92nd Street Y

Deemed "one of the city's leading cultural centers" by New York magazine, the 92nd Street Y has sparked nonprofit projects and engaging performances since its founding in 1874. Eight programming centers, including The School of the Arts, and the May Center for Health, Fitness & Sport interweave lectures, exercise and academic classes for adults and children, film screenings, and long-distance learning into a pursuit of shared wellness. During lectures, such special guests as Bill Gates, Woody Allen, and Bill Clinton have taken the stage to talk about their careers or debut new tap dancing routines. Centers for art, creative writing, and educational outreach flex the muscles of the mind while the May Center for Health, Fitness & Sport molds physiques on multiple floors of advanced workout arenas. Visitors might ease into a jazz or dance series at the Theresa L. Kaufmann Concert Hall, whose seating accommodates 915 people or 450 musicians on take-your-bassoon-to-work day, or watch a concert and other 92nd Y events from the personal monitors perched on the gym's cardio machines.