Have breakfast in a historic house, lunch in a historic church, and dinner in a historic club. Between meals, stroll through parks, airports, and neighborhoods.
Every year, Open House New York organizes a citywide exploration of several hundred landmarks and land masses where volunteers offer talks, tours, exhibitions, workshops, and behind-the-scenes access.
The extremely popular activity continues in 2023 with more than 300 participating sites in all five boroughs from Friday, Oct. 20, through Sunday, Oct. 22.
And just like in previous years, Queens has the best stuff with 33 options.
Head to Long Island City to check out Stickbulb, where employees make light fixtures out of wood salvaged from demolished buildings, dismantled water towers, and fallen trees. Visit LaGuardia Airport’s Terminal B for a guided tour of the operations center. Or if you’d rather be outside, explore Arverne East, a 35-acre urban nature preserve which is about to become NYC’s first net-zero community.
Here’s the list of participating Queens venues as divided into four geographic areas. (Let the other boroughs promote themselves!) It’s all free, but times vary. Click on the links to get the activities.
Northwestern Queens
LaGuardia Airport Marine Air Terminal, East Elmhurst
LaGuardia Airport Terminal B, East Elmhurst
NY Tilemakers Workshop, Long Island City
Open Streets: 34th Avenue, Jackson Heights
Percent for Art: Queens Public Art, Long Island City
Percent for Art: Queens Tour, Long Island City
Queens Memory Project Scavenger Hunt, Elmhurst
SculptureCenter, Long Island City
Socrates Sculpture Park, Long Island City
Steinway Reformed Church, Astoria
Stickbulb, Long Island City
The Church-in-the-Gardens, Forest Hills Gardens
The QueensWay, Forest Hills
Northeastern Queens
Bayside Historical Society
Bowne House Historical Society, Flushing
Douglaston Club
Downtown Far Rockaway
Fort Totten Park Historic Buildings
Fort Totten Park Visitors’ Center & Water Battery
Hindu Temple Society of North America, Flushing
Kingsland Homestead at Queens Historical Society, Flushing
Lewis Latimer House Museum, Flushing
Queens Botanical Garden, Flushing
Voelker Orth Museum, Bird Sanctuary and Victorian Garden, Flushing
Southeastern Queens
Arverne East Nature Preserve, Far Rockaway
Genovese Family Life Center, Jamaica
Greater Nexus Coworking Space, Jamaica
King Manor Museum, Jamaica
TWA Hotel Architecture and Interior Design Tour, John F. Kennedy International Airport
TWA Hotel INC Tour, John F. Kennedy International Airport
TWA Hotel MCT Tour, John F. Kennedy International Airport
Southwestern Queens
Maple Grove Cemetery, Kew Gardens
Vander Ende Onderdonk House, Ridgewood
Launched in 2003, Open House New York facilitates discovery of NYC with the goal to deepen the public’s understanding of how design strengthens communities and improves quality of life.
Images: OHNY