Alice Austen House — Attraction in New York

This review is solely for Alice Austen House as a wedding venue. Please bride-to-bes beware of this venue! It has the WORSE management EVER! I was trying to book my wedding with them since April 2017. Don't get me wrong that place is beautiful and has everything I have envisioned for my dream wedding. However I waited MONTHS AND MONTHS, gave them multiple calls to set up a date which is late September to October (the venue is best of outdoor so time of the year is restricted.) The staff there always promise to give me updates and I only recalled getting one call from them all these time. I was constantly told either "Sorry, we're going under transition with the staffing" or "Oh we just had to run a big event and was so busy" or "Oh we're still waiting for board's approval but will definitely get back to you." Haven't heard anything. I've stretched my patience beyond the maximum while trying to remain optimistic although the time to prepare for a wedding is running out everyday....They finally reply me at beginning of Aug, leaving me with only TWO months to my expected date. Of course my planning of having a wedding in 2017 is ruined!!! I was beyond upset!! So if you're considering Alice Austen House as your venue, please be aware that they will make you wait...and probably long enough to ruin your whole plan as booking a venue is the first and foremost important step of the whole wedding planning. Please don't make the same mistake that I made. Trust me this is so mentally draining and upsetting to work with them but I sincerely hope that they...

Alice Austin is someone I had no idea about before visiting this home. The farm house, cottage style home pays homage to its Victorian history. It's curated very well, including a thorough history of Alice's life and the photographs that she took throughout her life. The home isn't entirely dedicated to her memory as some spaces serve as a contemporary museum to exhibitions.

The staff was friendly, and I was able to adventure through the space at my own pace. I visited for free using the Queens Culture Pass and was let in without any issue. There is a lovely assortment of gifts that you can purchase; I went home with two postcards since I thought it was fitting of the theme of Alice's life as a photographer.

Overall, I think this historic home and site is a great place to go if you're interested in the early development of NYC and seeing photos of people who were a part of that legacy. Alice's photographs shorten the distance between the present and the past, showing the normal lives of individuals who may have been lost to...

My most recent trip was by kayak the day before Tropical Storm Henri arrived in New York. I was the guide for a group of five paddlers (who happen to be friends as well) and since we were ahead of schedule decided to stop. The grounds are gorgeous, green and lush at this time in late August and the views, of course, are amazing. Keep in mind that as of this time (late August 2021) the museum inside is open only to those that have booked online ahead of time. I did get to walk the grounds though. I had not realized previously, just how old the house itself is, dating to the 1690s, which makes it one of the oldest homes in NYC. Please visit the museum website for the history of Austen herself, an amazing woman and New York City character in addition to her...