Dumbo Meets Seabiscuit
After a 27-year restoration project, the near-century-old Jane’s Carousel will open to riders at Brooklyn Bridge Park on September 16. Though she relied on carpenters and engineers to repair rickety horses and modernize the electrical system (adding 1,200 glinting lights in the process), carousel namesake Jane Walentas—who bought the merry-go-round back in 1984 with her husband, the developer David Walentas—painstakingly tended to most aesthetic details herself. Housed in a square acrylic pavilion designed by architect Jean Nouvel, the year-round ride affords spectacular, in-the-round views of river, bridges, and skyline (11 a.m.–7 p.m., closed Tuesdays; Brooklyn Bridge Park, East River nr. Dock St., Dumbo; 718-222-2502; janescarousel.com; $2 per ride).
Urbanism for Urbanites
This Thursday marks the official start of New York City’s first ever Urban Design Week, involving a grand total of 53 design organizations, among them 3rd Ward, the American Institute of Architects, and Cooper Union. The action begins with launch parties for People Make Parks, a park-design crowd-sourcing project, and the latest issue of SLUM Lab magazine; a block party co-hosted by Friends of the High Line and The Kitchen; and a program devoted to the redesign of Times Square (9/15–9/20; schedule with times, dates, ticket prices, and locations available at urbandesignweek.org)
Did You Hear That?
Composer Arvo Pärt and architecture firm Snøhetta have collaborated on “To a Great City,” the second in the Guggenheim’s “stillspotting nyc” series of public works. The two parties have identified five urban spaces that demonstrate Pärt’s concept of tintinnabuli, Latin for “little bells,” which represent the dramatic variations within our sonic landscape. The tour begins at Castle Clinton National Monument and continues on through lower Manhattan and Governors Island, with each site encouraging you to stop, listen, and take in the tintinnabuli around you (9/15–9/18 and 9/22–9/25; $10, members $8; 17 Battery Pl., at State St.; stillspotting.guggenheim.org).
A Last Piece of Elaine’s
Whether or not you ever dined at Elaine’s, the famed Upper East Side eatery that supped some of New York’s best-loved celebrities, you can still own one of the restaurant’s famed checker-cloth tables. The late proprietor Elaine Kaufman’s collection of art, books, and memorabilia comes up for auction this Tuesday at Doyle New York. Among the pieces on the block is the restaurant’s Table Number One, an official 1978 World Series baseball inscribed to Elaine by Yankees owner George Steinbrenner, and a classic Chanel quilted leather bag from Elaine’s personal collection (exhibition Sa 10 a.m.–5 p.m.; Su noon–5 p.m.; M 10 a.m.–6 p.m.; auction Tu beginning at 2 p.m.; 175 E. 87th St., nr. Third Ave.; 212-427-4141; doylenewyork.com).