More of a "Lone Ranger", I often prefer to travel alone and to be self-guided, meaning I am not exactly a "group tour kind of person"... at least I was not, until I had the chance to take a walking tour offered by Streetwise New York.
A couple of weeks ago, as I was spending a few days at Pod 39 in Midtown NYC, I got curious about the complimentary walking tours granted by the hotel twice a week, in association with Streetwise. So I decided to give it a shot, for the tour had also been effusively recommended by the concierge. Indeed, it turned out to be a wonderful experience. Those guys (Andrew and Dan, partners on Streetwise) do deliver the most pleasant and illuminating walk, for those interested in information that goes far beyond the standard. Actually, the extraordinary thing about it may reside in the very fact they also cover some ordinary, yet much curious stuff related to the visited spots. The tour I took was led by Andrew, who guided us, a party of less than 20 (in my opinion, an ideal number of people), to the Lower East Side and Chinatown. Within two hours, he gave us some enlightening piece of info about all the migratory flows that have been constantly changing the face of those neighborhoods, as well as some peculiar inputs on culture, urban art, architecture, religion, food and more. I totally "gave in" to this tour and I strongly recommend Streetwise New York to anyone willing to visit the city. I've already spread the word among my friends so now, I'm taking the time to share it on Trip Advisor, because it is worthwhile. I'd also like to share the following news link, which, I believe, is truthful to their "spirit"... enjoy! http://blogs.villagevoice.com/runninscared/2011/06/andrew_silverst.php