My husband will be traveling with a group of high school students who will be playing in Carnegie Hall later this month. He would like to get a group picture outside of the hall but someone recently mentioned it is under scaffolding. Has anyone been by the hall recently to see if it is indeed covered in scaffolding? This is rather a large group which is why it would be best to know in advance if the group picture should be taken elsewhere. Thanks for the help!

I'm going to NYC myself in a few weeks. Can anyone tell me how I can get to Carnegie Hall?

Where are you coming from in NYC? There are several subway stops nearby.

that was a softball Q KT...

there's only one answer...

One of my favorite jokes!! Practice, practice, practice!

Bingo - a joke about 100 years old.

Darn, I walked right into that one! And, yes, I should have recognized the joke. No good excuse.

Carnegie Hall is building a new education wing, so it's likely there is some scaffolding, but I don't know if it covers the full front of the building, and I rarely go that way.

But I can go take a look at lunchtime. It's a beautiful day, so I don't mind getting out for a few minutes unless someone already knows the answer.

So nice of you to offer, Doug. Thank you!

Unfortunately, it's totally covered. And it's a pretty obstructive scaffolding at that, so I don't think there's anyplace to take a large group photo.

But I would suggest another nearby spot that might be perfect for a photo. City Center is a storied performance hall (albeit not nearly as storied as Carnegie Hall), and it's nearby in the same block but on 55th street instead of 57th Street (or there's a back entrance on 56th). It has two advantages: the front of the building is Moorish in style and quite beautiful (more beautiful than Carnegie Hall for me, actually), and it's on a much less traveled block.

Having said that, I think it would be worth an inquiry to see if they might be able to take their group photo inside Carnegie Hall, either in the balcony looking down on the stage or perhaps on the stage itself. With permission, that seems doable to me. There are no day performances on the main stage, so it's conceivably possible.

Thank you SO much, Doug. I believe they've been told no indoor photography will be allowed but it doesn't hurt to politely inquire due to the scaffolding issue. Your other suggestion sounds great and would be an easy back up plan for the group.
I really appreciate taking the time to check this out and your advice and know how helpful you are to this board. I hope you enjoyed your walk!