from an $8.9 million restoration
- Iron Workers Locals 40 & 361 Training Center: See where workers learn to weld, construct and repair metal for the city's tallest buildings
- DSNY Staten Island Compost Facility: Tour NYC’s largest compost center, where food waste is turned into “black gold” to fertilize gardens
- 3 World Trade Center: Head up to the 79th and 80th floors to see a private gallery, a collection of murals and resident artists’ studios
- The new General Theological Seminary: Vanderbilt University has transformed a Gothic, courtyard-filled oasis in Chelsea into a modern college campus
- Anable Basin: Row on the East River from a Long Island City boathouse
- La Bodega: A Bronx recording studio and soundstage with a life-size replica of a city street
- Red Hook Resilience & Art Walk: See how public art and infrastructure are reshaping a neighborhood beset by storm damage and climate risk
- Brooklyn Banks at Gotham Park: A shuttered skate park under the Brooklyn Bridge that has been reimagined as a community space
Returning favorite sites
- Noble Signs: Over 50 vintage signs, from neon pieces to bodega awnings, rescued from across the city
- Ford Foundation: A lush, verdant atrium stands at the center of the nonprofit’s sublime office
- Woolworth Building: A five-and-dime-store magnate used only cash to build this ornately Gothic “cathedral of commerce” in 1913
- Tall Ship Wavertree: An impeccably preserved 19th-century ship with a saloon
- New York Transit Museum Archives: Photos and ephemera from 121 years of the subway and bus
- Hangar B at Floyd Bennett Field: See a dozen historic planes in the city’s first municipal airport
- Brooklyn Army Terminal: An industrial complex turned into a hub of startups, artists, eateries and shops
More to explore
On Open House New York's website, you can filter to find places that fit your area of interest, such as affordable housing, building with steel and family-friendly spots. Plus, you can search for places in your borough, at certain times and that offer accessible features.