Second Avenue Subway Art Tour
Second Avenue Subway Art Tour
Presented by Mike Lubin of Brown Harris Stevens
Looking for the perfect weekend "art stroll" and don't feel like hoofing it in the cold around the Chelsea gallery district?
Spend a couple of bucks and take the Q train. Here's a recap of what you you need to see this weekend- best way in a long time to be a tourist in our amazing city we call home.
63rd Street/3rd Avenue Entrance
An homage to the era of Second and Third Avenues’ elevated train lines in the ‘40s and ‘50s by artist Jean Shin. This is the most compact of the new exhibits, on the Ground- Mezzanine levels of the new Q-train entrance on 63rd and 3rd.
72nd Street Station
Life-size mosaic portraits of the many characters you’ll encounter on the subways in 2017, including the gentleman in the tiger suit. More notably, a portrait of a gay couple holding hands at 72nd Street set in mosaic is the first permanent, non-political installation of LGBT art in New York City.
86th Street Station
Larger-than-life mosaic portraits by Chuck Close, in various styles. Portraits include two distinct self-portraits Philip Glass, Kara Walker, Cecily Brown, Zhang Huan, Alex Katz, Cindy Sherman, and Lou Reed.
96th Street Station
The most conceptual of the new art- minimalist, done in the blue-and-white tones of a blueprint. The images invoke a sense of motion- for instance, a long scene of papers blowing by- which speaks to the pace at which we live in New York city.
Engineering and Architecture
The new subway lines are some of the deepest beneath New York City (which partly explains why long they took to build). If you geek out on this kind of stuff like I do you'll probably enjoy the decidedly modern look of the new stations. You'll find thoughtful modern touches inside, including noise-absorbing panels on the ceiling and accessible public restrooms.
If you’re thinking of buying or selling a place in the near future, get ahold of me! I’m also available for restaurant tips and general New York City trivia- just reach out ;)