Events

Join MAS at the Museum of the City of New York for Celebrating the City, an evening recognizing the people and projects that shape New York through urban design and public art. The ceremony will include the presentation of the 2025 Brendan Gill Prize and the 25th year of the MASterworks Design Awards, followed by an afterparty that officially kicks off the 2026 Jane’s Walk NYC Festival.

Discounts available for MAS and Museum of the City of New York members as well as NY Cty and State government employees.

Celebrating the City Afterparty and 2026 Jane's Walk NYC Kickoff

Discount available for NY State and City government employees. 2026 Jane's Walk NYC leaders attend at no charge. Email events@mas.org for details.

A mostly flat and downhill walk through “Upstate Manhattan,” aka Washington Heights. Prepare for approximately 2.5 hours, with some short stops along the way. We’ll discuss the unique history and culture of our neighborhood, beginning at the highest natural point in Manhattan.
Stops include the site of the Battle of Fort Washington, the beautiful 1930 United Palace theater, the iconic Highbridge, the culturally important Audubon Ballroom, and the historic Morris-Jumel Mansion.

A guided walk through the North Woods to learn from a landscape architect about its flora/fauna and design (with a short sensory awareness experience included). Bring a blindfold, camera (optional) and walking shoes.

A walk thru two of Brooklyn's most ethnic neighborhoods: Hasidic Jewish and Brooklyn's own Chinatown. About 5.5 miles walking with dropout points all along the way. Both of these neighborhoods were a part of the Dutch village of Nieuw Utrecht. Borough Park (the Hasidic area) has always had a strong Jewish presence, being the home of Buddy Hackett and David Geffen. Sunset Park (Chinatown) was once a part of Bay Ridge and the home of a large Scandinavian community; it is now the second-largest Chinese enclave in NYC.

It’s well known that Central Park is one of the most iconic urban parks in the world. But imagine, just for a moment, that it isn’t a park at all—instead, it’s a museum. It would be the most diverse museum on Earth, one that is open 365 days a year and is completely free. Its “collections” would span almost every conceivable department including art and sculpture, landscape design, archaeology, geology, urban history, horticulture, engineering, transportation, theater and performance, and more. No other museum would rival its scale, variety, or accessibility.

Welcome to the “Central Park Museum.”

This easy stroll (roughly one mile) offers a perfect sampler of the museum’s “exhibits” blending education and enjoyment. Your Jane’s Walk leader, Jack, is an NYC licensed tour guide and longtime Central Park Conservancy volunteer.

This will be a walk along the car-free and traffic-light free Hudson River Trail It will connect two disasters: it will start at the World Trade Center, and will be a two mile walk to Pier 59 at Chelsea Piers, where the Titanic was to arrive in 1912. There are over 20 talking points along the way, including:
How close were the World Trade Center Towers to the original edge of the island?
Why do they call the Hudson "the river that runs both ways"?
The Hudson River along Manhattan is not actually a river... what form of body of water is it?
What was Robert Moses going to do with the West Side Highway and how did Jane Jacobs stop him?
How long has the New York City street grid system been in effect?

I did this walk the past two years and it has been very well received.

Join branch staff from The Bronx Library Center for an in-person walking tour! Learn about the history and landmarks of this neighborhood and connect with the community.

We will take a walk through the Fordham Road area, tracing the history of local building and landmarks. The tour will last approximately 1 1/2 hours and will begin at our neighborhood library.

We will start from the Bronx Library Center (BLC), Poe Park, St. James Park, Post Office, Monroe University, Fordham Shopping, Bryan Park, 1 Fordham Plaza, Fordham University, and ending at BLC.

Forests might not be the first thing that comes to mind when thinking about the tight urban grid of the Lower East Side. Yet the history of Lower Manhattan is firmly rooted in the story of the urban forest - the trees that call the city home. On this walk, join Hadas Fischer, Street Tree Care Manager at the LES Ecology Center, to experience urban history from an unusual, leafy, perspective. We’ll visit locally-evolved and immigrant trees, and discover the ways they and the people who cared for them have shaped New York history, from the old-growth forests of Indigenous New York, through colonial orchards and New Deal plantings, to current understandings of urban ecology. So come and meet London planes, oaks, and other members of our urban forest, and even learn a few practical tips for caring for for your own friendly neighborhood trees!

Step into the lively and storied streets of the Lower East Side, where the tales of tenacious cats intertwine with the neighborhood's gritty past and legendary characters. This cat-themed walking tour led by cat historian Peggy Gavan explores the surprising ways cats left their paw prints on the city's history.
You'll uncover wild stories of feline bar flies in dive joints like Suicide Hall and The Flea Bag, a heroic cat who saved more than 9 lives from a burning building, and even a cat who very well may have saved Debbie Harry’s life. From the site of Houdini's first performance and Teddy Roosevelt’s feline friend to CBGB's and a cowboy lassoing a tenement cat to safety—this tour is packed with the kind of quirky, can't-believe-it-happened-here stories that make the Bowery and the Lower East Side so special.

I’ve lived in Harlem since 2007 and consider it one of the most beautiful neighborhoods in New York. It’s helpful to experience it with someone who can curate a good walking experience. We’d meet at 117th and Lenox Avenue, walk north to the Mount Morris Park historic district and its iconic brownstones. Then we’d walk south to 110th and Central Park. We’d walk around the Harlem Meer lake and end by the Conservatory Gardens on 106th and Fifth Avenue. Beautiful.

I’ve lived in Harlem since 2007 and consider it one of the most beautiful neighborhoods in New York. It’s helpful to experience it with someone who can curate a good walking experience. We’d meet at 117th and Lenox Avenue, walk north to the Mount Morris Park historic district and its iconic brownstones. Then we’d walk south to 110th and Central Park. We’d walk around the Harlem Meer lake and end by the Conservatory Gardens on 106th and Fifth Avenue. Beautiful.

A walking tour meets street theater in this interactive performance of New York language and slang. Set in the historically linguistic melting pot of the Lower East Side, this two hour exploration of words and accents is led by licensed NYC tour guide Nic Reale in character as "The Tour"—but all guests participate. Together everyone explores more than the origin of local phrases or how New Yawkers tawk; we also communicate across the city’s diverse cultures to see how they form a new one.

Bike tour focuses on Robert Moses and his impact on NYC. Tour originates at the end of the 2nd ave subway and circles Randall's/Wards island. Along the way, we discuss Moses's primary types of impact on the city (transit, playgrounds, parks, highways, bridges, displacement, housing), with a focus on first-hand view of examples of each type woven into an overarching narrative of his rise, fall, and legacy.

See thepowerbiker.com for more details. Fully non-commercial tour I developed a few years ago.

The most important logistics is that this is a bike tour rather than a walking tour, so you need access to a bicycle. The tour has a few citibike racks - both at the start and twice along the way which can be used to reset the timer if using citibike. We will not ride on any city streets, just on bike paths.

A walking tour from the City Hall park north to Chambers Street and then west through lower Tribeca for a total distance of about ¾ of a mile. The tour will cover the historic significance of area and evolution from a frontier area of the City, to a place of government, then a place of trade and now a largely residential area.

Points of interest would include:
-City Hall and park
-Park Row
-Brooklyn Bridge
-8 Spruce
-Buildings on Chambers including David Dinkins Municipal Building, Surrogates Court, Tweed Courthouse, Emigrant Industrial Savings Bank, 280 Broadway (the Marble Palace Stewart’s department store) and the Woolworth Building
-Cast iron buildings on Reade Street
-Bogardus Plaza, the old Cosmopolitan Hotel
-Duane Park, 60 Hudson building, AT&T Long Lines building and 56 Leonard (Jenga Building)

Join us for an immersive Resilience Thinking Walkshop exploring the landscape architecture of the northern end of Prospect Park, where participants will engage in a collective social practice performance exploring environmental and social and ecologies of resilience. Following an infinity-loop pathway, the walk encourages learnquiet observation, active engagement, and radical collaboration.

Stops include the Music Pagoda, Theodore Roosevelt Tree, and Vale of Cashmere Pond, where attendees will discuss utopian urban planning, queer histories, and resilience in public spaces. Using scientific resilience thinking approach heuristics, and pluriverse visioning, the walk and performance fosters deep connections between people, place, and nature.

Wear comfortable shoes, bring water, and prepare for a transformative experiential learning.

Come for a stroll down the Upper East Side! Starting in Central Park, we will head east, walking through Carnegie Hill and Yorkville, along one cross street, till we culminate our tour at the East River.

Discover the rich history of the most densely populated neighborhood in the country.
Hear about notable residents, and figures who have impacted the area’s development. Learn how the neighborhood’s current appearance and character have been formed by city planning, civic improvements, and generations of immigrants. We will look at various physical evidence of the development of the city’s grid, its transportation and utility systems, and its residential architecture, including mansions, brownstone rowhouses, luxury apartment buildings, elaborately decorated tenements and modern residential towers.

Take a bike tour to learn about the fascinating history and development of Shirley Chisholm State Park. Named after the amazing Brooklyn Congressional Representative and first black female presidential candidate, this park repurposed 407 acres from a landfill site. It features an ecosystem that preserves native plants and fauna, offers spectacular views of Jamaica Bay, and provides free bike loans through its Bike Library program.

Walking tour of the Vanderbilt Family Cemetery, located within the Moravian Cemetery, New Dorp, Staten Island, New York.

Hugely controversial when proposed (in 2003) and later approved, the megaproject Atlantic Yards (in 2014 renamed Pacific Park Brooklyn), is at an inflection point. See what’s been built (the Barclays Center, home to the Brooklyn Nets; 8 of 15-16 towers) and what remains: a costly deck over an MTA railyard, supporting proposed larger towers, and a two-tower project opposite the arena.
With watchdog journalist Norman Oder, learn about the project's history, uncertain timetable, changing designs (and ownership), and questions about proposed new density, financing, timing, and affordable housing, as well as oversight. Issues include public accountability, open space, arena design/operations, & the changing neighborhood/Brooklyn context.
We will walk around much of the 22-acre site's perimeter, plus a few adjacent blocks.

If you’ve never walked the Brooklyn Bridge, May is the ideal time. It’s a must-do NYC experience for locals and visitors alike. If you have walked it, it’s an even better experience with a tour guide. Scott will cover the rich history of the bridge build, insider knowledge of the area and point out familiar and iconic filming locations. Enjoy incomparable views of the city skyline from the Brooklyn waterfront. Hear of the several decade effort to create one of the city’s newest, most innovative and beautiful parks, Brooklyn Bridge Park

This tour will end up in NYC’s hottest neighborhood, DUMBO, home of NYC’s best pizza. Make time for lunch and to enjoy the shops, including the Brooklyn Flea (on weekends) and take home a bespoke, vintage souvenir.

The filmography and writings of Nora Ephron have become synonymous with the Upper West Side. We’ll visit Ephron’s haunts, homes, and filming locations to discover why she fell in love with the UWS after growing up in LA, how her films showcase local geography and architecture and shaped our shared cultural understanding of the area, and I’ll argue that the *real* romance of her work is not with any man, but with the unique independence and interconnectivity of life in a dense, walkable, diverse city.

We’ll also mention some non-Ephron UWS rom-coms such as The Apartment (1960) and Crossing Delancey (1987) that intersect with our route!

With gratitude to bloggers Erin Carlson and Mark Phillips for their fantastic research that shaped this tour.

Comfy shoes and water always good! Nora-themed costumes or snacks also welcome!

Come for a stroll down the Upper East Side! Starting in Central Park, we will head east, walking through Carnegie Hill and Yorkville, along one cross street, till we culminate our tour at the East River.

Discover the rich history of the most densely populated neighborhood in the country.
Hear about notable residents, and figures who have impacted the area’s development. Learn how the neighborhood’s current appearance and character have been formed by city planning, civic improvements, and generations of immigrants. We will look at various physical evidence of the development of the city’s grid, its transportation and utility systems, and its residential architecture, including mansions, brownstone rowhouses, luxury apartment buildings, elaborately decorated tenements and modern residential towers.

This will be a 1-to-2-mile guided walk through the Ditmars section of Astoria, exploring the neighborhood’s diverse fruit trees in parks, along sidewalks, and in private yards. We’ll visit juneberries in Astoria Park, the city’s first public sidewalk pawpaws, chokecherries, apples, black cherries, and Astoria’s main crop – fig trees. Attendees will learn to identify trees, forage responsibly and safely, and gain a deeper appreciation for the abundance that’s around us. Wear comfortable walking shoes and bring water.

We're going to walk over a few of the Harlem River Bridges. The bridges include the Third Avenue Bridge, Madison Avenue Bridge, 145th Street Bridge, and Macombs Dam Bridge. We'll see how things are connected with amazing views of the Harlem River.

We'll explore the surrounding areas including a street that was once a canal, the J.L. Mott Iron Works, some military heroes including the Harlem Hellfighters, 369th Regiment Armory, a park which used to be an industrial site, a view of Yankee Stadium, the only relic left which connected to the former Polo grounds, and much more.

We'll be crossing bridges and streets with pedestrian onramps, steps and inclines. This is not wheelchair accessible.
Wear comfortable shoes, bring water and a camera.
Around three miles, maybe a little more. Approx 2.5hrs

Participants will walk and discover East Harlem’s cultural institutions,organizations, unknown places and history of historic East Harlemites.

Want to learn about some radical Black women who contributed to making Harlem a center of cultural innovation, radical politics and sustained activism in the 1930s? The tour will be led by Mariame Kaba who will share stories of inspiring Black women like Regina Andrews, Ella Baker, Williana Burroughs, Amy Ashwood Garvey, Louise Thompson Patterson, Pauli Murray, Billie Holiday, Mother Audley Moore and more.
We'll visit the street corners, buildings, public places and neighborhood spots where Black women made history - with impacts that extended far beyond Harlem's streets to the world.

This is an active tour. Participants should be reasonably fit and feel comfortable walking for up to 2 miles. Be prepared to remain outside and on your feet. If you bring young children, bring a stroller. Bring water.

This is a walking tour of the Hudson Heights section of Washington Heights. The tour will start at Bennett Park, the site of Fort Washington and end in Fort Tryon Park, home to the Cloisters. We will see or discuss the area's involvement in the American Revolution, the wonder of the George Washington Bridge, the mansions and castles that were built in the area, the life and activities of Mother Cabrini, the importance of the Hudson River, the development of the Cloisters museum and other items of interest that we pass on the walk. The walk is about one mile in length and will take about one and a half hours. The walk is mostly level terrain with some steps in each of the parks.

Tin Pan Alley is the cradle of the music industry in the United States. Here, American popular music as we know it was first created and promoted. This one block of 28th Street offers a glimpse into what has become a worldwide cultural force – pop music – at its specific place of creation. As an enclave of 19th-century structures, it is also largely intact as architecture. Author and guide Miriam Berman will tell the story of Tin Pan Alley sheet music publishers, songwriters and performers who worked on 28th Street between Broadway and 6th Avenue to create what would become “The Great American Songbook.”

Join us on Hudson River Park's Gansevoort Peninsula and take a tour from our salt marsh to our tide pools. Gansevoort Peninsula, which opened in 2023, is the largest stand-alone recreational space in Hudson River Park with its 5.5 acres of incredible public green space. From a sandy shoreline beach with tide pools to a pine grove, pile field and salt marsh, it is also one of the most fascinating sites to learn about local ecology.

During the Shoreline Stroll, you'll have the chance to learn more about these dynamic ecosystems and the storied history of the Peninsula.

We encourage guests to bring binoculars, wear comfortable walking shoes and to bring a hat and/or sunglasses.

Join me on a cute walking tour exploring the very cute neighborhood of Sunnyside, Queens. This tour is all about showing off a small part of NYC that often goes unexplored, and showcasing where the latest Spider-Man trilogy was filmed.
This is an outdoors walking tour where we'll explore the neighborhood through a historical and architectural lens.
We'll visit the actual apartment buildings where Peter Parker lived and discuss how the films capture the spirit of Western Queens. We'll compare movie magic to the neighborhood's daily life, from the Sunnyside sign to the "Little Manila" billboards of Woodside. The walk is approximately 1-2 miles and will highlight architectural gems and local history, with a focus on Homecoming, Far From Home, and No Way Home, but we'll also touch on other Spider-Man movies and media.

Join UPROSE, Brooklyn’s oldest Latino founded community organization, for a hyper-local, 90-minute tour of Sunset Park through a climate justice lens. We’ll bring to life GRID 2.0, our community-led plan to decarbonize the neighborhood & operationalize a Just Transition. Move beyond mainstream narratives focused on developments like Industry City, Made in NY, or the Climate Innovation Hub to hear directly from local residents. As we walk through the neighborhood & waterfront, we’ll discuss ways to preserve Sunset Park’s working class character, protect its industrial waterfront, strengthen social cohesion, and build community power in the age of climate change. Wear comfortable shoes, bring water, and learn how you can help fight displacement and uplift frontline leadership to shape a future by and for the people of Sunset Park.

Learn about New York through four centuries of Muslim history, with a focus on the sites and sounds of Harlem. The tour brings to life interracial stories of labor movements, halal food, anti-colonialism, and the prolific life of Malcolm X. Through the Great Migration or more recent immigration, we will see how Muslim intellectuals, artists, and communities have shaped the city. Learn about the links between jazz and Islam at the Apollo Theatre, the presence of a Sufi saint on Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Boulevard, and more!

The filmography and writings of Nora Ephron have become synonymous with the Upper West Side. We’ll visit Ephron’s haunts, homes, and filming locations to discover why she fell in love with the UWS after growing up in LA, how her films showcase local geography and architecture and shaped our shared cultural understanding of the area, and I’ll argue that the *real* romance of her work is not with any man, but with the unique independence and interconnectivity of life in a dense, walkable, diverse city.

We’ll also mention some non-Ephron UWS rom-coms such as The Apartment (1960) and Crossing Delancey (1987) that intersect with our route!

With gratitude to bloggers Erin Carlson and Mark Phillips for their fantastic research that shaped this tour.

Comfy shoes and water always good! Nora-themed costumes or snacks also welcome!

A walking tour meets street theater in this interactive performance of New York language and slang. Set in the historically linguistic melting pot of the Lower East Side, this two hour exploration of words and accents is led by licensed NYC tour guide Nic Reale in character as "The Tour"—but all guests participate. Together everyone explores more than the origin of local phrases or how New Yawkers tawk; we also communicate across the city’s diverse cultures to see how they form a new one.

In downtown Jamaica, theaters have become churches, churches have become cultural venues, a library became a courthouse, then apartments, and a hospital transformed into housing. Buildings often outlive the purposes they were designed for, leaving clues about earlier eras hidden in plain sight.

This walk explores the many “second lives” of Jamaica’s buildings and what they reveal about the neighborhood’s changing community, economy, and institutions. Together we’ll look for architectural hints of past uses and talk about how cities adapt when the needs of a neighborhood shift. Stops include the Jamaica Performing Arts Center (former First Reformed Church of Jamaica), the Tabernacle of Prayer Lifeline Church (former Valencia Theater), Parkhill City Apartments (former Mary Immaculate Hospital), and others.

Stroll the historic Meatpacking District with Jacquie Ottman, "The Meatpacking Lady", whose family's storied meat purveying business parallels that of the district itself. Start at Gansevoort Plaza, the Belgian block lined intersection of five Manhattan blocks whose history spans over four centuries of NYC transformation. Then, retrace the steps of a Lenape Trail, enjoy examples of architecture commissioned Astor and other Gilded Age families, and visit the site of an 1812 military fort. Learn why this area became the center of meatpacking in NYC during the 20th Century, and why and how it has transformed into NYC's most fashionable neighborhood. Cap off the walk by taking in a stunning view of New York harbor. Get answers to your questions from your enthusiastic and passionate guide who experienced the district in the 1970s firsthand.

It’s well known that Central Park is one of the most iconic urban parks in the world. But imagine, just for a moment, that it isn’t a park at all—instead, it’s a museum. It would be the most diverse museum on Earth, one that is open 365 days a year and is completely free. Its “collections” would span almost every conceivable department including art and sculpture, landscape design, archaeology, geology, urban history, horticulture, engineering, transportation, theater and performance, and more. No other museum would rival its scale, variety, or accessibility.

Welcome to the “Central Park Museum.”

This easy stroll (roughly one mile) offers a perfect sampler of the museum’s “exhibits” blending education and enjoyment. Your Jane’s Walk leader, Jack, is an NYC licensed tour guide and longtime Central Park Conservancy volunteer.

Everyday over 700,000 New Yorkers pass through Midtown along Park Avenue to and from Grand Central Terminal. This is a part of the City where in a few blocks you can see many of the forces that have shaped our city. There are icons of architecture (Midtown Modernism) and capitalism such as Lever, Seagram, and the Chrysler building. There are icons of real estate such as the Grand Hyatt and Helmsley. Under construction is one of the city’s tallest office buildings Chase. There are great clubs and great churches. This walk will showcase some of the art and architecture along Park Avenue and tell some of the stories about its past, its present, and perhaps future.

The tour is available as a guided tour, as well as a virtual tour.

Join the Newtown Creek Alliance for a walking tour to witness and discuss last mile warehouse pollution and other related environmental issues along Newtown Creek. The tour will bring us to several last mile facilities to witness firsthand the impact of excessive truck traffic on issues including pedestrian safety, air pollution, and aquatic habitat vitality. The tour also highlights the growing movement for cleaner freight and introduces the proposed Clean Delivers Act, which would require large warehouses to reduce emissions and address their environmental impacts. We will begin at Onderdonk House in Ridgewood and make our way through industrial portions of Maspeth. In total, the walk is approximately 2.5 miles long and features some adverse sidewalk conditions. The route is not wheelchair accessible.

A walking tour from the City Hall park north to Chambers Street and then west through lower Tribeca for a total distance of about ¾ of a mile. The tour will cover the historic significance of area and evolution from a frontier area of the City, to a place of government, then a place of trade and now a largely residential area.

Points of interest would include:
-City Hall and park
-Park Row
-Brooklyn Bridge
-8 Spruce
-Buildings on Chambers including David Dinkins Municipal Building, Surrogates Court, Tweed Courthouse, Emigrant Industrial Savings Bank, 280 Broadway (the Marble Palace Stewart’s department store) and the Woolworth Building
-Cast iron buildings on Reade Street
-Bogardus Plaza, the old Cosmopolitan Hotel
-Duane Park, 60 Hudson building, AT&T Long Lines building and 56 Leonard (Jenga Building)

From the imposing to the inspiring, this tour delves into the Brutalist gems both known and overlooked of the Upper East Side. Over the course of a 2 mile walk, we’ll explore six buildings, examining the architects’ visions, their original purposes, and how they function today. Through discussion and interior imagery, we’ll gain a deeper appreciation for their place in the city’s architectural landscape.

Before it was the national pastime, baseball was New York's game. Like Silicon Valley is to technology and Detroit is to cars, Brooklyn was an incubator of innovation in the early days of baseball. Imagine walking through old South Brooklyn (Park Slope, Carroll Gardens, Cobble Hill, Boerum Hill) on a May day in the mid-19th century. I guarantee you would have seen baseball. Although the rules, the business, and how you followed the game might differ even between Carroll and Bergen Streets, the overheard debates of team rivalry, superiority, and prognostication are the everlasting threads connecting the game's infancy to today. Join this walking tour led by a former professional moneyballer and current baseball fanatic/Brooklyn resident. Bring your peanuts and Cracker Jacks (and water and comfortable shoes), and let's play ball!

Finance bros, midtown commuters, and… the site of a Revolutionary War battle? Cast aside the stereotypes of Kips Bay to uncover 250 years of rich cultural history on this guided walking tour. We’ll explore how Kips Bay has evolved alongside New York City as a whole, from Kip family farm, to Little Armenia, to “Curry Hill” today. Some of our eclectic stops will include the footprint of the original farm, a rare surviving wooden house, and the site of a presidential inauguration. The tour will conclude with a snack at one of our favorite Curry Hill establishments!

In 1980, Edward Fausty and I embarked on a year-long documentation of the Lower East Side in a unique collaboration in which we shared a 4x5 view camera.
1980 was a pivotal moment in the history of New York. While the city teetered on the edge of bankruptcy, artists and musicians flocked to the crumbling Lower East Side with its affordable housing and edgy vibe. Ed and I were participant witnesses to that almost mythical time when everything from punk rock to graffiti emerged from the streets of Downtown New York.
Murder on Second Avenue is a memoir that keys off of an infamous murder at Binibon, a restaurant that once stood at the corner of East 5th Street and Second Avenue.

My walk begins at St. Mark’s Place proceeds down Second Avenue and ends on East 4th Street where I lived in the late 70s until about 1993.

Join us on an exciting walking tour of the ever-changing architecture of Southwest Midtown Manhattan. Focusing on locations in close proximity to 34th Street, we’ll be exploring the history of iconic landmarks such as The Empire State Building, Farley Post Office, Madison Square Garden, The Macy’s Building, and others. Be sure to wear some comfortable shoes and have your camera at the ready to capture both the classic and contemporary architecture that helps define New York City. We’ll be meeting at Plaza33, located at 7th Avenue and 33rd Street (in front of Anita Gelato). It will be a fun and educational experience for all!

I’ve lived in Harlem since 2007 and consider it one of the most beautiful neighborhoods in New York. It’s helpful to experience it with someone who can curate a good walking experience. We’d meet at 117th and Lenox Avenue, walk north to the Mount Morris Park historic district and its iconic brownstones. Then we’d walk south to 110th and Central Park. We’d walk around the Harlem Meer lake and end by the Conservatory Gardens on 106th and Fifth Avenue. Beautiful.

This will be a walk along the car-free and traffic-light free Hudson River Trail It will connect two disasters: it will start at the World Trade Center, and will be a two mile walk to Pier 59 at Chelsea Piers, where the Titanic was to arrive in 1912. There are over 20 talking points along the way, including:
How close were the World Trade Center Towers to the original edge of the island?
Why do they call the Hudson "the river that runs both ways"?
The Hudson River along Manhattan is not actually a river... what form of body of water is it?
What was Robert Moses going to do with the West Side Highway and how did Jane Jacobs stop him?
How long has the New York City street grid system been in effect?

I did this walk the past two years and it has been very well received.

There is so much to see in this wonderful neighborhood which is sandwiched in between the Upper West Side and Harlem. And Morningside Heights is so compact that we can walk from the SE corner at 110th Street to the Northwest corner near 125th Street in about 2 hours. We will start with the Revolutionary War at a monument by Morningside Park, and end with the Civil War at Grant’s Tomb. In between we will see the many academic institutions which give the neighborhood its nickname of New York’s Academic Acropolis. Also on our route are Morningside's 3 parks, 2 magnificent churches, and its many beautiful prewar apartment buildings.

This 1.2 mile live walking tour of the East Village will begin at the Astor Place Cube — across the street from the first public restroom in the city — and make stops at locations including McSorley’s Ale House, a former public bathhouse, and the 10th Street Historic District — and end at the Temperance Fountain in Tompkins Square Park. During the walk we’ll discuss how access to various types of water impacted public health in the city, from flush toilets and drinking fountains, to bathing and leisure activities. We’ll visit public works projects, tenements, fashionable row houses, and a historic park. Attendees will come away with a greater appreciation of modern sanitation, safe drinking water, and indoor plumbing. Participants should wear comfortable shoes and bring water (if they’d like).

This is a (now semi-authorized) love letter to Colson Whitehead's Harlem novels. Following along some of the locations (real-life and fictionalized) in the two books, this walk will look at 25 years of Harlem history and reflect upon the context of New York in that greater period.

Learn the history of NYC's amazing community gardens. Most of NYC's gardens were started on abandoned land by community volunteers, and in 1999 NYC tried to destroy them. Environmental organizations and community activists rose up to defend them and were successful in saving almost all the gardens. Today these gardens are not just building community, providing clean air and capturing rain water, but also educating people on the composting system, water recovery systems, urban farming techniques, and so much more. This walking tour will also pass by another huge victory: the saving of CHARAS community center. The tour will start at the Museum of Reclaimed Urban Space, and led by the museum's director who was involved in saving NYC's community gardens.

Join me for a 0.7-mile Jane’s Walk along the beautiful Long Island City waterfront, exploring the future of public bathrooms in NYC. We’ll begin at the residential public bathrooms at Gotham Point (56-27 2nd St), then visit the NYC Dept of Parks and Recreation restroom by the Oval, continue to Hunter’s Point Library, and end at the residential bathrooms at 46-10 Center Blvd behind the Pepsi Cola sign, managed by the NYS Office of Parks and Recreation. Along the way, learn how NYC has just 1,000 public bathrooms and how new legislation requires 1,000 more by 2035. We’ll compare multiple bathroom typologies, discuss maintenance models, explore global precedents, and share advocacy strategies. This walk is an opportunity to exchange ideas, share experiences, and discuss how we can collectively improve access to public bathrooms in our city.

Join UPROSE, Brooklyn’s oldest Latino founded community organization, for a hyper-local, 90-minute tour of Sunset Park through a climate justice lens. We’ll bring to life GRID 2.0, our community-led plan to decarbonize the neighborhood & operationalize a Just Transition. Move beyond mainstream narratives focused on developments like Industry City, Made in NY, or the Climate Innovation Hub to hear directly from local residents. As we walk through the neighborhood & waterfront, we’ll discuss ways to preserve Sunset Park’s working class character, protect its industrial waterfront, strengthen social cohesion, and build community power in the age of climate change. Wear comfortable shoes, bring water, and learn how you can help fight displacement and uplift frontline leadership to shape a future by and for the people of Sunset Park.

This downhill walk begins at the Grand Staircase near Laurel Terrace in Highbridge Park and ends at the Harlem River shoreline in Sherman Creek Park. Starting on the monumental concrete stairs, we will reflect on the legacy of Robert Moses and the infrastructure that prioritized cars, highways, and trucks over pedestrians, bikes, and public transit along Northern Manhattan’s east side.

We’ll follow the Chestnut Trail through Highbridge Park’s urban forest, stopping at the Chestnut Grove to learn about efforts to restore the American chestnut—once dominant in eastern forests.

From there, we continue to Sherman Creek Park and end by the water, exploring the park’s living shoreline and imagining a greener future for the Harlem River waterfront.

Wear comfortable walking shoes. The walk is a moderate downhill route of up to 1.6 miles.

Join longtime Seaport advocate Stephen Dima and artist Naima Rauam for their annual walk back in time along historic South Street to celebrate Louis Morino and his legendary restaurant, Sloppy Louie’s, once a warm harbor for fishmongers and workers. Immortalized by New Yorker writer Joseph Mitchell in Up in the Old Hotel, Louie’s stood at the heart of the bustling Fulton Fish Market, where the air carried the scent of salt and ice, and the voices of a thousand early-morning deals. Our journey begins at the former site of Louie’s, now the Fulton Stall Market, we'll share some stories, photos and film that whisper of vanished days. Then wander the streets of the Seaport together, where past and present blur, and glimpse the shadows and stories of the neighborhood’s legendary characters who still seem to linger in the brick and cobblestones.

Join us for a unique exploration of one block—22nd Street between 9th & 10th Avenues. Inspired by Alexandra Horowitz’s book, “On Looking: Eleven Walks with Expert Eyes”, we’ll slow down and awaken our senses to details we often overlook.

We’ll observe the interplay of architecture and nature, uncover hidden patterns, and marvel at the rich textures and contrasts that make urban life so endlessly fascinating. From the artistry of building facades, to the quiet life of the trees, to the whispers of history etched into brickwork—every inch of this block holds stories waiting to be discovered.

No prior knowledge is required; just bring your curiosity and an openness to seeing the world anew. By the end of the walk, you may find yourself noticing more wherever you go, with a deeper appreciation for the extraordinary in the everyday.

Bike tour focuses on Robert Moses and his impact on NYC. Tour originates at the end of the 2nd ave subway and circles Randall's/Wards island. Along the way, we discuss Moses's primary types of impact on the city (transit, playgrounds, parks, highways, bridges, displacement, housing), with a focus on first-hand view of examples of each type woven into an overarching narrative of his rise, fall, and legacy.

See thepowerbiker.com for more details. Fully non-commercial tour I developed a few years ago.

The most important logistics is that this is a bike tour rather than a walking tour, so you need access to a bicycle. The tour has a few citibike racks - both at the start and twice along the way which can be used to reset the timer if using citibike. We will not ride on any city streets, just on bike paths.

I’ve lived in Harlem since 2007 and consider it one of the most beautiful neighborhoods in New York. It’s helpful to experience it with someone who can curate a good walking experience. We’d meet at 117th and Lenox Avenue, walk north to the Mount Morris Park historic district and its iconic brownstones. Then we’d walk south to 110th and Central Park. We’d walk around the Harlem Meer lake and end by the Conservatory Gardens on 106th and Fifth Avenue. Beautiful.

A walking tour along the East River Esplanade.
Attendees should dress for the weather (it’s windy on the Esplanade) and wear comfortable walking shoes.

Secrets of the Esplanade: A History-ish Walk Along the East Midtown Greenway
From movies to books, bridges to boats, discover the surprising stories hiding along our waterfront.

What do Annie, Spider-Man, a historic shot tower, and even trash have to do with the East River Esplanade?

Join us for a lively walk filled with quirky anecdotes, neighborhood lore, and a few real historical facts. You’ll never look at the waterfront the same way again.

This is a walking tour of Baisley Pond, in Baisley Pond Park in South Jamaica, Queens. The tour will take visitors around the entirety of the 1.5 mile pond with about 5-7 stops along the way. The stops we will explore will be by former mouths of creeks, along with a stop by the old lake outflow into a creek that runs all the way to Jamaica Bay. Other stops will be along major thoroughfares (like Rockaway Blvd), near August Martin High School, the Sutphin Playground Mastodon, and Mother Carter Garden. During the tour I will explain how waterways and water bodies have and continue to impact and influence life in this area from thousands of years ago to present day. Visitors should wear comfortable walking shoes. The park is accessible with benches and bathrooms throughout and no stairs. Visitors can also bring a camera and bottle of water.

I will lead this walking tour of the piers of the West Side to narrate the history of the shifting waterfront, the rise-and-fall of ocean-liners for transatlantic travel, and I will unravel the story of the events surrounding the sinking of the Greatest Ship in the World. My walk will be very comfortable, obviously, but dress shoes are discouraged. I will start along the Hudson River and work my way downtown along the waterfront and end at the Titanic-and-Lusitania memorials at Little Island. I will walk at a reasonable pace and will even pass a restroom.

This area of Windsor Terrace has a long history. It was the first developed in that neighborhood with homes dating back to as early as the 1850's. Some structures dating back to the 1880's are still intact. Vanderbilt Street was one of the first developed. It was named after the John Vanderbilt farmland that originally occupied the area prior to development. Included in this walk are then and now enlarged images of the block, including survey images taken prior to subway construction, as well as articles from old Brooklyn newspapers (via NYPL) that highlight people and families that once lived there. The small commercial strip that adjoins the block on Prospect Avenue is undergoing commercial revitalization.

This walk will explore the history of the neighborhood through visits to historic buildings in the area. It will start at the Old Stone House, touch on the Revolutionary war, Battle of Brooklyn, creation of Prospect Park, and how the neighborhood came to be. We will visit a former training school, the branch library, Lichfield Villa, and the Prospect Park’s West Drive entrance. The tour will end at the Soldiers and Sailor’s Monument at Grand Army Plaza. Through the lens of the existing buildings, we’ll discuss changing transportation modes, development of Brooklyn, gentrification, and the increasing number of condo buildings being built.
Attendees should wear comfortable shoes and bring a hat and water for the walk. It will be approximately 2 miles in total, 1.5-2 hours.

Stroll the historic Meatpacking District with Jacquie Ottman, "The Meatpacking Lady", whose family's storied meat purveying business parallels that of the district itself. Start at Gansevoort Plaza, the Belgian block lined intersection of five Manhattan blocks whose history spans over four centuries of NYC transformation. Then, retrace the steps of a Lenape Trail, enjoy examples of architecture commissioned Astor and other Gilded Age families, and visit the site of an 1812 military fort. Learn why this area became the center of meatpacking in NYC during the 20th Century, and why and how it has transformed into NYC's most fashionable neighborhood. Cap off the walk by taking in a stunning view of New York harbor. Get answers to your questions from your enthusiastic and passionate guide who experienced the district in the 1970s firsthand.

Ever wondered what’s up with that building on the corner of the Whole Foods in Gowanus? And why 3rd Street is so wide? In this guided walk, we’ll explore the development of the Gowanus Canal and much of Park Slope from pastoral meadowlands and rolling hills to a bustling industrial and residential area through the lens of Edwin Litchfield, industrial entrepreneur and namesake of Prospect Park’s Litchfield Villa. Delight in the smells of the putrid Gowanus Canal and the lush greenery of Park Slope’s tree-lined streets as we traverse 3rd Street from the canal to the park with a few detours along the way. Some stops will include the Coignet Building, the Old Stone House, and Litchfield Villa. Wear comfortable shoes and bring sun (or rain) protection.

New York City is blessed with beautiful public sculptures, especially in Central Park. But while we often know the names of the artists, we rarely know the names of their hardworking models. On this tour, we will learn about four "supermuses," whose various accomplishments include posing for some of our most iconic statues. Let's meet the real women behind the marble and bronze!

While it's an easy stroll, the total route distance is 1.6 miles, so wear comfortable walking shoes.

Much as Harlem Shuffle expanded into the Harlem Trilogy, this is a sequel tour! Explore Harlem history from 1959 through 1976 in this walk, mostly through the lens of Colson Whitehead’s second Harlem mystery, "Crook Manifesto."

Hugely controversial when proposed (in 2003) and later approved, the megaproject Atlantic Yards (in 2014 renamed Pacific Park Brooklyn), is at an inflection point. See what’s been built (the Barclays Center, home to the Brooklyn Nets; 8 of 15-16 towers) and what remains: a costly deck over an MTA railyard, supporting proposed larger towers, and a two-tower project opposite the arena.
With watchdog journalist Norman Oder, learn about the project's history, uncertain timetable, changing designs (and ownership), and questions about proposed new density, financing, timing, and affordable housing, as well as oversight. Issues include public accountability, open space, arena design/operations, & the changing neighborhood/Brooklyn context.
We will walk around much of the 22-acre site's perimeter, plus a few adjacent blocks.

Learn how to use binoculars and spot the fascinating birds that live in Marine Park's salt marsh together with an expert from NYC Bird Alliance. Families are welcome. Wear comfortable shoes for this 90-minute guided walk on mostly level gravel trails, stopping frequently for discussions of birds of interest. Binoculars will be provided. Meet outside the Salt Marsh Nature Center on Avenue U.

Join the Lower East Side Ecology Center for a guided Spring Bird Walk at East River Park on the Lower East Side. This in-person walk will explore the park’s waterfront paths, lawns, and planted areas as spring migration brings birds back to New York City. Led by an experienced birder, participants will learn how to spot and identify common species such as warblers, sparrows, and swallows while discussing the importance of urban green spaces for wildlife. We will make several stops along the route to observe birds, listen to calls, and talk about the role of stewardship in maintaining healthy habitats.

Please wear comfortable walking shoes and bring water. Binoculars and cameras are encouraged if you have them. The walk will move at a relaxed pace and is suitable for beginners and experienced birders alike.

A walking tour from the City Hall park north to Chambers Street and then west through lower Tribeca for a total distance of about ¾ of a mile. The tour will cover the historic significance of area and evolution from a frontier area of the City, to a place of government, then a place of trade and now a largely residential area.

Points of interest would include:
-City Hall and park
-Park Row
-Brooklyn Bridge
-8 Spruce
-Buildings on Chambers including David Dinkins Municipal Building, Surrogates Court, Tweed Courthouse, Emigrant Industrial Savings Bank, 280 Broadway (the Marble Palace Stewart’s department store) and the Woolworth Building
-Cast iron buildings on Reade Street
-Bogardus Plaza, the old Cosmopolitan Hotel
-Duane Park, 60 Hudson building, AT&T Long Lines building and 56 Leonard (Jenga Building)

If you’ve never walked the Brooklyn Bridge, May is the ideal time. It’s a must-do NYC experience for locals and visitors alike. If you have walked it, it’s an even better experience with a tour guide. Scott will cover the rich history of the bridge build, insider knowledge of the area and point out familiar and iconic filming locations. Enjoy incomparable views of the city skyline from the Brooklyn waterfront. Hear of the several decade effort to create one of the city’s newest, most innovative and beautiful parks, Brooklyn Bridge Park

This tour will end up in NYC’s hottest neighborhood, DUMBO, home of NYC’s best pizza. Make time for lunch and to enjoy the shops, including the Brooklyn Flea (on weekends) and take home a bespoke, vintage souvenir.

Explore the East River neighborhoods in Brooklyn and Queens. We will start our walk by crossing the Queensboro (59th Street) bridge on the new, somewhat hard-to-find pedestrian path. From there we will continue South through the neighborhoods of Long Island City, Greenpoint, and Williamsburg. Finally, we will arrive at the Williamsburg Bridge, which we will cross to return to the Lower East Side of Manhattan, ending our tour. The tour is mostly physical (many miles) and visual (many photo ops)!

Come for a stroll down the Upper East Side! Starting in Central Park, we will head east, walking through Carnegie Hill and Yorkville, along one cross street, till we culminate our tour at the East River.

Discover the rich history of the most densely populated neighborhood in the country.
Hear about notable residents, and figures who have impacted the area’s development. Learn how the neighborhood’s current appearance and character have been formed by city planning, civic improvements, and generations of immigrants. We will look at various physical evidence of the development of the city’s grid, its transportation and utility systems, and its residential architecture, including mansions, brownstone rowhouses, luxury apartment buildings, elaborately decorated tenements and modern residential towers.

Rego Park is a Queens neighborhood with a large population of Bukharan Jews (that is, Jews from Uzbekistan and nearby countries). We will walk to three or four kosher bakeries/groceries and shop for take-out breads and beef pies. (How far we go depends on how long people want to walk).

Join me on a cute walking tour exploring the very cute neighborhood of Sunnyside, Queens. This tour is all about showing off a small part of NYC that often goes unexplored, and showcasing where the latest Spider-Man trilogy was filmed.
This is an outdoors walking tour where we'll explore the neighborhood through a historical and architectural lens.
We'll visit the actual apartment buildings where Peter Parker lived and discuss how the films capture the spirit of Western Queens. We'll compare movie magic to the neighborhood's daily life, from the Sunnyside sign to the "Little Manila" billboards of Woodside. The walk is approximately 1-2 miles and will highlight architectural gems and local history, with a focus on Homecoming, Far From Home, and No Way Home, but we'll also touch on other Spider-Man movies and media.

Step back in time and join an unforgettable walking tour that traces the iconic career of the legendary Frank Sinatra right here in New York City. Explore the city in a way you've never experienced before, featuring visits to the sites of the historic performance venues where Sinatra dazzled audiences with his memorable concerts and radio and TV appearances. Delve into his personal history by discovering his favorite places to eat and drink. Each stop on the tour is chosen to offer a deeper insight into the man behind the music, allowing you to truly immerse yourself in the rich tapestry of the city's nightlife and cultural heritage. Whether you're a die-hard Sinatra fan or just someone who loves the allure of the city's storied past, this walking tour promises to be an experience that you'll remember fondly.

Before it was the national pastime, baseball was New York's game. Like Silicon Valley is to technology and Detroit is to cars, Brooklyn was an incubator of innovation in the early days of baseball. Imagine walking through old South Brooklyn (Park Slope, Carroll Gardens, Cobble Hill, Boerum Hill) on a May day in the mid-19th century. I guarantee you would have seen baseball. Although the rules, the business, and how you followed the game might differ even between Carroll and Bergen Streets, the overheard debates of team rivalry, superiority, and prognostication are the everlasting threads connecting the game's infancy to today. Join this walking tour led by a former professional moneyballer and current baseball fanatic/Brooklyn resident. Bring your peanuts and Cracker Jacks (and water and comfortable shoes), and let's play ball!

A walking tour meets street theater in this interactive performance of New York language and slang. Set in the historically linguistic melting pot of the Lower East Side, this two hour exploration of words and accents is led by licensed NYC tour guide Nic Reale in character as "The Tour"—but all guests participate. Together everyone explores more than the origin of local phrases or how New Yawkers tawk; we also communicate across the city’s diverse cultures to see how they form a new one.

The Williamsburg Bridge is a New York City icon unto itself. Starting service as the longest suspension bridge in the world, the bridge has been woven into the byways of the city ever since. Join us for a walk over the bridge as we retrace its history, from pneumatics to jazz and granite to gold, with, of course, a lot of steel in between.

This walking tour will take us from Manhattan to Brooklyn, a minimum walking distance of about 1.5 miles (1.7 to the nearest Subway station). Comfortable shoes, water, and a tolerance for loud metallic noises strongly recommended.

Ever wondered what’s up with that building on the corner of the Whole Foods in Gowanus? And why 3rd Street is so wide? In this guided walk, we’ll explore the development of the Gowanus Canal and much of Park Slope from pastoral meadowlands and rolling hills to a bustling industrial and residential area through the lens of Edwin Litchfield, industrial entrepreneur and namesake of Prospect Park’s Litchfield Villa. Delight in the smells of the putrid Gowanus Canal and the lush greenery of Park Slope’s tree-lined streets as we traverse 3rd Street from the canal to the park with a few detours along the way. Some stops will include the Coignet Building, the Old Stone House, and Litchfield Villa. Wear comfortable shoes and bring sun (or rain) protection.

Bike tour focuses on Robert Moses and his impact on NYC. Tour originates at the end of the 2nd ave subway and circles Randall's/Wards island. Along the way, we discuss Moses's primary types of impact on the city (transit, playgrounds, parks, highways, bridges, displacement, housing), with a focus on first-hand view of examples of each type woven into an overarching narrative of his rise, fall, and legacy.

See thepowerbiker.com for more details. Fully non-commercial tour I developed a few years ago.

The most important logistics is that this is a bike tour rather than a walking tour, so you need access to a bicycle. The tour has a few citibike racks - both at the start and twice along the way which can be used to reset the timer if using citibike. We will not ride on any city streets, just on bike paths.

Come take a walk from the founding on New Amsterdam as outpost of the Dutch West India Company (WIC) to the rise of Wall Street and recent arrival of blockchains.

Lace up your shoes for a nature walk at Freshkills Park! Freshkills Park staff will take you behind the scenes to visit areas that are currently closed to the public. On this 2+ mile walk, you’ll learn about the different plants and animals found in the woods, wetlands, and grasslands at Freshkills Park. Freshkills Park will be the largest park developed in New York City in over a century. The transformation of what was once the world’s largest landfill into a sustainable park makes the project a symbol of renewal and an expression of how we can re-imagine reclaimed landscapes. Landfill infrastructure is essential to the Park’s design, and it adds to the project’s complexity. The park’s design, engineering, and ecological restoration emphasize environmental sustainability and public concern for human impact.

Stroll down just the two blocks along East 69th Street between Second and First Avenues and experience a microcosm of the history of the entire Upper East Side. This tree-lined block features landmarked brownstones dating to 1879 on the south side, and on the north side, mid-century co-ops defining the Upper East Side lifestyle. Amidst it all, the landmarked Hungarian Reformed Church whose bells still ring each Sunday morning, calling yet another generation of Eastern Europeans to service. Tour is led by Jacquie Ottman, a popular Janes Walk tour guide, 46 year resident of the block and past president of the East 69th Street Association.

It’s well known that Central Park is one of the most iconic urban parks in the world. But imagine, just for a moment, that it isn’t a park at all—instead, it’s a museum. It would be the most diverse museum on Earth, one that is open 365 days a year and is completely free. Its “collections” would span almost every conceivable department including art and sculpture, landscape design, archaeology, geology, urban history, horticulture, engineering, transportation, theater and performance, and more. No other museum would rival its scale, variety, or accessibility.

Welcome to the “Central Park Museum.”

This easy stroll (roughly one mile) offers a perfect sampler of the museum’s “exhibits” blending education and enjoyment. Your Jane’s Walk leader, Jack, is an NYC licensed tour guide and longtime Central Park Conservancy volunteer.

At the top of Manhattan we'll walk across the University Heights Bridge into the Bronx and walk back over the Broadway Bridge into Manhattan all while exploring the surrounding area between the two bridges.
Along the way- Learn more about these two bridges.
-Find out how some of the streets got there name.
-The First Reformed Dutch Church location and see what's there now.
-Experience part of the Aqueduct Walkway.
-See the largest Armory in the U.S. (from the outside)
-Learn about some military heroes and the battles they fought in.
-Hear about the Free Bridge and the areas connection to the Revolutionary War.
-We will go back in time 250 years and see what the view between the two bridges looked like.
-If it's your first time you get to say that you've walked over these two bridges.
Wear comfortable shoes, bring water, camera.

New York City is blessed with beautiful public sculptures, especially in Central Park. But while we often know the names of the artists, we rarely know the names of their hardworking models. On this tour, we will learn about four "supermuses," whose various accomplishments include posing for some of our most iconic statues. Let's meet the real women behind the marble and bronze!

While it's an easy stroll, the total route distance is 1.6 miles, so wear comfortable walking shoes.

Walking tour of the Vanderbilt Family Cemetery, located within the Moravian Cemetery, New Dorp, Staten Island, New York.

Walking tour of the Vanderbilt Family Cemetery, located within the Moravian Cemetery, New Dorp, Staten Island, New York.

Walking tour of the Vanderbilt Family Cemetery, located within the Moravian Cemetery, New Dorp, Staten Island, New York.

Join us for a unique exploration of one block—81st Street between Columbus & Amsterdam. Inspired by Alexandra Horowitz’s book, “On Looking: Eleven Walks with Expert Eyes”, we’ll slow down and awaken our senses to details we often overlook.

We’ll observe the interplay of architecture and nature, uncover hidden patterns, and marvel at the rich textures and contrasts that make urban life so endlessly fascinating. From the artistry of building facades, to the quiet life of the trees, to the whispers of history etched into brickwork—every inch of this block holds stories waiting to be discovered.

No prior knowledge is required; just bring your curiosity and an openness to seeing the world anew. By the end of the walk, you may find yourself noticing more wherever you go, with a deeper appreciation for the extraordinary in the everyday.

In 1980, Edward Fausty and I embarked on a year-long documentation of the Lower East Side in a unique collaboration in which we shared a 4x5 view camera.
1980 was a pivotal moment in the history of New York. While the city teetered on the edge of bankruptcy, artists and musicians flocked to the crumbling Lower East Side with its affordable housing and edgy vibe. Ed and I were participant witnesses to that almost mythical time when everything from punk rock to graffiti emerged from the streets of Downtown New York.
Murder on Second Avenue is a memoir that keys off of an infamous murder at Binibon, a restaurant that once stood at the corner of East 5th Street and Second Avenue.

My walk begins at St. Mark’s Place proceeds down Second Avenue and ends on East 4th Street where I lived in the late 70s until about 1993.

I’ve lived in Harlem since 2007 and consider it one of the most beautiful neighborhoods in New York. It’s helpful to experience it with someone who can curate a good walking experience. We’d meet at 117th and Lenox Avenue, walk north to the Mount Morris Park historic district and its iconic brownstones. Then we’d walk south to 110th and Central Park. We’d walk around the Harlem Meer lake and end by the Conservatory Gardens on 106th and Fifth Avenue. Beautiful.

I will lead this walking tour of the piers of the West Side to narrate the history of the shifting waterfront, the rise-and-fall of ocean-liners for transatlantic travel, and I will unravel the story of the events surrounding the sinking of the Greatest Ship in the World. My walk will be very comfortable, obviously, but dress shoes are discouraged. I will start along the Hudson River and work my way downtown along the waterfront and end at the Titanic-and-Lusitania memorials at Little Island. I will walk at a reasonable pace and will even pass a restroom.

This in-person walk is the length of Clinton Avenue from Fulton Street to Myrtle Avenue, wear comfortable sneakers or walking shoes. We will be photographed (please specify preference) and do ask questions as the guide is an Historic Preservationist, advocate of history and expert on this section of Clinton Hill. We will stop and explore the Castles (we are not able to go inside of these buildings) and homes along Clinton Avenue, great time.

Walking tour of the Vanderbilt Family Cemetery, located within the Moravian Cemetery, New Dorp, Staten Island, New York.

Stroll down just the two blocks along East 69th Street between Second and First Avenues and experience a microcosm of the history of the entire Upper East Side. This tree-lined block features landmarked brownstones dating to 1879 on the south side, and on the north side, mid-century co-ops defining the Upper East Side lifestyle. Amidst it all, the landmarked Hungarian Reformed Church whose bells still ring each Sunday morning, calling yet another generation of Eastern Europeans to service. Tour is led by Jacquie Ottman, a popular Janes Walk tour guide, 46 year resident of the block and past president of the East 69th Street Association.

I’ve lived in Harlem since 2007 and consider it one of the most beautiful neighborhoods in New York. It’s helpful to experience it with someone who can curate a good walking experience. We’d meet at 117th and Lenox Avenue, walk north to the Mount Morris Park historic district and its iconic brownstones. Then we’d walk south to 110th and Central Park. We’d walk around the Harlem Meer lake and end by the Conservatory Gardens on 106th and Fifth Avenue. Beautiful.

This area of Windsor Terrace has a long history. It was the first developed in that neighborhood with homes dating back to as early as the 1850's. Some structures dating back to the 1880's are still intact. Vanderbilt Street was one of the first developed. It was named after the John Vanderbilt farmland that originally occupied the area prior to development. Included in this walk are then and now enlarged images of the block, including survey images taken prior to subway construction, as well as articles from old Brooklyn newspapers (via NYPL) that highlight people and families that once lived there. The small commercial strip that adjoins the block on Prospect Avenue is undergoing commercial revitalization.

This walk will explore the history of the neighborhood through visits to historic buildings in the area. It will start at the Old Stone House, touch on the Revolutionary war, Battle of Brooklyn, creation of Prospect Park, and how the neighborhood came to be. We will visit a former training school, the branch library, Lichfield Villa, and the Prospect Park’s West Drive entrance. The tour will end at the Soldiers and Sailor’s Monument at Grand Army Plaza. Through the lens of the existing buildings, we’ll discuss changing transportation modes, development of Brooklyn, gentrification, and the increasing number of condo buildings being built.
Attendees should wear comfortable shoes and bring a hat and water for the walk. It will be approximately 2 miles in total, 1.5-2 hours.