We selected and paid extra for the open air bus with a small group which was fabulous. The people checking us in to the tour and the bus driver were dressed very professionally and the bus was very clean and well stocked with water. Unfortunately our guide started out having a bad day which we felt affected the tour. He arrived with a bloody hand and spent time dumping bottles of water over his bleeding finger, so may have been in pain. Most tours start out with the guide introducing him/herself and asking where people are from, which would have been nice. We did end up finding this out, but had to ask as were were walking. Our guide, Chris, did finally get into his "script", but we felt we missed historical information about some of the stops. For example, he did not know who designed Central Park when we asked, so we had to look up as we went. Also he lost his flag at the first stop so picked up a stick and taped a dollar bill and red card to it, which we found amusing, but out of character with the tour professionalism. (When we were in the crowds boarding and off boarding the Staten Island Ferry it was useful to look for the dollar bill stick because he walked so fast through the crowd, we were very concerned we would not be able to keep up and make the Ferry. ) It also would have been nice to know how far we needed to walk at each stop since it was a hot, humid afternoon and the end of the tour became a physical endurance test.