I was on the “Rediscovering New York” radio show again, this time talking about Victorian Flatbush, and how this historic section of Brooklyn came to help redefine residential living in the city. You can listen to the podcast by clicking the image below:
A writer from the Red Hook Star-Revue, a local paper from one of my favorite Brooklyn neighborhoods, recently joined me on one of my Victorian Flatbush walking tours. I was thrilled that even someone who had previously lived in the area we were touring learned several new things about his former neighborhood! It was part of a larger story about the Tour Your Own City project I have helped work on, and how several guides are helping build a safe & sustainable return for NYC’s vital tourism industry over this next year.
The article is not yet online, but here are scans from the November 2020 issue where the article appears.
[Update: The article is also now online: New York City’s Hidden Gems ]
In the past few months, my most popular tour with locals has been my Victorian Flatbush tour. This 2-hour walk explores a section of Brooklyn that contains one of the largest collections of Victorian homes in the United States. It also deep ties to the origins of Brooklyn, dating back to the Dutch colonial era in the mid-1600s. My tour explores the history of this area, and how it came to be home to the most unique residential district in the city.
I recently did a webinar presentation on Victorian Flatbush for Untapped New York, using historical photos + documents to explore the area virtually.
The in-person tour is available most weekends, or by private request on other days.
I was featured in a NY1 segment this morning, talking about the Tour Your Own City initiative I have been working on with the Guides Association of NYC. We are encouraging New Yorkers to take tours and rediscover an amazing city and its treasures that locals often take for granted. My small-group and private experiences, and new safety protocols, are designed to provide great experiences for everyone. See my previous blog entry for a look at some of the private tour offerings we made available for the next 6 months, in addition to our usual offerings.
NY1: Guides Association Launches Campaign to 'Tour Your Own City'
I have always worked to make sure that my passion for my city comes through in every tour I give, and that is extra true right now.
New York City is the greatest city in the world, with new places, people and stories to discover (or rediscover) each and every day, whether you’re a lifelong area resident, a recent transplant, or anything in between. This is your chance to explore a part of the city you’ve always wanted to check out, or rediscover a familiar part of the Big Apple in a whole new light. It’s also a fun way to support local businesses!
For now, we are focusing on private tours that can help locals and families experience their own city anew. We will also strive these to keep competitively priced during this time. All tours will operate with 10 people max, to ensure an experience that is both safe and personalized.
These include:
Central Park Private Tour: A private version of our popular Central Park walk. This 2.5-hour tour explores the best of this world-famous park, and delves into how Frederick Law Olmsted & Calvert Vaux changed NYC forever with its unique creation.
Billionaires Row: Rise of the Supertalls!: This unique tour focusing on modern architecture and urban policy looks at the new skyscraper boom. It also discusses the factors that led to this: from economic factors, to zoning loopholes, and the ensuing controversies.
Lower East Side Street Art Tour: This neighborhood has been a hub of art for decades, and its thriving street art & graffiti scene today continues this legacy. This 2-hour walk will explore the best of this.
Brooklyn Street Art Tour: Our most popular art tour focuses on the world-famous street art scene in Bushwick, Brooklyn. Learn how one neighborhood resident worked to make his area a global magnet for amazing art.
Prospect Park Private Tour: A private version of our popular Prospect Park walk. Explore Brooklyn's scenic treasure, designed by Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux after their completion of Central Park. Learn why Olmsted and Vaux came to prefer this park to their original Manhattan masterpiece.
Bronx Art Deco Architecture Tour: This walk will explore a historic district filled with the city’s most stunning Art Deco residential architecture.
Queens World’s Fair Nostalgia Tour: As a Queens native, I’ve always encouraged more tourism of NYC’s largest & most diverse borough. This 2-hour tour focuses on the legacy and remaining structures of the 1939 and 1964 Worlds Fairs.
This sampling of private tours will be offered from now through early 2021.
This is in addition to our standard public tour offerings, like our Midtown Art Deco Tour or our High Line & Hudson Yards or Victorian Flatbush explorations, and we can still provide custom tours based around your interests.
As part of our other safety protocols as New York moves through its reopening, we are also requiring masks (or other face coverings) for all guests, and we will be offering complimentary bottles of hand sanitizer. These tours will also avoid crowded interior spaces, largely focusing on outdoor explorations.
We encourage locals to come explore your own city, as we show the world what New York resiliency looks like.
We love you, New York!
New York City began its phases of reopenings in June, amidst a Summer that has seen New York turn around the COVID case numbers more than any other state. Rather than just declare victory and start a reopening frenzy-- a strategy to came back to bite many other states this Summer-- New York has approached this cautiously. While the city is filled with inventive outdoor dining options, indoor dining remains off-limits, as do other indoor activities... bars, museums, shopping malls. In short, outdoor activities are what the reopening strategy has revolved around. Besides restaurants, more parks have reopened, as have the botanical gardens, the zoos, and places like the grounds on Liberty Island. These reopenings follow new, temporary normals: masks required, limits on capacity (enforced by timed tickets acquired in advance), social distancing markers, and sometimes temperature checks.
I recently visited four great NYC attractions to experience first-hand how each is handling our new world.
1. Empire State Building, 86th Floor observation deck:
As before, you enter for the observatory on 34th St. Before you enter, an employee scans your temperature. Their site states a temperature of lower than 100.4°F is needed for entry. After you are cleared to enter, you proceed the usual way up around to the 2nd floor, and go through security. All employees you encounter inside are wearing masks, many wearing face-shields as well. Before you go all the way up, you proceed through the usual hallways filled with historical images and videos about the building. Normally, these are busy spaces/queues, but right now, I had it to myself, save for a nearby group getting a private tour from staff. Not sure what it would look/feel, comfort-wise, if they were at their full (under new limitations) capacity, however. But when I went, the emptiness was a comfort (though doubtful a great comfort for them financially). Finally, you get to the elevators. This is all a touchless experience, as the employees have clickers that control each elevator. Elevators are also limited to 4 persons max, with little decals on the floor of each elevator instructing the 4 riders to stay in one of the corners as they go up. When you are finally at the top, decals on the deck remind you to observe social distancing from other visitors.
I had the benefit of a largely clear day, and really liked the freedom to enjoy the space with only a handful of other visitors present.
After you leave, the elevator situation is the same as going up... touchless, and maximum of 4 passengers. Due to the low crowds, going both up and down I had my own private elevator. As before, the elevator dumps out back onto the 2nd floor where the corridor takes you right to the gift shop (open for business!). The restrooms by the gift shop were also open. Then, down the escalator into the main 5th Avenue lobby.
I would add that, all throughout the experience, hand sanitizer stations were plentiful.
2. Top of the Rock
Today, I had the pleasure of being the first paying customer to enter the 70th floor observation deck at 30 Rock since March!
At opening, there was only a small crowd of maybe around 10 people waiting to be part of this reopening. It was a very similar experience to the Empire State Building. You enter on 50th St, where a temperature check is mandatory before going inside. Then upstairs you go, and through security. Past that, the usual corridors of Rockefeller Center historic photos, infographics, and videos. You can easily skip all this, without any staff trying to take a souvenir photo fortunately. Or, like ESB, with almost no else there, you have also a rare chance to take your time and really explore these displays if you prefer. Elevators here too were limited to a max of 4 passengers, though again I had my own private elevator going up and down. Hand sanitizer stations aplenty (my favorite: the foamy kind!). All staff you encounter are wearing masks, but no face-shields like at ESB. Staff was very friendly and inviting. Once again, decals on the outside decks promote distancing.
Here too you have the benefit of enjoying the photogenic views without the huge crowds.
After heading back down, you of course proceed through the gift shop in the concourse to exit.
3. The High Line
This is probably the most changed experience of the four I am covering. Timed tickets are required in advance, and may be acquired, free of charge, through the High Line website. Some some-day walk-up tix may be available, but I'd recommend securing yours in advance. Masks are, of course, required. It also now operates one-way (south to north)... with the only entrance point being the southernmost one at Gansevoort Street. Staircases at 14th St, 16th St, 17th St, 20th St, and 23rd St, are all open and staffed, and are designated as exit only. The experience also now ends at 23rd St, at which point all guests must exit. They are currently raising funds to extend the reopening to 30th St... so I assume the current exit point is a staffing issue.
This was, for me, the most complicated experience of the four in terms of my emotions. Obvious pro for many: the huge crowds that had increasingly made the High Line a tight experience at its narrowest points are gone for now. Related con: that energy coming from the High Line being such a well-used public space is gone too.
Once you are up on the High Line, the experience is mostly the same, minus most of the vendors. The benches were available to use, bathrooms open, gardens green and wild, welcome breezes coming off the Hudson River. Since my last tour up there in February, there was also noticeable development on the Lantern House and several of the other new developments surrounding the park. I took a leisurely stroll up.
4. Governors Island
This is the experience that, to me, felt the least changed. One change: advance, timed tix are required for the ferry, on which they say they are limiting capacity. Tix cost $3 round-trip, though anyone with NYC ID can book for free (that part seemed to be on the honor system). The day I went (a hot, sunny Wednesday), the first ferry must've been at its new capacity, as the crowd lined up on South St to board felt close to a typical Summer weekday crowd. Someone comes through the queue to scan your ticket before boarding begins.
Again, this was by far the busiest of these four attractions, and thus the one that felt... almost normal? Lots of biking, walking, picnics, journeys up the Hills, journeys down the slides, and general lounging. Governors Island has always been a fantastic Summer daycation spot, and its open harbor location still makes it a draw during this pandemic. It has also always drawn more locals than tourists.
The big changes were that the NPS spots-- Castle Williams, and Fort Jay-- remained closed, and the non-profits/art groups that usually inhabit the Nolan Park homes were absent.
Signs indicate that masks are required during your visit, and that was certainly true on the ferry. However, once on the island, the mask compliance was... mixed. People cycling, picnicing, enjoying a solitary rocking chair on a Nolan Park porch, etc, felt very comfortable removing their masks once settled into their activity. All this activity was outdoors, and distanced, so there is that context to that behavior. All staff I encountered, however, were wearing masks.
Conclusion:
New York's slow reopening is clearly being done with safety in mind at the forefront. Our numbers over the past few months show the success of that strategy. I do have to hope, however, that the city will do whatever it takes to save all the countless institutions, attractions, and businesses that remain closed for now in order to do the right thing. Still, New York has shown its resiliency over hundreds of years, and I know we will continue to do over this next year.
Stay safe everyone, and stay New York Tough!
I was on Rediscovering New York earlier this week, discussing Williamsburg.
Listen now, in podcast form: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/williamsburg-brooklyn/id1458527466?i=1000475337905
I’ve been filling time this Spring by offering virtual tours, to help people experience my neck of the woods in Brooklyn from home. Many virtual tours offered have involved lectures and slideshows... on my Zoom tours, I was out in the field, walking through the actual sites I was covering. Guests followed along at home, in real-time, seeing what I saw! After the main part of the tour, we had Q&As. Here are videos of some of those offerings:
Victorian Flatbush:
The tour traveled through centuries of Brooklyn history, from a Dutch colonial-era church grounds to 20th century changes back to a circa 1890s historic district of Victorian mansions.
Prospect Park
In addition to a peaceful Spring stroll, I discussed the history & evolution of the 526-acre park Frederick Law Olmsted & Calvert Vaux considered their masterpiece.
WFUV Cityscape in New York has been doing great programming this Spring to highlight the needs of the NYC tourism industry, which remains on pause. I spoke with them for 30 minutes about my history as a licensed NYC guide, what guiding means to me, and what the state of that work will look like in the months ahead.
You can also download it in podcast version here: https://www.npr.org/podcasts/496600677/cityscape
Custom NYC Tours owner Jeremy Wilcox was featured on PIX11 News last night on a segment on how this crisis is impacting the tourism industry. You can read the full article, and watch video, at the link below.
Canceled events hurt tourism, hospitality industries
We are aware of the fast-moving changes affecting the tourism industry related to COVID-19 (the coronavirus), with new updates coming every hour seemingly.
But we are also thinking of the travelers from abroad, from across the US, and from the city itself who await the time when we can again go out, explore, and take tours. For now, this remains on hold for the next month or so as we maintain the required social distancing to help flatten the curve of the spread of the virus. But please know that Custom NYC Tours remains open for business in a general sense, accepting bookings for the Summer and beyond.
Given the current circumstances, we are also revising our standard cancellation policy through the end of April. For all previous bookings made for tours in March and April, we will provide full refunds, no questions asked, as long as the request in made before a tour’s scheduled start time.
We thank you all for your support, and we look forward to seeing as soon as possible on tour.
As we proceed toward the 2020 tour season, we’ve once again made some changes to reassess how to best serve our customers. For starters, we’ve added a new tour: Billionaires Row: Rise of the Supertalls! These new skyscrapers, some of the biggest in the world, are a new presence to even many regular visitors to New York, and we wanted to create a way to learn about them on a fun walking tour through Midtown Manhattan. This will be only available as a private tour to give you the best, most personal experience possible.
In terms of our regular public tours, our most popular have been our Art Deco & Midtown Landmarks Tour, the Central Park walking tour, and our walk of the High Line and the new Hudson Yards district. These will still be available most weekdays, several times a month. Victorian Flatbush, and Prospect Park, remain available on most weekends. All of which can be available as private tours as well.
Past favorites— street art & graffiti, Brooklyn Heights & DUMBO, Governors Island, Red Hook, Worlds Fair history in Queens— are all still offered, only now just as private tour options, as that is the best way to experience these activities.
Our 5-star TripAdvisor rating shows that we are the best resource for personal and custom New York City experiences. Please contact us to begin planning your next adventure!
In constantly perfecting my NYC-area street art tours, I work to make sure my list of the popular works of artist Invader remains up to date (putting many miles on my shoes in the process!). I also offer custom street art tours revolving around Invader’s NYC pieces… you will see over a dozen pieces in 2 hours! We’ve done a few of these tours this past month, and they are always so much fun.
Having recently explored Los Angeles and Tokyo, I decided to create a similar guide/map for the remaining Invader pieces in those cities. These are up to date as of end of October 2019.
I hope that these maps are of help in your art explorations!
