OHNY Weekend is the one weekend a year when doors that are normally shut open up: infrastructure facilities, private collections, workshops, new towers, old civic buildings. The 2026 edition is the 24th, it runs October 16 through 18, and Open House New York puts more than 300 destinations on the map across all five boroughs. Roughly 50,000 people take part, and about a thousand volunteers make it happen.
The thing nobody tells first-timers: the planning matters more than the walking. Here's the schedule Open House New York has published for 2026.
| Date | What happens |
|---|---|
| September 18 | Members get early access to the lineup |
| September 25 | Full public reveal, with all locations, activities, dates and times |
| October 2 | Tickets released for the sites that require them |
| October 15 | Launch party, the festival's fundraiser |
| October 16 to 18 | The festival itself, three days |
Most sites are open access, meaning you can just show up. The ones with tight space or security requirements need a ticket, and those go fast when they're released on October 2. Set a reminder for that morning.
Why base yourself in Lower Manhattan for OHNY
Because you can walk it. The Financial District and the blocks around it hold a high share of the city's oldest civic buildings and its newest towers within about a mile of each other, so a Lower Manhattan base turns a day of subway hops into a day of walking with coffee in between. Wall Street is two blocks from our door at 17 John Street. The World Trade Center site is about ten minutes on foot. The Seaport is under ten minutes the other way, and Battery Park is about twelve.
It also helps that the neighborhood is quiet on weekends. Sidewalks are empty, the lines at lunch are short, and you're not fighting midtown crowds between stops.
What to look at while you wait for the lineup
The 2026 site list isn't public until September 25, so don't book a plan around specific buildings yet. In the meantime, these are Lower Manhattan places you can look at any weekend, ticket or not:
- Federal Hall, 26 Wall Street. The Greek Revival building with the Washington statue on the steps, two blocks from us.
- Trinity Church, Broadway at Wall Street. The churchyard is open to walk through, and the gravestones predate the country.
- The Oculus at the World Trade Center. Santiago Calatrava's transit hall. Free to walk through, and the light inside at midday is the whole point.
- 70 Pine Street. One of the great Art Deco towers downtown. There's a coffee roaster in the base and a cocktail bar on the 64th floor if you want the view.
- The Brooklyn Bridge. The walkway entrance is about eight minutes from John Street, and the bridge is a piece of engineering worth an hour on its own.
Practical notes for the weekend
Wear real shoes, since you'll be standing on stone floors and stairs. Bring a phone battery, because the OHNY site list lives on your phone. Plan three or four sites a day rather than eight; tours run long and the good ones are worth staying for. And build in a sit-down lunch. Stone Street is the cobblestone restaurant block down here and it's a five-minute walk from us.
If you're coming in for the weekend, our suites have full kitchens, separate bedrooms and laundry in the building, which is useful when you're out all day and want to eat breakfast at your own table before you start walking. October is also the best month down here: the harbor light is good and the crowds have thinned out.