When we think of Open House New York, we rightfully think about buildings and the thrill of getting access to the otherwise inaccessible. But this summer, in celebration of the 15th anniversary of Open House New York Weekend, we invite you to join us as we explore some of the deeper values and ideas that make the experience of architecture and cities so powerful, values and ideas that Open House New York itself champions in its programs.

On June 8, join OHNY and Justin Davidson for a conversation about exploration. Justin Davidson is the architecture and classical music critic at New York magazine, where he writes about a broad range of urban, civic, and design issues. He grew up in Rome, graduated from Harvard, and later earned a doctoral degree in music composition at Columbia University. As a classical music and cultural critic at Newsday, he won a Pulitzer Prize for criticism in 2002. His new book, Magnetic City: A Walking Companion to New York, is a portrait of New York told through art, music, history, literature, and architecture.

Open House New York’s Conversations on the City offers diverse perspectives on the issues defining New York’s recovery, resilience, and reopening in the aftermath of COVID-19. The series was launched at the onset of the pandemic in April 2020 amid a moment of uncertainty about the future of urban life, ultimately drawing together an audience of 10,000 over the subsequent months. Organized around a broad theme or topic, the series has a point of view: urban life brings an abiding joy. What makes cities continue to thrive, what propels them forward, is a shared need for human connection; this is what cities make possible and it will always prevail over whatever challenges may arise.

This series is organized in partnership with LMHQ. Created by The Alliance for Downtown New York, LMHQ is a collaboration space for Lower Manhattan’s creatives and creators. Companies can come together at LMHQ to collaborate, activate, and accelerate their growth.