Alphabet City
Explore New York City’s rich visual culture of signage and typography.
Series Description
According to some estimates, the average New Yorker sees up to 10,000 ads in a day—and that doesn’t even include street signs, wayfinding, and other forms of ubiquitous verbiage. From sidewalks to subway stations to whole sides of skyscrapers, every flat surface (and curvy surface, and bumpy surface, and jagged surface…) can be a message board in a city this dense with eyeballs—but the preponderance of signage jockeying for attention means that signage has to be exceptional to really catch the eye.
This year, during OHNY Weekend, take a closer look at the role that signage and typography play in giving the cityscape its voice. Whether they’re hand-painted, block printed, wheatpasted, or sculpted in neon tubing, the words scrawled across seemingly every inch of the five boroughs are an oft-overlooked but essential element of the visual culture of New York.
Series Lineup
This series includes a mix of Drop-In and Ticketed experiences. Drop-in sites are free to visit without reservations during open hours. Ticketed sites can be booked beginning on October 3 at 12 pm.
Open House New York members can begin previewing the lineup, including access details, dates, and times, on September 19. The full lineup will be revealed to the public on September 26.
