AIANY Boat Tour: Architecture and the Lights of Gotham

Building on the successful ten-year collaboration between AIANY and Classic Harbor Line, this new architecture boat tour capitalizes on the remarkable skyline of Manhattan after sunset. From the time the Brooklyn Bridge was inaugurated with dazzling lights and fireworks in 1883, architects and lighting designers have understood the importance of presenting their structures in the night sky. Prominent examples include the Statue of Liberty from 1886, the Woolworth Tower in 1913, the 1931 Empire State Building, and New York City’s latest supertall building, One World Trade Center.

Today’s designers have a sophisticated array of sources, palette of colors and endless programs to run these lighting systems. Lighting designers also have a responsibility to carefully consider energy efficiency, safety and security, protection of bird life, and controlling light trespass to the public realm and the night sky.   

This two hour-and fifteen-minute narrated cruise will depart at sunset from Chelsea Piers in Manhattan and will include the Lower Hudson River, the Upper Bay and the East River, and will be offered most Tuesday evenings throughout the fall.