Open House New York and the Museum of the City of New York invite you to celebrate the centennial anniversary of New York City’s 1916 Zoning Resolution with a citywide scavenger hunt to uncover how the invisible forces of zoning have shaped the city around us, from the dramatic setbacks of Jazz Age skyscrapers to the vast open plazas of mid-century Modernism.

In July 1916, New York became the first American city to adopt a zoning resolution to control the height, bulk, and use of its buildings, an act so unprecedented that its authors were not even sure it was legal. A century later–after one major revision in 1961 and frequent adjustments and amendments over the years–the zoning resolution is still the city’s most potent instrument for shaping its future.

Hunt alone or as a team to decipher more than sixty clues that will lead you on a citywide adventure to find significant sites throughout the five boroughs that illustrate the zoning resolution at work. At the end of the day, points will be tallied, winners announced, and prizes awarded at a reception on the Museum of the City of New York’s terrace overlooking Central Park. For more information, click here.

The Zoning New York Scavenger hunt is co-presented with Open House New York and the Museum of the City of New York in anticipation of a major exhibition celebrating the centennial of New York City’s zoning resolution, Mastering the Metropolis: New York and Zoning 1916-2016, opening at the Museum of the City of New York on N ovember 9, 2016.
Status: published