A series of special tours for Brookdale Community College
Posted: Jun 20, 2013 | 12:56 PM
by Jared Goldstein
I am doing a series of special tours for Brookdale Community College.
http://www.brookdalecc.edu
Walking Tours
- The Avenue We’re Taking You To – 42nd Street! – From The UN To Grand Central
- Alphabet City – Community Gardens Tour; Ave A Was Alright. B Was Be Careful. C Was Crazy. And D Was Dead.
- Washington Heights – Many Surprises And Much Diversity
- Harlem Walking Tour – Gospel Music; Apollo Theater; African Burial Ground
The Avenue We’re Taking You To - 42nd Street! – From The UN To Grand Central Celebrate the Centennial of Grand Central Terminal! Tour this temple of speed and visit its monumental neighbors. See one of the first “green
buildings” as well as Tudor City, the first residential skyscraper complex in the world. Check out Clark Kent’s Daily Planet Building Lobby, the United Nations, and Art Deco exteriors. Lunch is not included; however, we’ll dine together at the Grand Central Dining Concourse, indulging our senses in an intriguing mix of dining and people watching.
Mon, Jun 24, 9:30 am-5 pm
Fee and Code: $65, XTRVY 004 W
Alphabet City – Community Gardens Tour; Ave A Was Alright. B Was Be Careful. C Was Crazy. And D Was Dead.
The area made famous by Rent, Batteries Not Included, The Super, and 200 Cigarettes was seemingly an urban wasteland 20 years ago. Ravaged by neglect and arson, collapsed buildings became vacant lots favored by
drug dealers and addicts. The neighborhood was the starting point for waves of poor immigrants and in-migrants, and then Beats, Hippies, artists, punks, and squatters. All met in these vacant lots, clearing them out, forming communities, and turning blight to hope – to blossoms, which ironically, sparked a real estate boom. For the first time in its history, Alphabet City is home to millionaires. See the garden founded by an elderly southern woman who watered the drug dealers along with her
roses. Led by a local who has gardened and worked with housing in the neighborhood, tour a sampling of the East Village’s 50 community gardens growing where hundreds of buildings once housed tens of thousands of people. We’ll see urban farming, casitas, botanical gardens, performance
spaces, and wildlife! Lunch is not included; however, group will dine together in a local restaurant. Please note: tour involves walking on uneven surfaces in rustic conditions.
Sat, Aug 24, 9 am-5 pm
Fee and Code: $65, XTRVY 021 W
Washington Heights – Many Surprises And Much Diversity
Explore a magnificent museum full of Spanish masterpieces – El Grecos, Goyas, and Velazquez - that would be the treasure of any city, but many may not even know about: The Hispanic Society. Next door is the American Numismatic Society, with nearly a million coins from across
the world and the ages. Across the way is Trinity, an Episcopalian cemetery, the permanent home of prominent New Yorkers, such as Mayor Koch, a proud Jewish patriot, and Fernando Wood who wanted NYC to secede to support the Confederacy. Encounter Victorian era Sylvan Terrace with wooden row houses on a tree-lined lane leading to the 18th century Morris-Jumel Mansion that housed George Washington and a gold-digging Parisian Madame. Now it overlooks Yankee Stadium and the Polo Grounds. All in the largest Dominican city outside the Dominican Republic, the
inspiration for the Tony Award-winning In the Heights.
Thurs, Sep 12, 9 am-5 pm
Fee and Code: $65, XTRVY 024 W
Harlem Walking Tour - Gospel Music; Apollo Theater; African Burial Ground
Be inspired by a tour of the Apollo Theater, the “Mecca of Black Entertainment”. Many of the names immortalized on the Walk of Fame came from the church with traditions going back to African days. Start the day uplifted by the voices of gospel music at Greater Refuge Temple. We’ll lunch on our own but together at a self-serve soul food cafeteria. Hop back on the bus for a guided tour of the African Burial Ground National Monument.
Sun, Sep 22, 9 am-5 pm
Fee and Code: $65, XTRVY 026 W