Park Avenue Armory

Overview

The Armory is one of America’s finest landmarks, combining a rich social and military history with an extraordinary ensemble of 19th-century period rooms. The New York City Landmarks Commission has described the Park Avenue Armory’s magnificent interiors, designed by masters of the American Aesthetic Movement, as “the single most important collection of 19th century interiors to survive intact in one building,” while the expansive drill hall is considered an important monument in the history of American engineering. Completed in 1881, the Armory served as a military, cultural and social center for the Regiment as well as New York society of the Gilded Age.

Part American palace, part industrial shed, Park Avenue Armory is dedicated to supporting unconventional works in the visual and performing arts that need non-traditional spaces for their full realization, enabling artists to create and audiences to consume epic and adventurous presentations that can not be mounted elsewhere in New York City. In 2006, the Armory opened its doors to visionary artists, directors, and impresarios who have provided extraordinary experiences in a range of art forms which led to The New York Times proclaiming that “Park Avenue Armory…has arrived as the most important new cultural institution in New York City.”