Event · East Village
In the East Village, NYC: City Lore's "Sense & the City" Maps New York by Smell, Touch and Sound
At City Lore Gallery in the East Village, nearly 200 New York places come alive through photos, text, scent strips, tactile objects and a piano voiced with Queens sounds. Open weekends noon to 6pm through January 18, 2027.
By NBT Editors · 2026-10-20
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"Sense & the City: Exploring New York City Through the Five Senses" is now on at City Lore Gallery in the East Village, running through January 18, 2027. The show is part of the 40th anniversary of City Lore, the nonprofit that has spent decades documenting the city's living culture, and it asks visitors to take in New York with more than their eyes.
Nearly 200 places across the city are represented. Photographs and text excerpts anchor each location, while scent strips let you smell the air associated with a spot, and tactile objects offer a feel for its textures. A piano tuned to the sounds of Queens invites visitors to play the borough's soundscape themselves. The focus is on the everyday sensations that guidebooks rarely capture: the odors of a block, the hum of a crowd, the grain of a surface.
The gallery is at 56 East 1st Street and opens Saturdays and Sundays from noon to 6pm. An opening event was held on the evening of October 8.
For anyone who lives here, the exhibition is a chance to reconsider places passed every day through a different sense. It pairs easily with a weekend walk around the East Village.
