Art

An Artist's Demonstration: Paint on Canvas
Understand the creative process. Your internationally-exhibited artist/specialist will escort you through artist studios and galleries for an understanding of the relation of art and the artist.

Studios and Galleries of the Chelsea and the Lower East Side Art Scene
Tour the growing art communities of west Chelsea and the Lower East Side with a knowledgeable working artist as your guide. Thriving with hundreds of relocated and newly opened galleries, Chelsea is a hotbed of artistic activity. You will explore some of the better-known galleries as well as visit some of the younger, up-and-coming dealers.

Williamsburg Artist’s Studio Tour
Many of today’s most exciting young artists have crossed the East River to make Williamsburg, Brooklyn, their home. Explore this area of artistic activity situated in what seems at first glance to be a sparsely populated area of Brooklyn. Visit studios and experimental galleries for an insider’s look at this lively former industrial loft neighborhood. Go behind the scenes to see artists in their studios to observe how they live and work.

American Impressionism: New York's Best Collections.
Great Corporate Collections.
A Tour of Ceramics Studios and a Hands-on Class.
The Gallery Business. A primer on how it works.
The Glass Arts of New York City: Stained Glass to Contemporary Glass
The World of Contemporary Art: Artist Studios and the Museum of Modern Art

Books and Prints

A Book Lover's New York
If there is one thing New Yorkers are known for, it is book shopping as a social visit or pastime, and one of the great first dates in New York is used-book shopping. Meet sellers and collectors of rare and unusual books, then explore the shops where New Yorkers spend the day poring over the shelves for lost treasures, favorites and new interests. Meet a book editor and an illustrator of children’s books whose work makes the books come alive.

Collectibles

New York is a catchall for all kinds of collectibles from art to dolls to deco furniture. With your guide, we
will set out to find the best collections, dealers and galleries. Afterwards, we will visit the city's greatest flea markets and antique markets.
How to Collect Art. A day with collectors and dealers.
Collectible Prints and Posters: With an Eye on Budget
Illustrator's Tour of New York: One of the Currently Collectible Art Forms

Design and Fashion

The Decorative Arts World of New York – Ideas and Solutions
In the morning, meet your guide, who is a well-known professional interior decorator, to discuss some of your interior design interests and desires along with some possible solutions. Then, visit New York’s leading design showrooms to consider some of the vast range of sources and offerings known “to the trade only.” (This tour is limited in size to no more than four guests, and is only available Monday through Friday. This tour is not available Thanksgiving or Christmas week or in August.)

The Silver Savant: Georgian vs. Edwardian, Sterling vs. Plate, What Silver Marks Mean
The Diamond District and Beyond: Young Jewelry Designers
Antiques in Interior Design - Choose Your Preference: English, French, American Designs
Join our expert for a tour with a professional's eye. Possibilities can range from architectural salvage yards to the antique centers, from architectural details to fine furniture. Visit places that you can't find on your own where craftspeople reinvent uses for found objects or studios that create the details that make all the difference in collecting.

Exploring the Fashion District.
With your tour guide, a 35-year veteran of the garment center, follow the growth of the fashion industry from its very beginnings right up to the present, and beyond. Learn about the role of immigrants and their impact in the fashion district, how the sewing machine cxhanged everything, visit a showroom, a factory and significant fashion area artwork. Learn how to find those elusive and exclusive showroom sales!

Vintage Clothing and Accessories
Let your guide, a fashion consultant and designer, take you right to the sources where everything old
is new again.

Ethnic New York

Let our specialists take you to a Chinatown and Little Italy you didn't know existed; uncover for you Irish New York Then and Now; escort you around the changing historic Lower East Side; take you on a visit to historic Ellis Island; find for you an urban Polish village in Greenpoint; or introduce you to the many sides of historic and contemporary Harlem. Naturally, an appropriate lunch is called for.

Firemen and Policemen

Our Finest and Bravest
Share in the rich history of New York's Finest at the New York City Police Museum. Learn how some of the basic rules and operations of policing created decades ago are still valid and how today's technology keeps us more secure. Fire was the most destructive and threatening problem in New York, going back to the early settlers’ days. Your guide will take you to the New York Fire Museum in SoHo. Here you can see first hand the prevention measures taken to keep the most devastating emergency under control. A fascinating tour for people interested in the working history of cities.

Law and Order
With a retired New York City police detective as your guide, retrace the steps in solving an actual crime. Learn how emergency teams talk a potential jumper down from the Brooklyn Bridge and how teams coordinate for rescue efforts. See the neighborhood where the “Gangs of New York” once stalked and where you will recognize many scenes from the “Law and Order” TV series.

Gourmet New York

Let one of our specialists arrang e a tasting day at New York’s most famous (and sometimes most esoteric) food shops. Or let us arrange a cooking demonstration or class day for your group through one of New York’s most reputable culinary training school. Meet a renowned cookbook author and visit some of her favorite sources. Or perhaps your would like to spend the evening at the chef’s table in the kitchen of one of New York’s most renowned chefs.

Eat on the Walk
Join Liz Young on New York’s most popular private culinary walking and tasting tours through Tribeca, Chinatown, the West Village, Hell’s Kitchen, Brooklyn or all around town!

We Deliver YOU to the Pizza
Meet Scott Weiner, pizza maven, for a walk through New York’s pizza neighborhoods, or hop on the big yellow bus on a Sunday morning for a day with some veteran pizza fanatics in search of an outrageous slice of pizza history.

History and Heritage

Join one of our specialists in New York City history and architecture for a fascinating day getting truly close up with New York's past and see how the past created the present. We recommend:

New York’s Distinguished Religious Heritage
Explore the religious diversity of New York in its history and in the present moment. Visit some of the most well-known and important places of worship in America, and meet some members of the religious communities of our nation’s largest city. Visit a selection of major churches and synagogues that represent some of the range of New York’s religious experience and architecture. Search out some of the resources for learning about our religious heritage and sample our collections of religious manuscripts. Explore the role of religion in the decorative and fine arts, and the fine art of religious objects.

The American Revolution In New York
New York played a major role in the American Revolution. The city and its harbor were key objectives in the British plan to split New England from the other American colonies. All of the social and political conflicts that led up to the Revolution and some of its first major battles under George Washington were played out in New York. The stunningly beautiful Prison Ship Martyrs Monument in Brooklyn is the final burial site for American war prisoners who died aboard the infamous prison ships, among the worst atrocities in American history. The Morris-Jumel Mansion served as Washington’s headquarters where he commanded the Harlem Heights defenses and probably watched from the porch as the city burned on September 21, 1776.

Immigrant Experiences
An intensive day exploring many aspects of the immigrant experience in New York City in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Board the Statue of Liberty ferry for an overview of American immigration on a visit to Ellis Island, the gateway to America for millions of immigrants, from 1892 to 1954. Return to explore the world of the newly-arrived immigrant that can include The Irish Hunger Memorial, a reconstruction of the authentic ruins of an Irish tenant farmer’s cottage; Five Points, site of the infamous 19th century slum (now known primarily by the film “Gangs of New York”); a walk through Chinatown, one of the largest ethnic immigrant neighborhoods in the country; the Lower East Side and The Confino Apartment at the Lower East Side Tenement Museum – "living history" that takes visitors back to Eldridge Street Synagogue – the first great house of worship built on the Lower East Side by Eastern European Jews in 1887, St. Patrick’s Old Cathedral, dedicated in 1815, the city’s first Cathedral Church until1879., Little Italy and Greenwich Village – the traditional center of Italian-American New York.

Historical Collections:
Morgan Library, New York Historical Society, Museum of the City of New York
The Creation of Midtown 1890-1940: Beaux-Arts and Art Deco New York
Historic Ladies Mile: The Flatiron District Yesterday and Today

Insiders

Find the New York that makes it New York, the worlds behind the world we all know and love.

Gramercy Park
Begin with a visit to the historic birthplace of Theodore Roosevelt, who lived at this site until he was 14 years old. The reconstructed house contains period rooms representative of an upper class New York home of the late 19th century. Nearby Gramercy Park is the only private park in Manhattan, deeded to the owners of the elegant and eclectic homes and buildings that surround the park. You and your guide will enter the park and will visit The Players, a private club founded in 1888 by the actor Edwin Booth (brother of John Wilkes Booth), whose members have included nearly every recognizable name in the theater profession. Enjoy lunch or Sunday brunch there with a member, and be introduced to other Players members. (This tour is limited to six guests. There is some stair climbing required. Not available August and most holidays.)

Broadway Behind the Curtain (see “Theater and Performing Arts” for a full description)
Broadway Center Stage (see “Theater and Performing Arts for a full description)
The WaldorfAstoria

Enjoy a close-up of the sights, sounds and tastes of the legendary Waldorf=Astoria Hotel - an Art Deco masterpiece which was the world's largest hotel when it opened in 1931 The hotel was recognized as an official New York City Landmark in 1993. During recent renovations totaling in excess of $200 million, many of the hotel's original Art Deco treasures were rediscovered and unveiled, delighting a whole new generation of devoted admirers of the Waldorf=Astoria.

Also for your consideration:

• Private Clubs and Historic Houses

• The Capital of Fashion

• The Lincoln Center Behind the Stages

Jazz

Find the top clubs and visit Harlem where it all got started.

Knowledge

Scholarly New York
Glimpse the intellectual hothouses of New York. Learn about Columbia University and the Cathedral of St John the Divine; see the Gothic Quadrangle of the CCNY campus. We will visit some of the world-renowned scholarly resources of the city: the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, the Pierpont Morgan Library, the Library for the Performing Arts, and the great New York Public Library.

Love - Romantic New York

Let A Friend in New York™ help create your perfect moment. Whether you are looking for the right setting for an evening or a weekend, we can make the arrangements for sure success. Will the perfect moment be at the top of an art deco skyscraper with an unparalleled view of the city, at a fountain in the park, or perhaps with a glass of champagne on your private boat in New York Harbor?

Museums

A Friend in New York™ offers guided museum tours by specialists in many fields.

• The Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Guggenheim. You will have a chance to become familiar with the far-ranging Met collection. Later, we can compare and the vision of the modern art movement housed in the Guggenheim, the only Frank Lloyd Wright building in New York.

• The American Museum of Natural History and Rose Center for Earth and Space. Meet some of the scientists and curators behind the foremost exhibits of the world around us.

• Photographic Images. Start with a visit to the International Center of Photography, then tour of the Museum of Modern Art in the afternoon. MOMA was one of the very first fine art centers that included photography as an art form or visit the historic Alice Austen House on Staten Island, home of the first great female photographer.

• The Frick Collection. Once a private home, the Frick Collection houses the family collection of art that was very carefully curated by Henry Clay Frick and his advisors and reflects the “best” curatorial tastes of his day.

• The Cloisters. This museum, a branch of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, was assembled with the ruins of several cloisters and abbeys that housed religious orders in medieval times, and houses the most important collection of medieval and early renaissance art in the Western Hemisphere.

Neighborhoods

Learn the ins and outs of city life as lived by New Yorkers in their own milieus.

The Financial District
The original square mile, a small trading colony of New Amsterdam started by the Dutch West India Company that became a vast metropolis and the financial center of the world.

Greenwich Village and the East Village from Early Suburbia to Cradles of Bohemia
Historic Harlem: Life and Culture from the American Revolution through the Current Renaissance
SoHo - America's Largest Cast Iron District
The Upper West Side and Lincoln Center
The Upper East Side, Wealthy Homes and Social Lives
Williamsburgh (Brooklyn): Contrasts in Culture

Outdoor New York: Urban and Not-So-Urban Horticulture

Enjoy a brief adventure exploring the flora of New York. We can put together several gardens and parks in a single day’ of your overall New York City visit visit, or build an entire tour over several days that incorporates our famous green spaces.

The New York Botanical Garden
Explore one of the oldest and largest botanical gardens in the world, a museum of plants and a world leader in botanical research, with 250 acres of gorgeous grounds, 48 gardens and plant collections (such as daylilies, herbs, native plants, perennials, alpine plants, roses, annuals, magnolias, and tulips, as well as thousands of shrubs and trees), 50 acres of the Forest that once covered all of New York, and the spectacular Enid A. Haupt Conservatory.

Wave Hill: An Oasis of Serenity
A spectacular public garden and cultural center overlooking the Hudson River and Palisades. The Horticulture program develops and maintains internationally acclaimed gardens and horticultural collections that encompass a wide range of hardy and tender plants outdoors, a representative group of tender plants in the main greenhouses, and rock garden plants in the T.H. Everett Alpine House. Wave Hill's horticultural emphasis is on “plantsmanship” and the aesthetics of gardening.

Central Park, New York's Backyard and Glory
In the middle of Manhattan, lies an 840-acre oasis that was among America's first major urban parks, and remains one of landscape architecture's most impressive achievements. Quiet overlooks and intense activity, sculpture and nature, characterize Central Park, an ever-changing yet everlasting tableau of New York's people and interests.

Battery Park: The Meeting Point for Horticulture, Public Art, Architecture and History
Battery Park is still laid out as one of the classic 1930’s era WPA and Robert Moses-inspired public works. However, changes are coming to Battery Park and we will be able to see those changes in progress. Robert F. Wagner, Jr. Park, just north of Battery Park, is a wonderful mix of open lawns and intensively planted gardens, threaded through with paths and walkways. Both parks afford breathtaking views of the Statue of Liberty and New York Harbor in their own fashion.

The Four Squares: Madison Square, Gramercy Park, Stuyvesant Square and Union Square

Statuary New York: an Introduction to Outdoor Sculpture in the City
Meet Audrey Munson, “the American Venus”, supermodel of the 1890’s still seen all over town.

Gothic Gardens of New York: Cathedral of St. John the Divine and The Cloisters
Sit and contemplate within the Cathedral grounds where you can find the herbs, flowering plants, trees and shrubs mentioned in the Bible. The Cloisters, a branch of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, located on four acres overlooking the Hudson River in northern Manhattan, is devoted to the art and architecture of medieval Europe. The building incorporates elements from five medieval French cloisters—quadrangles enclosed by a roofed or vaulted passageway, or arcade—and from other monastic sites. It features gardens planted according to horticultural information found in medieval treatises and poetry, garden documents and herbals.

Rhododendrons and Reptiles (Staten Island Botanical Garden and Zoo)
At the Staten Island Botanical Garden, visit the New York Chinese Scholar's Garden, the only authentic garden of its kind in the country and meet one of its designers; then quietly enter the Connie Gretz Secret Garden, modeled after the children's classic. If Auntie Mame offered us "Rattlesnake, anyone?" at one of her parties, we would know that she wanted us to whisk her off to the Staten Island Zoo, where the Serpentarium houses an internationally renowned display of reptiles including one of the most extensive collections of North American rattlesnakes. Also here is the new "African Savannah at Twilight" exhibit, which highlights leopards, baboons, lizards, and antelope and several lesser-known species in an amazingly realistic representation of the grasslands of central and southern Africa. From the savannah, we will walk through a representation of a South American tropical forest, an endangered habitat with an exciting combination of flora and fauna.

Brooklyn Botanic Garden, Prospect Park and the Brooklyn Museum
This cultural triad in central Brooklyn offers what Calvert Vaux thought of as his best park landscaping designs, while the Botanic Garden’s rose collection and Japanese garden are world famous. While in the neighborhood, drop in on the Egyptian and American art collections at the Brooklyn Museum of Art.

Personal Touches

Paper
Learn to make specialty papers from professional artists who specialize in hand paper making processes and who create contemporary art with paper. Of course you can get any stationery monogrammed so it seems like it’s yours alone, but now you can really have your own paper from the inside out.

Perfume
If you would not want to appear in the same outfit as anyone else at a party, why would you share a fragrance with anyone else? Anyone can wear a department store perfume, but you can visit an award-winning fragrance artist at his studio and create your own personal and unique perfume with him.

Style
Discover your real potential with our image consultant.

Queens

Queens of the Arts
Known as the most diverse borough of New York City, its many attractions in the arts and sciences reflect Queens’ diversity. We will take in the Isamu Noguchi Garden Museum, a comprehensive collection of artwork by sculptor Isamu Noguchi (1904-1988) in a tranquil setting created by the artist; the P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center, affiliated with the Museum of Modern Art; Socrates Sculpture Park, the only site in the New York area specifically dedicated to providing artists with opportunities to create and exhibit large-scale work in a unique outdoor public setting; and the American Museum of the Moving Image, the nation's largest permanent collection of artifacts on the art, history, technique, and technology of film, television, and digital media, perhaps one of New York’s least known and most fascinating museums.

Colonial Queens
Queens' has had a proud role in early American history: Bowne House (1661), home of John Bowne, who was arrested by Peter Stuyvesant in 1662 for letting Quakers worship in his house, and secured the right of religious freedom; the Quaker Meeting House, New York City's oldest house of worship, used continuously since 1694; King Manor Museum, the former home of Rufus King (1725-1827), antislavery stalwart and member of the 1787 constitutional convention, a 200-year-old estate surrounded by 11 acres of original farmland, and housing King's 5,000 volume private library.

Roaming outside Manhattan

A Visit to Hoboken
So close to New York City it has sometimes been called "the sixth borough." Hoboken has become a mecca for artists, students and Wall Streeters on the rise, while retaining its unique identity. Enjoy a ferry ride across the Hudson to the restored Lackawanna Railroad Terminal, which predates Grand Central by a decade, and was the major point of embarkation for immigrants on trains west and debarkation for American troops to Europe in the World Wars. Many of the scenes for On the Waterfront were filmed here. Photo opportunities are boundless on the new waterfront walk. Tour Stevens Institute of Technology, one of America’s top engineering schools and enjoy the best vista of New York City. Lunch at one of the dozens of Hoboken's well-known restaurants, visit artists working in their studios, and get a taste of some of the unique breads at a family-owned bread bakery.

Bountiful Brooklyn
Brownstone-lined streets, cinematic views of the harbor and skyline, and major cultural offerings. Brooklyn Museum and the Brooklyn Botanic Garden are two of the world-renowned venues we will visit.

Surprising Staten Island
Travel to a Himalayan Temple where sculpture, painting, ritual objects and musical instruments from Tibet and other Asian countries are featured. Contemplate the New York Chinese Scholar's Garden, the only authentic garden of its kind in the country. See the finest collection of Greek Revival buildings in the United States at Snug Harbor; and visit the 18th century cottage home of Alice Austen (1866-1952), where are exhibited the works of the first female photographer to capture high and low society in America. Finally, catch everyday colonial life at Historic Richmond Town, a living time capsule of 27 buildings on over 100 acres.

Fabled Estates of Long Island
Ride out to Long Island's Gold Coast, where turn-of-the-century tycoons such as the Vanderbilts, Phipps and Guggenheims summered in opulent mansions and gardens, and F. Scott Fitzgerald located The Great Gatsby. Your visit may include the historic Sands-Willets House (ca. 1735) which predates the invention of the Gold Coast; Chelsea Center, Coe Hall and the Planting Fields Arboretum; Coindre Hall Park; Old Westbury Gardens, the Phipps estate; the C. W. Post College campus including the former homes of E. F. Hutton and Marjorie Merriwether Post, Nassau County Museum of Art (the Frick estate), Sands Point Preserve (the Guggenheims), Wiley Hall (U.S. Merchant Marine Academy); or Teddy Roosevelt's stately summer home, Sagamore Hill. (Various mansions are open at different days and seasons.)

Exploring the Hudson Valley
Take a full day to focus on the great estates in the Hudson Valley, their art collections and extensive gardens, most with unforgettable views of the River.

• Hyde Park (April to September only). Visit Springwood, the historic home of Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt and site of the Roosevelt Presidential Library, the Vanderbilt Mansion National Historic Site, an opulent, classical mansion in the grand European scale, where Vanderbilts entertained guests arriving via the Hudson; and the Mills Mansion, a neo-classical, Stanford White work, furnished in formal Louis XV and XVI styles with romantic gardens leading to the Hudson.

• Sleepy Hollow Neighbors (April to October; not on Tuesdays). In the villages of Tarrytown and Sleepy Hollow, visit Washington Irving's own home, Sunnyside, as well as the estates of Jay Gould and the Rockefellers. Lyndhurst is Jay Gould's gothic revival castle on the Hudson. Then tour Kykuit, the grandest of the Tarrytown estates, where four generations of Rockefellers lived. John D. Rockefeller Jr. built the house and exquisite formal gardens for his father in 1913, the art gallery influenced by Abbey Aldrich Rockefeller, an avid art collector and founder of the Museum of Modern Art.

• Boscobel and West Point (April through December except Tuesdays and holidays). High above the Hudson River Valley, Boscobel, perhaps the most outstanding example of New York Federal domestic architecture remaining in the U.S., commands a picturesque landscape. Across the river lies West Point, one of the most popular tourist destinations in New York, where we will join the guided tour of the U.S. Military Academy. We will also see the West Point Museum, preserving 200 years of our military history. (Photo identification is required of all visitors.)

• Frederick Church's Oleana and Antiquing in Hudson (Thursday through Sunday; April to October only). Hudson, New York, in upstate Columbia County, has become the most important antiques center in the Northeast. More than 60 dealers cater to a range of interests: fine and folk paintings and prints; American, English and European furniture; textiles; ceramics and porcelain; books and postcards; antique metalware; architectural and decorative accessories, garden ornaments and even old kimonos. In the morning, visit Oleana, the Moorish-style country villa of landscape painter Frederic E. Church, built between 1870 and 1891. The house still contains its original furnishings and decor. Then visit Hudson's antique shops, meet the dealers and exercise your imagination. It may be surprising to learn that Hudson, so far upriver, was a whaling center in the early 19th century, but many Nantucketers settled there. From the Curtiss House's view of the river, the whaling captain's wife could watch for her husband to return from the sea.

Shopping

Shopping in New York can be practically a profession. Our specialists will give you a leg up on becoming one of the cognoscenti on visits to "to-the-trade-only" showrooms and word-of-mouth specialists offering unique merchandise in unique ways. Team up with our image consultant for a truly special personal shopping experience.

Buying at Auction: Finding a Bargain, Trusting Your Eye and Watching Your Wallet
Fashion: Collections and Collecting
Sample Sales and Discount Discoveries
New and Heirloom Silver
Porcelain and Fine China for the Table and Décor
Rare Books
From the Kitchen to the Table: Tools and Looks for Gourmets and Cooks
Antiques in Interior Design: Special Looks You Can Create
Flea Markets and Warehouse Tours
The Wholesale Flower Market
Urban Archaeology: Exploring the Salvage Companies for a Piece of New York

Theater and Performing Arts - Make your theater outing truly a special event.

In Front of the Footlights: Broadway Yesterday and Today
Hosted by a leading theater historian and licensed New York City tour guide, learn the who, why, where and how of the Great White Way. On this walking tour, you will visit some of Broadway’s most historic theaters, landmarks and behind the scene locations. In 90 minutes, explore the personalities, creative and financial aspects of Broadway. Find out where the stars really dine. Explore the rich history of Times Square and experience the revitalization of the crossroads of the world with its unique architecture, tourist attractions and characters. A great overview for all ages and for anyone who might have a little show biz in their blood. Ideal for a pre-theater activity that would make your “matinee day” a fuller experience.

Broadway Behind the Curtain
An extensive look at the workings of Broadway and Times Square, hosted by a leading theater historian and licensed New York City tour guide. This two hour walking tour gives an in depth look at what it takes to put on a show from concept to opening night. Learn about the audition process, producing, design and the day-to-day operation of Broadway’s greatest shows, and visit some legendary hangouts of the Broadway elite. An intensive discussion of Broadway history gives a keen insight on the ever-changing tastes and secrets of the Great White Way: which theaters are lucky, unlucky and haunted, and how to get the best seats to even the hottest shows. You might even get a chance to meet a working Broadway performer. Great for all ages and for anyone who always wanted to be a star on Broadway.

Broadway Center Stage
The ultimate Broadway experience – this four-hour plus tour is for serious theater enthusiasts. Be part of the inner workings of Broadway: tour and discuss the theater with a leading theater historian, producer and licensed New York City tour guide. You will visit working Broadway professionals at work. You can dine with a Broadway Performer or Technician, meet a Stagehand or Stage Manager, visit a theatrical agency, a prop shop, a costume collection, a Producer’s office, a wig-making studio, a Broadway advertising agency, or a set and lighting design studio, participate in an Acting or Dance class, or even get a private voice or acting lesson taught by a Broadway professional. This four-hour plus customized tour is for serious theater enthusiasts and is limited to no more than 10 guests.

Under New York

A Moving Story of Millions
Start your tour Grand Central Terminal - a beaux-arts masterpiece and complex marvel of functionality and the grand gateway to the city. Then view art and architecture in the Subways and visit the New York Transit Museum, America's largest collection of real vintage subway cars and paraphernalia. Meet the people responsible for the running and the renovation of the subway system.

Visual New York

Photo Ops
Our specialists will escort you to the fountains, vistas, landmarks, the familiar and the unusual, where you can exercise yourself and your imagination behind and in front of the camera. Visit sites famous and infamous to snap or shoot. You can be in pictures, with professional advice on how to pose for them, or create your own series of New York photographs that will outdo anything found on a postcard. Or, you be the subject for a professional photographer who will accompany you.

Captured Images, Still and Moving
We begin the morning with a visit to the International Center of Photography and a tour of the Museum of Modern Art, which was one of the very first fine art centers that included photography as an art form. Then ride over to Queens for the Museum of the Moving Image and return to Manhattan to visit the Museum of Television and Radio where you can indulge your memory and imagination.

You’re in the Picture
Be your own next top model. Spend the day touring New York with a professional photographer for the best shots of you in the New York scene. Learn how to show yourself in the best possible light with your licensed tour guide and professional fashion model.

Waterfront New York

Shipping, Commerce and the New York Seaport
From the first landing of the Dutch traders on Manhattan Island, New York has been a center of world commerce because of its unrivalled harbor and seaport. Learn about the colorful history of New York's harbor from both the land side and the water side.

New York's Waterways: Bridges and Boats
Tour New York from the unique perspective of its harbor – the wharves from the water, the bridges from the bridged. See New York from the perspective of a sailor or a tugboat captain. Limited to five guests plus tour guide.

South Street Seaport
A personal tour of archaeology, history, and preservation.

Xylophones

And musical instruments of every type. Find that just-right guitar, explore the collections of classic and vintage instruments of all types, and meet working professional musicians.

Yesterday's Society

Edith Wharton's New York
Meet at a private club housed in a late 19th century brownstone to begin an inside look at the life of a remarkable woman whose interests spanned literature, architecture, gardening, art and interior design. In spite of her upper-class background, Edith Wharton became a well- loved diarist of New York at the turn of the century. Enjoy lunch at a historic restaurant and take a walking tour of the historic area that was called the Ladies Mile in Edith Wharton's day.

Teddy Roosevelt's New York
First, we will visit the restored childhood home of the only president born in New York City and learn about its history and the city life of the Roosevelt family. You will discover the personal story of the sickly child who became a political powerhouse, and had an enormous influence on New York and transformed our country. On our walk in the Gramercy Park neighborhood to the Players Club for lunch, your guide will share information about society in T.R.'s era. Following lunch, we will head out to Long Island to see Sagamore Hill, the historic "Summer White House" in Oyster Bay, where T.R. entertained visiting heads of state and ran the country. (A special guide who impersonates this remarkable man can be hired to give your group a bigger sense of his personality.)

Zoos

The mission of zoos has changed incredibly over the past century, changing from mere places to exhibit captured wild animals to places of education for the conservation of species and the natural environment. The Wildlife Conservation Society leads the world in this effort save wildlife and wild lands throughout the world, and we can visit the wildlife parks right in New York to gain an understanding of our planet's biological diversity and meet some of the people involved.

Bronx Zoo
With its pioneering efforts to place animals within the context of their natural habitat, the Bronx Zoo has secured its place as one of the foremost zoos in the world. Walk among environments that include African Plains, the Aquatic Bird House, the World of Darkness, the World of Birds, Wild Asia, Jungle World, the Congo Gorilla Forest and the spectacular Butterfly Zone.

New York Aquarium
From whales to walruses, from sharks to seahorses, the Aquarium reflects the diversity of marine life itself. The environments to encounter at the Aquarium include Sea Cliffs, a 300 foot-long recreation of the rocky Pacific coast, and Explore the Shore, where we can touch sea stars and experience the energy of a 400-gallon wave crashing on a rocky coast while we stand dry underneath. Atlantic bottlenose dolphins perform in the Aquatheater, from May to October.

Central Park and the Zoo
Tucked in a corner of Central Park is a rain forest that's home to tropical birds, rare monkeys, and fascinating reptiles and amphibians; an icy Antarctic habitat for penguins; a comfortable meeting place for children and gentle creatures; and a watery lunch for sea lions. More than 1,400 animals, of more than 130 species live here. After we become acquainted with some of Manhattan's most unusual residents, we will explore the glories of Central Park, playground of many more of Manhattan’s most unusual residents.

Please always call or e-mail us to confirm the availability of specific tours, as many venues are not available on some days or in some seasons.