The Open City Benefit is a celebration of the power of place and new possibilities for our city.
Open City Benefit
Each Spring, Open House New York holds the Open City Benefit at a place of singular importance to the past, present, and future of New York City. The awards program includes conferring the Open City Award, President’s Award and Building Capital Award, which together recognize exemplary individual and collective achievements to improve quality of place and quality of life in our city.
On May 18, the Open City Benefit will bring together hundreds of New Yorkers for a festive evening at Powerhouse Arts—a 117-year-old power plant that has been transformed into a contemporary art center and fabrication space on the Gowanus Canal in Brooklyn.
Proceeds from the Open City Benefit make possible our work to promote broad, unparalleled access to the city.
Open City Award
The Open City Award honors the team behind a newly opened or opening place of singular importance to the past, present, and future of New York City. These are the significant projects, often born from visionary aspirations and years in the making, that embody the spirit of openness, access, vitality, and connectivity that symbolize New York’s continued growth, preeminence, and capacity for renewal. The Open City Award is conferred onsite at the Open City Benefit.
2023 Open City Awardees
This year, OHNY is conferring the Open City Award to the Powerhouse Arts design and development team, led by Powerhouse Arts, Gemini Arts Initiative, Herzog & de Meuron, PBDW Architects, Urban Atelier Group, and Buro Happold Engineering.
Past Award Recipients
2022 Open City Award
Moynihan Train Hall
Recognizing the team led by Client: Empire State Development and Vornado Realty Trust; Architects: Skidmore, Owings & Merrill; Engineers: Severud Assoc., Jaros Baum & Bolles, Schlaich Bergermann Partner; Construction: WSP, Skanska USA
2022 President’s Award
Senator Charles E. Schumer
2022 Building Capital Award
LISC NYC, led by Valerie White
2021
Governors Island
Recognizing
The Trust for Governors Island
2019
TWA Hotel
Recognizing
MCR and MORSE Development
with
Beyer Blinder Belle
INC Architecture & Design
Lubrano Ciavarra Architects
Mathews Nielsen Landscape Architects
Stonehill Taylor
2018
Cornell Tech Campus
Recognizing
Cornell University
with
Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP
James Corner Field Operations
and
Emma and Georgina Bloomberg Center | Architects: Morphosis Architects; Engineers: Arup; Construction Manager: Barr & Barr
Tata Innovation Center | Developer: Forest City New York; Architects: Weiss/Manfredi Architecture/Landscape/Urbanism; Engineers: Thornton Tomasetti, Jaros Baum & Bolles; Construction Manager: Turner
The House at Cornell Tech | Developers: Related Companies, The Hudson Companies; Architects: Handel Architects; Engineers: BuroHappold; Construction Manager: Monadnock Construction Inc.
President’s Award
Open House New York’s President’s Award recognizes a person or organization who, through their visionary work and unrelenting commitment to our city, demonstrates OHNY’s mission to catalyze a city that is accessible and open to all New Yorkers.
Past Recipient of the President’s Award
Building Capital Award
The Building Capital Award honors an organization or individual whose work embodies and amplifies Open House New York’s signature Urban Systems program.
Past Recipient of the Building Capital Award
Previous OHNY Honorees
2016
Scott Stringer, New York City Comptroller
Kathy Goldman, Food Bank for New York
2015
Carl Weisbrod, Chair, New York City Planning Commission, and Director, Department of City Planning
John Edelman, Design Within Reach
Marc Kushner and Matthias Hollwich, Architizer
2014
Gale Brewer, Manhattan Borough President
Cindy Allen, Interior Design Magazine
Barry Bergdoll, Museum of Modern Art
2013
David Burney, NYC Department of Design and Construction
Susan Henshaw Jones, Museum of the City of New York
Frank Sciame, Sciame
2012
Christine Quinn, New York City Council
Joshua David and Robert Hammond, The High Line
Tim Tompkins, Times Square Alliance
2011
Leslie Koch, Trust for Governors Island
Red Grooms, Artist
Hugh Hardy, H3 Hardy Collaboration Architecture