Say Hello to the New Whitney

The new Whitney Museum of American Art at 99 Gansevoort Street in the Meatpacking District.

The new Whitney Museum of American Art at 99 Gansevoort Street in the Meatpacking District.

As if our neighborhood wasn't already cool enough, The Whitney Museum's new location opened today. Designed by Italian architect Renzo Piano, the building includes approximately 50,000 square feet of indoor galleries (making it the largest "column-free" museum gallery in New York City) and 13,000 square feet of outdoor exhibition space and terraces facing the High Line. As part of the opening day festivities, The Whitney and The Empire State Building have partnered to celebrate the opening of the new location and also the eighty-fourth anniversary of the Empire State Building. Beginning tonight at 8pm, lighting designer Marc Brickman will interpret pieces by artists Georgia O’Keeffe, Edward Hopper, and Andy Warhol, among others, utilizing the Empire State Building’s LED tower lights. Many of the pieces inspiring the light show are also part of the museum's inaugural exhibition, America Is Hard to See (part of which can be seen through the window in above photo). And there's a free block party tomorrow!