Municipal Art Society

The Municipal Art Society of New York, founded in 1893, is a non-profit membership organization that fights for intelligent urban planning, design and preservation through education, dialogue and advocacy in New York City.

On January 20, 2010, MAS relocated from its longtime home in the historic Villard Houses on 457 Madison Avenue to the equally famed Steinway Hall on West 57th Street (across the street and east of Carnegie Hall). The MAS website currently lists their address as 488 Madison Avenue, Suite 1900.

MAS’s advocacy efforts have shaped the city a great deal since its inception in 1893. Some of their early accomplishments include passing the city's first zoning laws, contributing input to the planning of the city’s subway line, and commissioning public art throughout the city.

By the 1950s, scores of notable Manhattan buildings were lost to redevelopment around the city, and the mission of MAS broadened to include historical preservation. In 1956, the Society successfully lobbied for the passage of the Bard Law, which for the first time allowed cities to take aesthetics, history, and cultural associations into account for zoning laws. The law, named after longtime MAS board member and chief advocate, Albert S. Bard, provided a legal foundation for the New York City Landmarks Law, enacted in 1965.

In 1965, public outrage over the destruction of Pennsylvania Station and the Brokaw Mansion helped fuel the Society's mission towards preservation. With like-minded groups, they finally succeeded in establishing New York's Landmarks Preservation Commission, and New York's Landmarks Law.

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