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The Tin Building is closing to become…Balloon Museum
The Tin Building, the 53,000-square-foot, two-story food emporium and restaurant destination opened by Jean-Georges Vongerichten in summer 2022, has closed permanently as of today. This summer it will become Balloon Museum, an interactive contemporary art experience. Yes, you heard that right.
Seaport Entertainment Group, the spinoff from the Howard Hughes Corporation that owns the Tin Building, leased the space to Lux Entertainment, founded in Rome in 2021 to create and produce touring and site-specific exhibitions that combine monumental works, interactive environments and live performances. The lease is an initial term of five years with option to extend for two separate consecutive renewal terms of five years each.
Balloon Museum (they seem to mostly skip the definite article) first debuted in Italy in 2021 and since then has launched exhibits in 23 major cities across the globe — all in architecturally iconic venues such as the Grand Palais in Paris, Old Billingsgate in London and the Palace of Fine Arts in San Francisco. Nearly 300,000 people visited its 2023 New York pop-up at Pier 36 over the course of 77 days.
This will be Balloon Museum’s US flagship.
“Balloon Museum has redefined the way millions of people experience contemporary art through large-scale interactive exhibitions that transcend traditional boundaries of gallery spaces,” the press release said. “Visitors are immersed within the artwork itself — not as passive observers, but as active participants who touch, move through, and directly engage with the installations.”
The Tin Building has struggled in the past year, reportedly losing $100,000 a day on average, or $83 million in total, according to publicly available financial records. And more than half the restaurants inside had closed, both the full service and the takeaway. It seemed like closing was on the horizon as early as late 2024.
The Balloon Museum exhibits are developed by a curatorial team that selects artists — some of whom are featured in prestigious in collections such as MoMA, Tate and Centre Pompidou. — to create through a unifying medium of air. The work is monumental in scale, and also uses light, sound and motion to create its effects.
“For this new location, we will present a completely original exhibition featuring newly commissioned works by internationally renowned artists,” said Roberto Fantauzzi, CEO and founder of Lux Entertainment. “The Balloon Museum at the Tin Building is a natural evolution and significant leap in scale, not simply a new chapter, but the beginning of a stable and ambitious new dimension for our company.”
Additional details about Balloon Museum’s concept and potential relocations of existing Tin Building concepts will be announced in the coming months.
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Lol – it essentially becomes the digital equivalent of the wax museum. There’s only one concept that will ever work in that location (or for all of Pier 17): Chelsea Piers South.
It would have failed anyway; it’s just too isolated to make the economics work. But it didn’t help having the FDR viaduct right there.
At the very least, the section south of Brooklyn Bridge should be taken down and the streetscape upgraded.
Keep it classy FiDi…
Agree with Malcolm. In fact, the entire FDR should replicate the Westside – stop lights, crosswalks, etc. and make the waterfront accessible to the kids and families of the Eastside.
There was a proposal for this from the last borough president:
https://tribecacitizen.com/2023/09/21/borough-president-proposes-tearing-down-fdr-drive-in-fidi/
Ah, yes,… a balloon museum! Such a benefit to the community that will be! Why didn’t anyone think of it sooner? I can see the money rolling right in from that. Stand back, everyone.
Alex in NYC, just looking for clarification. You’re concerned the community won’t make money off this new development? Are you aware of the numbers tourism generates…not just for the specific destination itself, but the surrounding businesses as well? Are you familiar with the balloon museum or just reacting to the name? Have you visited one of their other locations and seen the impressive crowds…and impressive installations? Although the Tin Building was a nice architectural design project, it had no chance for longterm survival, and showing losses of approximately $100,000 per day proved that pretty quickly. Give this new venture a chance. Perhaps it will become a welcome addition to a neighborhood that certainly could use some help. Maybe you’ll even decide to go and enjoy yourself. Maybe.
P: I don’t care what tourists want or how much money they bring in – there has to be a limit to how much the city specifically caters to them. Now we have to contend with these clickbait-y garbage heaps taking up space. I still can’t believe that cultural void called “Mercer Labs” is where an actually useful Century 21 used to be.
How often is a local going to visit a “Balloon Museum” (which has more in common with an Instagram FYP than an actual museum)? I have a kid under 10 and at MOST I could imagine visiting once. It’s useless, vapid – and $40+ per ticket! If I want to see balloons I’ll go to Balloon Saloon for a lot less. A Chelsea Pier East, as another poster suggested, would be a thousand times more useful. Hell, even another Pier 17-esque mall would have more value to residents if the stores were the right fit.
I’m so tired of visitors being the only demographic considered by so many developers. And no matter how much we build for tourists, they’ll still come take up space meant for us anyway. Can’t even get a table at Bubby’s or a sandwich at Katz’s without waiting on a line anymore…
You and Alex could have purchased the Tin Building or signed a lease and opened whatever great idea you have for the space since you think you have the pulse of the neighborhood, but you guys didn’t do that and didn’t put any capital at risk, so maybe wait and see how this new place works out.
Sorry, I would have bought it but I left my checkbook at the Museum of Ice Cream during my monthly visit to that other irreplaceable classic New York institution.
The entire area near the Tin Building is full of Mice and Rats. I sat in a Restaurant outside and watched. The Tin Room Building is so expensive anyway. Replacing it with another High priced Venue that few will attend is a Great idea???? Right!
Why not run a shuttle bus from the subway???
Speaking of museum, anyone have any idea about this nyc moca window display at 79 walker street? It claims that New York City museum of contemporary art is building a few blocks away in Tribeca. There is a rendering of a glass building sandwiched between two cast iron buildings. Anyone know where it is and what exact is this nyc moca https://www.nycmoca.com/
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/12/14/arts/design/con-artist-adam-himebauch.html
An old joke.
I think this is a fantastic idea. It will bring so many people to the waterfront to not only experience this awesome concept which I visited in Dallas, but it will allow families to have a great time and explore the cool things within this museum chain. It will be fantastic!