CONDUCTING PRIVATE NEW YORK CITY TOURS IS A NATURAL FOR ME; A FLANEUR, “A PERSON WHO WALKS THE CITY IN ORDER TO EXPERIENCE IT.”
There have been times when NYC has been a tough nut to crack, it is not a city that offers up it’s pearls up casually, and at times, the future hasn’t seemed as bright nor as clear as it seems to me now. It took me some time to find my calling, my life’s work; it was sitting right had under my nose. Could my random ramblings through the city be made a livelihood? And as it turned out, they have. Arguably NYC is the capital city of the world, but it’s physical space is small, 14 miles long and 2.5 miles at it’s widest; A perfect home for a wanderer.
From my apartment in Hell’s Kitchen on West 43rd Street down to the tip of Manhattan, up through Central Park, or over Brooklyn Bridge, walking has sustained me. “Walking is also an ambulation of mind.” says Gretel Ehrlich, noted author. This I know to be true. We conduct our Private New York City tours in all conditions, rain, snow, cold, or occasional nor’easter. We are undaunted, you can chooses anytime of the day or night. It’s so nice to select a day when we feel the first gentle kiss of spring. Only the heat beats me, on those unbearable days of August I revert to the indoors, camped inside my chill little crib, venturing out only to lead well-hydrated tours.
Last Sunday, the first mild day, after an endless stream of cold brutal ones, I took a walk. Down five flights of stairs from my tenement roost, and out into the warm sun, coat opened, walking west toward the High Line on West 30th Street. On the way I’ll get to see what’s happening with the #7 subway line extension. I love watching large scale construction. That part of town, know as Hudson Yards will transform the the last undeveloped part of Manhattan. Its scale mirrors in steel and glass, the enormous willpower and energy of the people that conceive, and then get these projects done. The size of the operations create a sense of drama, the pressure to get things done, enormous! I peer into the sites, watching the buildings rise off their foundations, and marvel at the ingenuity of the engineers.
