Gothamist
A non-profit newsroom, powered by WNYC.
Gothamist
Listen Live
News
Whitney Announces Plans To Open Downtown Building
By
Ben Yakas
Published May 26, 2010
Modified May 26, 2010
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
Never miss a story
Email address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .
By
Ben Yakas
Published May 26, 2010
Modified May 26, 2010
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
We rely on your support to make local news available to all
Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2026. Donate today
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
After nearly two years of haggling, the board of directors at the Whitney Museum have approved plans to begin construction on a new building in the meatpacking district in Manhattan, to be completed by 2015. “Downtown is a new city, a new nation. Why shouldn’t the Whitney be the museum of record there?”said Leonard Lauder, the Whitney’s chairman emeritus and largest benefactor.
Lauder wasn't always so gung-ho however; the cosmetics heir donated $131 million in March 2008, but had been adamantly against the second site until recently. Now, having changed his mind (“there is no better time to build than now, with construction costs and interest rates at an all-time low,” he told the Times), the new Renzo Piano-designed site, to be located near the foot of the High Line, has a $680 million green light.
There will be collateral damage however: because of the size and scope of the project, the Whitney will most likely need to lease its Marcel Breuer-designed original home on Madison Avenue and East 75th Street. And they might just end up leasing it to the Met! An anonymous source told Art Info about the possible indecent museum proposal: “They’ve come to the realization they can’t run two places, and they really want to build downtown. Leonard has given all this money but will withdraw it if they get rid of the Madison Avenue building. This is a way of keeping both buildings and benefiting from it.”
Tagged
art
high line
met
museum
Whitney
whitney museum
Ben Yakas
Ben Yakas is a former Gothamist reporter.
Read more
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
MORE news
Being reigning champions is weird for Knicks fans. We could get used to this.
Seeing high hopes dashed had become so routine, it was part of our identity. This year feels different.
By
Catalina Gonella
Published Oct 17, 2026 at 10:00 a.m. ET
Tompkins Square Park is getting a makeover. Some say it's too much.
Some regulars at the East Village park want to preserve its not-so-fancy offerings.
By
Willow Higgins
News
Tompkins Square Park is getting a makeover. Some say it's too much.
Some regulars at the East Village park want to preserve its not-so-fancy offerings.
By
Willow Higgins
Deer are all over New Jersey roads looking for sex, state officials warn
By
Rosemary Misdary
Man messaged 'I got straight poison' before giving NYC college students fentanyl, feds say
By
Samantha Max
Inside the plan to fix the nearly collapsed Pfizer Building, 1/64th of an inch at a time
By
David Brand
Never miss a story
Catch up on the most important headlines with a roundup of essential NYC stories, delivered to your inbox daily.
Sign upEmail address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .