Optional Post-Conference Tours
Additional information about all tours is available if you scroll down. You can also use the links below to jump to the section of the page that details each tour.
Optional Tour #1: Gardens of the Hudson River Valley
As of 3/28/2018 Gardens of the Hudson River Valley is sold out. If you wish to be notified in the event of any cancelations, please email Esther Jackson.
Cost: $90
Saturday, June 23rd, 2018
Meet at NYBG Visitor Center
8:30am – 4:00pm
About this tour
Transportation, lunch, and guided tours of both locations are included in this tour. Space is limited to 20 people.
This day-long excursion includes transportation to and from the NYBG Visitor Center to Kykuit: the Rockefeller Estate and Wave Hill. Attendees will board the bus at 8:30am and depart for Kykuit where they will enjoy a 2 1/4 hour guided Landmark Tour of the house, gardens, and sculpture. After the tour attendees will travel by bus to Wave Hill where they will have boxed lunches while enjoying a breath-taking view overlooking the Hudson River Valley. Lunch will be followed by a guided tour of the gardens with time to explore on one's own before boarding the bus and returning to the Bronx. The bus is chartered until 4pm, so we will be back at NYBG by 4pm. Space is limited to 20 people, so don't delay in reserving your spot.
Kykuit: The Rockefeller Estate
Tour attendees will begin the day by departing by bus from the New York Botanical Garden. The first stop of the day will be to Kykuit: The Rockefeller Estate. Kykuit is a preeminent Hudson Valley landmark. For architecture, remarkable gardens, art, history, and spectacular scenery, a trip to Kykuit is simply amazing.
About the Landmark Tour
This garden lover's delight is designed for visitors who want to see both the house and explore its outstanding landscape and sculpture. This tour emphasizes the outdoors, bringing you through all of Kykuit's spectacular gardens including the Italian garden and Adam and Eve fountain area, as well as several terraced areas featuring classical and contemporary sculpture. You'll also visit the grotto, an unusual "underground" space tucked beneath the Temple of Venus. The Coach Barn and art galleries are not included on this tour. Please note: This tour is not wheelchair accessible and involves climbing stairs and a lot of walking over uneven surfaces. No strollers, please.
Images from the Historic Hudson Valley website linked below.
Wave Hill
Wave Hill is a 28-acre public garden and cultural center in the Bronx overlooking the Hudson River and Palisades. Its mission is to celebrate the artistry and legacy of its gardens and landscapes, to preserve its magnificent views, and to explore human connections to the natural world through programs in horticulture, education and the arts. Upon arriving at Wave Hill attendees will enjoy a boxed lunch while overlooking the Hudson. A tour of the grounds will follow, after which attendees can explore the gardens and gift shop. The bus will bring attendees back to the New York Botanical Garden in the late afternoon.
Images by Tagger Yancey IV from the NYC Go website linked below.
Optional Tour #2: NY EcoFlora Plant Walk in Central Park with Daniel Atha
Cost: $15
Saturday, June 23rd, 2018
Diana Ross Playground, Central Park West and W 81st St.
10:00am – 12:00pm
Join New York Botanical Garden botanist Daniel Atha on a walking tour of Central Park as he reveals the pre-historic botanical legacy of the world's most famous Park. From the Ice Age to the present, the terrain of Central Park continues to harbor a wealth of biological diversity, including a remnant oak savannah on Summit Rock, the persistent Tulip tree, Sassafras and Red Maple forest in the Ramble and the wetland flora around the Lake. Participants will see and experience the genius of Olmstead and Vaux's Greensward Plan revealed by the plants that predate the Park and persist to this day.
Botanist Daniel Atha is the Director of Conservation Outreach in the Center for Conservation Strategy at the New York Botanical Garden. He has conducted fieldwork in all 50 states of the US as well as Vietnam, Bolivia, Mexico, Belize, and several states of the former Soviet Union, and has collected over 15,000 plants, including two species new to science. With his colleagues, Regina Alvarez and Ken Chaya, he will soon publish a catalog of the wild flora of New York’s Central Park and has begun the New York City EcoFlora, a complete catalog of the City's flora and its ecological associations.
This tour ends close to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, "the Met." After this tour attendees may want to visit the Public Parks, Private Gardens: Paris to Provence at the Met, purchasing individual tickets on the day of their visit. (Attendees should plan their own transportation to the tour location.)
Optional Tour #3: Tour JSTOR's offices and Lower Manhattan with Deirdre Ryan and other JSTOR staff
Cost: None
9am
2 Rector Street, 18th Floor; New York, NY 10006
Join Deirdre Ryan (Director of JSTOR Forum) at ITHAKA for a casual breakfast and tours of the JSTOR offices. Enjoy views of lower Manhattan and then get out and stroll the historic neighborhood. Sights include viewing the 9/11 memorial, going inside the Oculus, and viewing the Statue of Liberty from Battery Park area. When the tour ends attendees will be provided with a map and list of recommended places to visit in the area. (Attendees should plan their own transportation to the tour location.)
Birdwatching at NYBG
NYBG Bird Walk
Cost: None
11am - 12pm
New York Botanical Garden - Reflecting Pool
No registration required! Bring your binoculars and walk the Garden grounds with a bird expert. You’ll search for our feathered friends and learn more about bird-friendly habitats, passage birds, and those that make a permanent home at the Garden. (Note that this bird walk is not a part of the conference, and that no conference organizers plan to participate in this walk.)