Having only a limited number of days in New York to check items off our bucket list, we needed an excellent guide with a plethora of knowledge and enough spare energy to keep us going.
I fortunately found New York Historical Tours under the ownership and direction of Kevin Draper, CEO (Chief Experience Officer). My wife and I had used a private tour guide while in Scotland, and had a wonderful one on one experience ~ away from groups and tailored to fit our style of tourism. Kevin was incredibly knowledgable, affable, professional and customized our bucket list to 1) see the Statue of Liberty with pedestal access and the new museum, 2) get a brief but comprehensive history of Ellis Island without disembarking, 3) work our way to Katz’s Delicatessen (we are big “When Harry Met Sally” fans) all the while getting a feel and history of the local neighborhoods, as well as learning how to use the Metro system to develop a nice level of familiarity and comfort in the East Side of Manhattan where we were staying.
A standout feature on a tour with Kevin is his attention to detail in planning our time together. I call him the Master of Timing and Positioning. For example he suggested catching the first ferry to the Statue of LIberty. When we met him, he had already purchased our tickets. While on the ferry, he kept us comfortably shaded, then took us to key positions to get the best views of Lady Liberty while giving us an incredibly interesting history of the Statue. By the time we left the island, it was getting swamped with tourists and school groups. Superb timing indeed.
On the way to the Metro, he pointed out the very interesting history of Battery Park and surrounding buildings and branch of the Smithsonian museum. We wound our way through Little Italy, Chinatown, Nolita and Jewish neighborhoods on the way to Katz’s. Amazingly the line was short, but a madhouse inside. Kevin knew how to maneuver to the right cutter, get a table and we had a delicious lunch. As we left, the line had grown to over a block long with over an hour wait. Again the Master’s timing was impeccable. He gave us more fascinating history of different areas as we headed back to the Metropolitan Museum where we ended our incredible tour.
Our 6 hour private tour went by so quickly, and we were comfortably exhausted. As a historian, Kevin is a walking talking wealth of knowledge about New York, and has tremendous pride in this amazing city. We can enthusiastically recommend him for those seeking the best in personal tours of the Big Apple. In fact, we look forward to using his services on a return trip to New York which can’t come soon enough.