Have you been failing to make time for something you love lately?
Are you so caught up in your day-to-day that you forget to appreciate something wonderful in your life?
Is that something NEW YORK CITY?
Well. Stop.
This summer, The City Reliquary invites you to be a tourist in your own town and it’s a helluva town. New York for New Yorkers is a limited walking tour series running July through August, led by top-notch guides who’ll entertain you while they share their vast knowledge.
Explore well-known neighborhoods in surprising new ways or discover unexpected corners you never knew existed. From queer history to comedy culture, Bowery barflies to scandals on Riverside Drive, stories of blackmarket tattoos, and the fakakta backstory on your favorite New York slang — each tour digs into a different side of the city.
You’re willing to pay insane amounts for groceries, movies, ATM fees, shirts for your dog, and pierogies, you may as well see the sights, right? This summer, while tourism is legit down and the streets are clearer, why don’t you take advantage of that permanent 2-star hotel bill you’re paying in rent and get out and see the best city in the world?
ALL TICKETS ARE JUST $35!
AVAILABLE TOURS
Hey! Ho! Let's Go! Bowery Pub Crawl
Hey! Ho! Let’s Go on a pub crawl on the Bowery while you’ll hear about Civil War Draft Riots and the Bowery B'hoys as we go from saloon to dive bar, drinking in the cultures of the 1850s to the city of 1977, bankrupt and pre-apocalyptic.
Guide: Matt Levy Duration: 2 Hours Neighborhood: The Bowery / East Village
Central Park Bridle Path Hike
See Central Park from a different perspective on this urban hike along the bridle path. It’s a chance to get away from the hustle and bustle of the park drives and main pedestrian paths, and enjoy the park’s stunning landscape along this beautiful, peaceful, and uncrowded, less-trod gravel-and-dirt trail.
Guide: Arun Das Duration: 60-80 min Neighborhood: Central Park
Can We Talk? A Comedy Tour through Downtown.
Let’s ask the big questions: Why did so much foundational comedy emerge from New York? What larger purpose does comedy serve? Why do we laugh at some jokes and not others, and… following that, why does my friend laugh at the dumbest things that are clearly not funny? Also who cares? Let’s walk and talk about the greatest comedy eras, styles, performers, writers, shows, and venues, but we’ll leave all important questions unanswered while we laugh.
Guide: Meri Haitkin Duration: 2 Hours Neighborhood: East and West Village
The City Speaks: An NYC Language & Slang Tour
This one is UNIQUE! Walking tour meets street theater in this immersive exploration of New York language and slang. It’s set in the historically linguistic melting pot of the Lower East Side, led by a man in a jumpsuit known as “The Tour” with guest participation. You’ll learn about NYC slang; NYC accents; NYC colloquialisms; Spanish; Chinese; Yiddish; Haitian Kréyol; bugalú; hip hop; Lower East Side; sociolinguistics; the IPA.
Guide: Nic Reale Duration: 2 Hours Neighborhood: Lower East Side
Baked & Painted: An Artistic Walk with Baked Treats
Come see the street art secrets and taste the culinary gems of the Bowery, Chinatown, and the LES.
Guide: Olga Korovkina Duration: 2 Hours Neighborhood: Lower East Side
Secrets and Scandals of Riverside Drive
Riverside Drive is best known for the elegance of its buildings and the quiet of its streets. But behind serene facades overlooking lush Riverside Park lie shocking tales of headline-making scandals – infidelities, suicides, murders, and more -- along with amazing architectural details of the homes where they happened. ** One Date Only **
Guide: Stephanie Azzarone Duration: 2 Hours Neighborhood: Upper West Side
Walk Through Tattoo History on the Bowery
The Bowery is the birthplace of modern American tattooing. We will take a look at the Museum of Tattoo History with artifacts from Bowery Tattooers, Samuel O’Reilly, who patented the first electric tattoo machine, and see so much more.
Guide: Michelle Myles Duration: 2 Hours Neighborhood: The Bowery / East Village
The Sacred and the Profane: A Journey Through Queens
Do you want to go on a grand and magnificent urban hike comprising equal parts classic NYC grit and transcendent spiritual splendor? An eastward journey that begins under a cacophony of subway and bridge and takes you through a small village to a majestic and wonderful Hindu temple--and then to a sensory overload of sights, smells, and tastes? If the answer is YES - your first step awaits you… ** One Date Only
Guide: Richard Exelbert Duration: 2.5 hours Neighborhoods: Long Island City-Sunnyside-Woodside-Jackson Heights
Photo courtesy of Earnest B, CC BY-SA 3.0, va Wikimedia CommonsRoosevelt Island: Top to Bottom
Perhaps you've heard about Roosevelt Island but you've never quite made it there. Well now is your chance! Formerly the dumping ground for everything (i.e. prisons, asylums, hospitals) this great city wanted to push aside and forget, this is the most fascinating spit of land ever to sit in the middle of the East River.
Guide: Richard Exelbert Duration: 2-3 hours Neighborhood: Roosevelt Island
Coney Island Avenue End to End - An Urban Hike
Coney Island Avenue is a 5-mile road that starts at the southern end of Prospect Park and ends at Brighton Beach's boardwalk right on the beach. Truly one of the great streets of New York City, it takes you past a sensory whirlwind of industry, gas stations, discount clothing stores, lumber yards, tire shops, eateries of all kinds, and cultures from all over the globe. Few people know what an epic urban hike this is. Here is an opportunity to experience the best of Brooklyn. ** One Date Only **
Guide: Richard Exelbert Duration: 3-3.5 hours Neighborhoods: Prospect Park South, Flatbush, Midwood, Sheepshead Bay, Brighton Beach
COMING SOON
Pride of the Village
Pride Month may be over, but the culture in the Village is year-round.
Guide: Jake Wallace Neighborhood: West Village
Questing: The Irish Immigrant Experience
**This is a phone-based group tour meets scavenger hunting game!
Duration: 2 Hours Neighborhood: Downtown Manhattan