The great cities of the world – Rome, Paris, London, Istanbul – are true walking cities. I proudly add New York City to this illustrious list of capital cities. In order to know a city, you HAVE to walk its streets. It’s that simple. Subways, railroads, cars, metros and buses will get you from here to there — but you’ll miss all the fun in between!
Now UYC has featured several local walks of some intimate NYC pockets. But these are slivers of the apple – we barely peeled the Big Apples’s shiny skin when it comes to the vast majority of our landmark sights. And of course, the bottom line here is you simply have to get out… put those sneakers on … and just do it!
Now we can surely help you out here by strongly suggesting that you take a professional, organized walking tour in order to maximize your NYC experience. I thought as a born and bred New Yorker I simply knew it all – why on earth would I need a tour? Well, I was put to the test by “Walks Of New York” – an idea whose time has come.
“Walks Of New York” is a NYC sightseeing tour group offering affordable (ranging in cost from $25 to $59) and time saving (many tours involve “skipping the line” and each tour is approx. 2 ½ hours) private tours – limited to 12 people – of the major, important districts of New York. They offer carefully organized intimate tours of interest to tourists, as well as native New Yorkers. So much we don’t know!
Probably their “Highlights of New York Tour: Times Square, Rockefeller Center, Grand Central” is of central importance to everyone’s visit, but I urge you to go to their website to read up on the many diverse, affordable tours available. So interesting – there is a behind the scenes Broadway Theater tour; as well as a Lower East Side Tour focusing on the cuisine unique to this area.
But of high interest to me was the “B&H New York Photography Tour: High Line, Meatpacking, and Chelsea Market.” This has become one ultra hot neighborhood since its recent gentrification, uniquely accented by the addition of the High Line. To make this tour even more intriguing, “Walks of New York” is spinning this into a photographic experience with a seasoned photo guide leading you to the best shots of this super cool area using your readily available cell phone as well as more advanced cameras.
We covered some 5,000 years of visual treasures in the MET – from Early Egypt to Ancient Rome, medieval limestone statuary to the wood carvings of primitive New Guinea, through 19th Century American bronzes and sculptures, to Emmanuel Leutze’s monumental oil painting “George Washington Crossing the Delaware.”
Contributed by Joanne Theodorou
Jessica Tiare Bowen lives in the juicy Big Apple with her adorable pink-nosed chihuahua, Gillman. He’s the inspiration for her first published children’s book, “Park Avenue Pound Puppy.” The book is the combined result of her two greatest passions: pooches and penning stories.
Her passions include art, urban hikes through Manhattan, drinking coffee with 3 creams and 6 sugars, making extremely detailed itineraries and traveling to far away places, singing along to Broadway shows, Netflix movie nights, discovering incredible treasures at Goodwill and thrift stores, and listening to stories from little people under 7 and big people over 70.
She started her career as New York City Teaching Fellow, teaching elementary school and theater arts at a special education school in the South Bronx for 6 years. She is now a Special Education School Improvement Specialist working in public schools throughout New York City. She is the Editor-In-Chief of the online New York City travel magazine, Used York City. The magazine focuses on finding the best of New York…as used by New Yorkers. She is a member of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators, and an ASPCA Ambassador.
