Soho Field Trip

SoHo, which stands for South of Houston Street, is at Canal Street, between Sixth Avenue and Lafayette Street. Once the home of factories and warehouse buildings artists flocked to this area in the 50’s and 60’s because of the cheap loft space. Within a quarter of a square mile, SoHo has roughly 250 art galleries, four museums, nearly 200 restaurants, and 100 stores. Blocks south of Houston (pronounced HOW-ston) and north of Canal streets are home to the city's largest concentration of cast-iron fronted buildings, built as warehouses and manufacturing spaces, but converted to living spaces, called lofts, for artists and sculptors who appreciated the larger spaces. These 19th-century architectural gems (often Victorian Gothic, Italianiate, and neo-Grecian), prized by preservationists, are now home to the better-heeled.

Walk down the area known for it’s Cast Iron Building architecture Green Street to see the highlights. Many of the once deteriorating buildings have been restore. In the 1970’s, the area was given landmark status. The neighborhood is now a very trendy, rather upscale area with many shops, bars, restaurants and boutiques.

The Guggenheim Museum
The Guggenheim Museum SoHo first opened to the public in June 1992. It was designed by distinguished architect Arata Isozaki. The museum has hosted several noteworthy exhibitions and is located in an ornate brick building on the corner of Broadway and Prince St. Despite the famous name, the Guggenheim Soho is very small, taking up only the second floor of the building.

The New York City Fire Museum
The New York City Fire Museum houses one of the finest collections of fire service related art and artifacts in the country. Preserves the history of firefighting and teaches fire safety through its exhibits and programs.