Andrew Gustafson - Turnstile Tours

Explore Sunset Park During Open House New York Weekend 2025

Explore one of the premier destinations during Open House New York Weekend, Oct 17–19, 2025, where there will be tours, galleries, studios, and fabrication spaces open to the public.

Brooklyn Army Terminal
MADE Bush Terminal
Open House New York
Waterfront

Guide to the Ships of Fleet Week New York 2024

Our favorite week of the year has arrived—it’s Fleet Week! This year’s visitors will include 11 ships from the US Navy, US Coast Guard, and the German Navy, which will …

Brooklyn Navy Yard
Shipspotting
Waterfront

Meet Our Team: Amanda Adler Brennan

Over the next several weeks, we will be sharing brief profiles about our wonderful and talented team at Turnstile Tours & Studio. Next up is our Food Tours Manager Amanda …

Staff Profiles

Cindy and Amanda eating street food at a table in Diversity Plaza

Turnstile’s Guide to Open House New York Weekend 2023

Open House New York Weekend (Oct 20–22) is just a few days away, and with over 330 partners participating this year, it’s impossible to do it all. So we scoured …

Brooklyn Army Terminal
Brooklyn Navy Yard
Prospect Park

Guide to the Ships of Fleet Week New York 2023

Fleet Week came early this year, as last week the city was visited by USS Cooperstown, which became the first US Navy ship commissioned in New York City since USS …

Brooklyn Navy Yard
Shipspotting
Waterfront

Fleet Week New York is Back! Guide to 2022 Ships

After a two-year hiatus, the fleet is returning to New York, though with a somewhat smaller contingent. This year, Navy, Coast Guard, and Royal Navy ships will be gathering on …

Brooklyn Navy Yard
Shipspotting
Waterfront

Society for Industrial Archeology: Death of an Army Terminal

On Aug. 8, 2021, New York Harbor was shaken by an explosion, and 1.5 million sq. ft. of historic structures came tumbling down. The Military Ocean Terminal Bayonne (MOTBY) was originally conceived as a commercial facility, a 440-acre manufactured peninsula for rail and maritime shipping.

Architecture
Brooklyn Army Terminal
Brooklyn Navy Yard
Press
Waterfront
World War II

SS Great Republic and the Great Turkey-Lift of 1944

On Thanksgiving, we’re looking back at an unsung hero of the holiday during World War II, a merchant ship called SS Great Republic.

Brooklyn Army Terminal
Brooklyn Navy Yard
Shipspotting
Waterfront
World War II

Best New York City Books from Our Members

At our December member happy hour, we invited participants to share some of their favorite books about New York City, in any genre – fiction, nonfiction, poetry, photography, travel – …

Virtual Programs

ARA General Belgrano: A Lost Ship, A Stolen Photograph

At 3:57 p.m. on May 2, 1982, the British submarine HMS Conqueror fired a spread of three torpedoes at the Argentine cruiser ARA General Belgrano, located approximately 230 nautical miles …

Brooklyn Navy Yard
Photography
Shipspotting
World War II

Color photo of a cruiser sinking with ocean in foreground and orange lifeboats on the water.

Comfort at Sea: History of Hospital Ships in New York City

The hospital ship USNS Comfort is en route to New York City. One of just two hospital ships in the Navy fleet, it has been dispatched from Norfolk, while its …

Brooklyn Navy Yard
Waterfront
World War I
World War II

Slavery and the Brooklyn Navy Yard

After nearly 12 years of leading tours at the Brooklyn Navy Yard, one of the most difficult questions we get – and almost always from young people – is this: …

Brooklyn Navy Yard
Waterfront

Clayton Colefield and the Building of USS Missouri

They say a Navy ship has three birthdays: its keel-laying, its launching, and its commissioning. The World War II-era battleship USS Missouri has one more, its recommission in 1986 as part …

Brooklyn Navy Yard
Shipspotting
Waterfront
World War II

Black and white photo of five naval officers standing on a large metal plate, one of them turning a long handle attached to a riveting machine.

Americal Division: Brooklyn Army Terminal Sends First US Troops to Pacific

Last week we looked at Operation Magnet, the scramble in the weeks after Pearl Harbor to move American forces into the European battle zone. Just one week after that, it …

Brooklyn Army Terminal
Shipspotting
Waterfront
World War II

Black and white photo of two soldiers walking up a gangplank onto a ship at dusk.

Brooklyn to Belfast: Red Bull Division Were First US Overseas Troops of World War II

On January 15, 1942, ships of convoy AT-10 left the Brooklyn Army Terminal to make the journey across the Atlantic. Aboard the transports USS Chateau Thierry and HMTS Strathaird were …

Brooklyn Army Terminal
Shipspotting
Waterfront
World War II

Black and white photo of a soldier waving from the gangplank of a ship with soldiers in the background.

Inside Industry at the Brooklyn Navy Yard: Women Welders, Past and Present, Mar 8

Celebrate International Women’s Day by exploring the past and present of women’s labor at the Brooklyn Navy Yard. Learn about the history from the early nineteenth century, when women sewed flags …

Brooklyn Navy Yard
Inside Industry

Inside Industry at the Brooklyn Navy Yard: Love Stories and Letterpress, Feb 9

Get ready for Valentine’s Day on this special Sunday Inside Industry program at the Brooklyn Navy Yard. We will first delve into the archives of the Yard to share stores of sailors, …

Brooklyn Navy Yard
Inside Industry

Typeface collection at Woodside Press at the Brooklyn Navy Yard

Inside Industry at the Brooklyn Navy Yard: Digital Fabrication, Jan 31

Many of the businesses in the Brooklyn Navy Yard bring together traditional handcrafts and advanced manufacturing techniques to create unique, high-quality products. On this tour, we will go “inside industry” with …

Brooklyn Navy Yard
Inside Industry

Sitting at his desk using a mouse and looking at a screen with a chair on it, Scott Jordan builds a chair, virtually.

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Workers walk alongside a large stone dry dock in the Brooklyn Navy Yard with two white tugboats below and a red and white crane on the right.

Author: Andrew Gustafson

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