What's THAT building?

When I do tours in lower Manhattan, I always discuss the very famous landmarks that we pass. But I also get many other questions about the less-than-famous, but still striking and important, buildings we pass along the way. Here's a collection of some of these interesting buildings, with photos taken on my walk yesterday:

20CE612B-C8DC-4018-96A0-4E4A0E0E7161.JPG

Photo 1: The Manhattan Municipal Building (today, formally known as The David N. Dinkins Municipal Building), completed in 1914 on plans by McKim, Mead & White. This building is just a block northeast of City Hall. After the 1898 consolidation of the five boroughs, it became clear that the now much, much larger city needed more space for its growing government. At 40 stories high, it is a rare municipal skyscraper. It was constructed at the end of the nationwide City Beautiful movement, which pushed for grand civic architecture: beauty not only for its own sake, but also to create moral and civic virtue among urban populations. The statue atop the building is known as Civic Fame.

1A13D35C-6950-4297-9766-213017138C8C.JPG

2: The E. V. Haughwout Building stands out among the many buildings of the SoHo-Cast Iron Historic District. Built in 1857, it originally housed Eder V. Haughwout's fashionable emporium. What the building is most famous for is having been the home of the world's first passenger elevator when it opened, a hydraulic lift designed by Elisha Graves Otis (it was powered by a steam engine in the basement). At just five stories, the building hardly required an elevator, but Haughwout knew that people would come to see the new novelty, and stay to buy his goods. In modern times, the building housed an Artists & Fleas location on the ground floor, with offices above.

F55A9105-6406-41F5-8761-70B8799C3853.JPG

3: 240 Centre Street, as the old signage on the building reads, was formerly the headquarters of the New York City Police Department (from 1909 to 1973). Much like the Municipal Building, after consolidation, the city required a bigger HQ for its police. After the police moved downtown, the building became a landmark, and was eventually converted into luxury condominiums in 1988. Recent sale prices in the building range from $1.6M last year for a 1-bedroom to $27.9M for a 5,500 ft² penthouse in 2017.

1236ED75-AA02-442B-BC28-0DB17616D1EC.JPG

4: This famous corner building is the financial district (at 56 Beaver St) is best known as the home of Delmonico's. The original Delmonico's opened in 1827 in this area, before eventually moving to this famous corner, where it gained a nationwide reputation. This current building came decades later. Delmonico's is credited with being one of the first American restaurants to allow patrons to order from a menu à la carte (ordering individual dishes), as opposed to table d'hôte (a prix fixe menu offering that had previously been the norm). The corner building also shows the landmarked colonial-era street pattern of this part of Manhattan. Due to its look, it is nowadays often mistaken as the building used for the facade of the fictional The Continental hotel in the "John Wick" movies which is actually a few blocks north on Beaver Street...

4124BD96-060B-4138-998E-5482ABBE7EF6.JPG

5: 1 Wall Street Court, also known as the Beaver Building, was once the home of the New York Cocoa Exchange... and in the "John Wick" films is a hotel for assassins run with strict rules by its manager, Winston. The building dates back to 1904. Most of the building today is residential, with restaurant space on the main floor. Most of the interior scenes (and roof scenes) for the Continental were shot elsewhere-- from the old Cunard Building to Rockefeller Center -- or on sets.

01925496-AC48-4CDF-B002-D8FA7A0D0AA0.JPG

6: 32 Avenue of the Avenues, also known as the AT&T Long Distance Building, is an Art Deco telecommunications building completed in 1932. The building has two twin antennas on the roof. No longer owned by AT&T, it has several high-profile tenants today, including several of the city's top FM radio stations. It is in Tribeca, at the intersections of 6th Ave, Lispenard St, and Beach St. Like many Art Deco buildings, its landmarked lobby features gorgeous murals and mosaics.

4822D776-D746-471F-8D7E-5AA11A8A3E3F.JPG

7: 33 Thomas Street, formerly known as the AT&T Long Lines Building, is the Brutalist cousin to the previous building, and was completed in 1974. It is said to be one of the most secure buildings in America, and was designed to be self-sufficient with its own gas and water supplies along with generation capabilities and protected from nuclear fallout for up to two weeks after a nuclear blast. It is still a secure telecommunications building, with many rumors for years about other uses, leading to pop-culture depictions ranging from the obscure 1979 film "Winter Kills" to episodes of "The X-Files" and "Mr. Robot" in modern times. Modern exposes peg it as the likely location of a NSA mass surveillance hub codenamed TITANPOINTE.

3E10667F-941B-4485-8790-C9E55371CBB4.JPG

8: The "Jenga Building" is what locals have dubbed this Tribeca residential skyscraper at 56 Leonard Street. Completed in 2017, it was designed by the Swiss architecture firm Herzog & de Meuron, which described the design inspiration as "houses stacked in the sky." With most modern residential skyscrapers adopting fairly uniform designs, the unique architecture of this building has helped it stand out amidst an increasingly crowded skyline (you can its much taller neighbor to the south-- One World Trade Center-- in this shot). Recent sales price have ranged from $2.975M for a 1-bedroom to $21.5M for the 5,252 ft² top penthouse on the 57th floor.

IMG_8014.jpg

9: A look up at "houses stacked in the sky" at 56 Leonard.

BC224CA6-A7D3-454A-A845-B82A6679EBAE.JPG

10: This gorgeous landmark is right across the street from our first building, at 31 Chambers Street. The gorgeous Beaux Arts building was completed in 1907 as the Hall of Records, and today is The Surrogate's Courthouse. The building today also houses the city's Municipal Archives in the basement, which is open to the public. There are dozens of sculptures on the facade, including eminent figures from the city's past, such as Peter Stuyvesant, DeWitt Clinton, David Pietersen De Vries, and mayors Caleb Heathcote, Abram Stevens Hewitt, Philip Hone, Cadwallader David Colden, and James Duane. The building has (in this guide's opinion) one of the most gorgeous lobbies in New York City.

That's it!

Anyone have a favorite building in lower Manhattan?

Onward to 2021!

Thank you to all who have supported Custom NYC Tours over the past year. It was truly appreciated, now more than ever.

I am proud that I remained a strong ambassador for this city that I love. A city I believe in. And I am proud of every single tour I gave this year, largely to locals who share my love of discovering new things about this city. I look forward to welcoming back groups from afar next year.

As we soon enter 2021, I urge all to support local businesses and neighborhoods first. The road to recovery begins there. And, as the year goes on, the doors of the wider world will reopen. I look forward to seeing you there!

In addition to my usual public tours (see our tour menu above), we have expanded dates for our special tours through the end of June. All tours— whether public or private— will operate with 10 people max, to ensure an experience that is both safe and personalized. These special tours are: a private version of our Central Park tour, a private version of our Midtown architecture tour, our Lower East Side Street Art tour, our Brooklyn Street Art tour, a private version of our Prospect Park tour, our Queens World’s Fair Nostalgia Tour, and our Bronx Art Deco Architecture tour.

We hope to see you on tour in 2021, and we wish everyone a new year of recovery and happiness.

Dyker Heights Christmas Lights Tour

Thanks to my friend Megan for producing this wonderful video from one of my Dyker Heights Christmas Lights tours! Every December, I love showing locals or out-of-town visitors what is NYC’s most festive holiday lights tradition. I have been giving this walking tour since 2016, and it is a favorite of mine.

I offer a private walking tour, to ensure the most personalized experience of these lights, bringing people to the best blocks in the area. Discover amazing homes most of the other big-group tours skip! You can book your own tour HERE, or contact me with inquiries.

Rediscovering New York: New York as a Colony

I was back on the “Rediscovering New York” radio show again this week… the topic this time was the Dutch and British colonial era of New York. I was honored to be on the show with Russell Shorto, author of “The Island at the Center of the World”, the seminal work on the New Amsterdam colony of the 17th-century that would change the world forever. I was in the final segment, discussing the British era that gave rise to a revolution that founded our nation.

You can listen as a podcast here: New York as a Colony - When the Dutch and the British Ruled

In The Papers

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.

RHRScan_Corrected1.jpg
RHRScan_Corrected2.jpg

[Update: The article is also now online: New York City’s Hidden Gems ]

Victorian Flatbush Webinar

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.

Tour Your Own City

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.

Tour Offerings For Fall 2020 + Winter 2021

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.

NYC Tourist Attractions Reopen. Minus The Tourists?

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!

IMG_9678.jpg

Virtual Tour Videos: Victorian Flatbush + Prospect Park

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: Tour Guides Idled By Pandemic

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