ARCHTOBER
- Tuesday, October 6th 2026, 6PM
Ornamental Cornices: Manhattan’s Sheet-Metal Masterpieces with Henry Millman. Introduction provided by Peg Breen, President of the New York Landmarks Conservancy
In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, the facades of many residential and commercial buildings in America’s cities were crowned with sheet-metal cornices. These offered certain practical advantages over stone or brick cornices―for example, they were lighter and safer to install―but the easy workability of sheet metal also allowed for greater decorative possibilities. And of all the cities where these cornices were installed, New York may preserve the greatest number and variety―particularly in such Manhattan. Mr. Millman, in his talk based on his new book, Ornamental Cornices, will describe some of these exceptional cornices. This program is held in partnership with The New York Landmarks Conservancy and the Victorian Society of New York.
- Tuesday, October 13th 2026, 6PM
Art Deco New York City Public Programs in the 1930’s with Architectural Historian, Matt Postal
New York City was transformed in 1930s. Thousands of city residents were unemployed during the Great Depression and such far-sighted government officials as US President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Mayor Fiorella LaGuardia and urban planner Robert Moses joined together to create an extraordinarily ambitious program of public buildings, art projects, and infrastructure. In this talk, Art Deco examples in all five boroughs will be examined and the impact that was felt on housing, health, recreation, leisure, and the environment. Join Matt Postal for an illustrated talk that considers how these enduring achievements came to be in the Art Deco era and why they still matter today. This program is held in partnership with the Art Deco Society of New York.
- Tuesday October 20th 2026, 6PM,
The Forgotten History of the Bowery – From Tap Dance & Vaudeville to SkidRow and Punk Rock with David Mulkins and special guests.
It was originally a Native American Trail, a Dutch Farm Road, a place for Free Black Homesteads, the route Washington took during the British Evacuation, however by the 1800s, The Bowery was the main street of the working class and immigrants. The architecture then included Gilded Age Banks and New York’s oldest brick houses. David Mulkins will discuss this and how it evolved into the stomping ground for sailors, shopgirls, sporting men, gangs, gays, grifters, and the newly arrived immigrant population. The street has seminal ties to tap dance, minstrelsy, vaudeville, Yiddish theater, Stephen Foster, Irving Berlin, modern tattooing, Harry Houdini and Mae West. By the 1900s, the Bowery had also become America’s notorious skid row, but late in that century it helped foster Abstract Expressionism, Beat literature, free jazz, and punk rock. Special guests: Ramona Baker (Ragtime Pianist), Calvin Booker (tap dancer) and Gavin Rice (Singer & Banjoist).
This program is only available IN PERSON
To register, please click here
- Tuesday, October 27th 2026, 6pm,
Revisiting Gilded Age New York with Calvert Vaux with historians Francis Kowsky and Sara Cedar Miller
In the second half of the 19th century, New York grew into a true metropolis. Most people know about landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted’s work here, but in reality, it was his friend and collaborator Calvert Vaux who played the key role in creating both Central Park and Prospect Park in the city, as well as many other works around the country. Vaux also drew the plans for some of the grandest and historically significant buildings of his day. In this presentation, historians Francis Kowsky and Sara Cedar Miller will explore and discuss Vaux’s lasting—and often overlooked—contributions to New York’s urban legacy. Presented in conjunction with the Calvert Vaux Preservation Alliance (CVPA).
Additional registration links for these lectures will be posted at a later date, in the meantime for additional information, please write to ktaylor@generalsociety.org