the shrewdness of apes

coming in a bit < 3 weeks we have the return of Open House New York (bearing the t.s.o.a. stamp of approval - available for your product/organization/event for a mere $150). this 2-day event - October 9-10 - opens up venues from around the City to everyday schlubs like you and me, letting us see parts of the city that might otherwise be inaccessible. last year i managed to get on the roof of the Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Arch, see the catacombs of Green-wood Cemetery, and walk around the abandoned smallpox hospital on Roosevelt Island. all 3 of those places are open again this year and recommended, and i'm currently trying to decide what else i want to make a trip to see. there's a lot of design-oriented stuff that doesn't do much for me, but on the short list are the High Line, the Pieter Claesen Wyckoff House (oldest house in New York), the Grand Lodge of Masons, the High Bridge Water Tower, the Little Red Lighthouse, the Hidden Harbor Tour, Governors Island, JFK Terminal Five, Socrates Sculpture Park and HSBC Bank building. if anyone else is interested in hitting Governors Island, talk to me as there are only 6 tours limited to 135 people each.