Meet Jennifer Blumin founder of Skylight Group, a New York City event management firm specializing in re-conceiving historical spaces and converting them for high-end event use. Jennifer Blumin is uniquely positioned in New York’s venue marketplace as a business owner, consultant and real estate investor. She has launched and managed several of New York’s most successful event venues at first as individual properties and then as a collective, Skylight Group.
Having established a brand that caters to the most high-end and discerning clientele, Jennifer has defined and developed a niche product that can be applied to the larger marketplace on a consultancy or partnership basis. Jennifer oversees six venues–Skylight Modern, as well as Skylight One Hanson, Skylight at Moynihan Station, the High Line, Skylight West and Skylight at the McKittrick Hotel, for special events, photography shoots and film production.
In 2012, Skylight Group partnered with the High Line to produce all private events at the world-renowned park. Working in conjunction with Friends of the High Line, the Parks Department, and upholding the interests of the park-going pubic, Skylight Group is a production partner for its clients, enabling them to manage these intersecting interests with ease, which results in an unprecedented event experience. With three main spaces– The Chelsea Market Passage, the 14th Street Passage, and the Diller-von Furstenberg Sundeck connecting the two– High Line events are a unique experience set against a New York City backdrop that is unrivaled anywhere else in the world.
Launched for Fashion Week in September 2012, Skylight at Moynihan Station is located in the historic James A. Farley Post Office across from Penn Station in Manhattan. The acclaimed McKim, Mead and White building features a Beaux-Arts exterior, which sharply contrasts with a dramatic industrial interior that at one time processed 90% of the mail in the United States. Skylight Group has created seamless infrastructural solutions that have quickly made this historic venue the most sought-after event space in Manhattan. Event spaces include the 41,000 square foot former Mail Sorting Room, and the 33,000 square foot Postal Dock, both spaces rich in New York City history and character.
Skylight West is the perfect example of how an underutilized building for some can become a jewel for others. Skylight Group performed a $2M renovation on a former parking garage to create an event venue located steps from midtown, the Javits Center, Chelsea and the High Line. By subtly highlighting its industrial architecture, Skylight West is a finely finished backdrop that belies its state-of-the-art production capability. On its 7,500 rooftop with quintessential views of the New York skyline, the Empire State Building and sunsets over the Hudson, a billboard has been re-conceived as an outdoor projection screen with a reflecting pool below enabling guests to view personalized media in an intimate and profound setting.
Skylight One Hanson was created in conjunction with Canyon Capital Realty Advisers, as part of their massive redevelopment of the former Williamsburgh Savings Bank Building. Located in one of Brooklyn’s most famous landmarks, the spectacular details and soaring 63-foot ceilings tell the story of New York’s past through iconography, mosaic murals, and sculptural reliefs. The breathtaking space has been painstakingly restored to create an unaltered setting that lends a monumental significance and sense of the city’s rich history to each event.
Skylight at the McKittrick Hotel heralds a new generation of event concept created through a partnership between Skylight Group and Emursive, producers of the acclaimed Sleep No More. This innovative approach to event production combines the allure of exclusive events with the thrill of immersive theater. In the Sleep No More performance, guests are masked and then invited to quietly roam through the various floors and rooms of the McKittrick Hotel, exploring and interacting with the theatrical installations while navigating their own private adventure. Events can be incorporated into the Sleep No More performance, or the stages and sets can be used as a unique venue, full of character and surprise. Imaginations literally run wild in Skylight at the McKittrick Hotel.
Launched for Fashion Week in February 2013, Skylight Modern is the brainchild of Skylight Group President Jennifer Blumin, and James Ramsey, principal architect of RAAD and co-founder of the Lowline. An event producer’s dream, the high-ceilinged space is virtually column-free, providing a blank canvas for impactful creation. Reminiscent of a museum, the event design becomes the art at Skylight Modern.