FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) About Your Tour of Brooklyn (or Beyond)
Map of Brooklyn neighborhoods, By Peter Fitzgerald [CC BY 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
Disclaimer: Most are "Occasionally Asked Questions." The most important ones are at the top.
What are the top misconceptions about visiting Brooklyn?
Some people think it's just a "neighborhood"! Others think or hope they can see a wide range of neighborhoods and sites in two or three hours.
I do like wide-ranging tour routes and can manage a fast pace, but Brooklyn is very large, so it can take a while to travel between different neighborhoods or landmarks.
This FAQ was too short (ha), so I made a list about misconceptions.
What do you recommend for a first tour?
As a good introduction to the history and feel of Brooklyn, I recommend Brooklyn 101 or Brooklyn 202. For more of the buzz, try Williamsburg or Greenpoint.
The Lower East Side helps explain the huge wave of Eastern European Jewish immigration, the construction of a "usable past," and the complicated legacy of urban renewal.
To understand today's immigrant New York, Jackson Heights in Queens and Sunset Park in Brooklyn are significant neighborhoods.
Why can't you just take us to the highlights (restaurants, stores, attractions) we compiled from reading and social media?
I strongly recommend that you not hopscotch between distant neighborhoods in one short visit, as some travel guide articles misleadingly suggest! Rather, consider attractions and neighborhoods relatively close together.
Why can't we reserve a specific time via an immediate online link?
As a one-guide operation, my availability varies. I promise to respond promptly.
How can we choose between Brooklyn 101 and Williamsburg?
Brooklyn 101 is my best effort to sample neighborhoods, institutions, and cultural centers key to the history and evolution of Brooklyn.
The Williamsburg tour covers a large, complicated, much-buzzed and recently changing neighborhood that is less central to the overall story of Brooklyn. It has far fewer tree-lined streets and no impressive row-house architecture. It's still interesting and "fun"!
What is your "most interesting" tour? What is your "most recommended" tour?
These are actual questions. To answer, I need to know what you have already seen in Brooklyn/NYC, and what you find most interesting and/or are most curious about.
What's your favorite tour?
If you pick it, I will tell you, but it's not one I recommend as a first tour in Brooklyn for new visitors.
Otherwise, I appreciate the opportunity to modify or customize one of my standard tours to incorporate a new query, such as the location of a relative's house or school.
Can you modify tours?
Of course. I can modify all tours to add or subtract scope to make the most of your logistics.
One couple interested in my Brooklyn 101 tour was staying in Windsor Terrace, not far from Park Slope. Rather than have them travel to the typical "starting point" for that tour, I met them at their location and we added an interesting half-hour walk to the tour.
Are the people who go on your tours locals or tourists?
It's a mix. Some are Brooklynites or Manhattanites, or former New Yorkers. Others come from the metro area, other parts of the United States, or abroad. (I got a good number of Australians, it turns out, at least pre-pandemic.)
Some have visiting friends and family who they want to show around. Some are New Yorkers wanting to explore more of their city.
Some have just moved to Brooklyn, or are planning a move. A growing number stay at hotels, guest houses, or AirBnB's in Brooklyn.
Why do you prefer that clients initially use email, rather than call?
I provide personal service, so I'd rather not play phone tag. My website provides a lot of information. I hope that makes the process efficient.
If you want a same-day tour and start with a call, please also try email, because the important questions on the Contact Form speed the process.
f you want a custom tour, I hope to learn your required stops before we talk. My business model is less like a "store" (open to calls at any time) than a "consultant" (let me assess whether I can be helpful).
Why don't you provide a list of all the spots on a tour?
First. that's giving away my "product." More importantly, I modify and customize tours regularly, for example adjusting the starting place and modifying the route, based on pace and interest.
How soon should we reserve?
Some people reserve many months in advance, some at the last minute. In general, a few weeks' notice is wise, especially in the busier months (Spring and Fall).
In the Winter, I can often be flexible about timing, so we can wait to check the weather.
Your tours sound pretty fast-paced. We're not. Will you slow down?
Faster-paced tours can let us see more in a relatively short time period. A private tour means that you can have your preferred pace--just let me know!
If you're worried about walking, the DUMBO & Brooklyn Heights tour offers a relatively gentle route.
Are bathrooms available on the tours?
I always try to plan for public bathrooms or private locations (like cafes) where a bathroom may be available.
Also, please take advantage of bathroom options before you meet me.
If we live in Brooklyn, can we enjoy your tours?
I've led many tours for Brooklynites, some new arrivals, some exploring a neighborhood they think they know, or one new to them.
Or they might be local residents having friends or relatives visit.
Are the tours appropriate for children?
They're not geared to children, though I can adapt them. Over the years, several energetic and curious kids/teens have enjoyed them, especially when they "get" that I'm not testing them with my questions, just trying to prompt their observations.
Rarely do people bring small children or babies; please check with me first. With a stroller, we must move more slowly and keep to a level terrain.
What tours are best for teens?
I'd say the East Village or Williamsburg.
I'm a solo woman. Would it be "weird" to spend a few hours walking around with you?
One female client told me she had had that thought, but decided to go ahead with the tour, and she thought it went fine.
I've periodically led tours for various solo visitors.
Why aren't you listed on a portal site (Tours By Locals, Get Your Guide, Viator, etc.) that we find convenient to use?
Well, I'd have to increase my fees, since such sites take a significant cut of revenue. Also, they'd constrain my flexibility.
How did the pandemic change your tours?
I think the "time off" improved my tours, since I've done deeper research on tour topics. I bring more images now. Nearly every tour has a binder full of images.
Why "New York Like a Native" if you focus on Brooklyn?
Well, I've branched out beyond Brooklyn, to Manhattan and Queens. Most importantly, "like a native" implies a New Yorker's sense of pace and place.
Manhattan is already well-served by guides. I have long led tours in Manhattan's Lower East Side, where I have decades of experience and which has links to Brooklyn's Williamsburg. I have since added the adjacent East Village.
If groups want to hire me for a longer period, I can add on parts of Manhattan. For example, I met a group at Moynihan Station and took them to DUMBO and the Lower East Side, plus Grand Central Station and the Staten Island Ferry.
In 2014, I launched my first Queens tour, in Long Island City, which is a cousin of sorts to Greenpoint and Williamsburg. I have since added Queens tours in Sunnyside & LIC East and in Jackson Heights, and am working on more.
Why do you call the combination of three Queens neighborhoods along the 7 subway line a "Slice of Queens" rather than "Queens 101"?
Queens is so big and spread-out, it's impossible to parallel elements of Brooklyn 101 (major park, central library, major museum, downtown) into a single Queens tour.
Still, the three neighborhoods--Long Island City, Sunnyside, and Jackson Heights--offer a great introduction to Queens.
By not offering regular tours of Manhattan's most popular sites, you're not trying to maximize your income?
Right. As I once told a visitor, my goal is not the most clients, but the right clients.
How do we know we're the right clients?
Well, if you're reading this far, you're on your way! Most people don't read the FAQ.
How can we be even better clients?
Read this.
How many neighborhoods are there? Where do you lead tours in Brooklyn?
The map above shows Brooklyn's breadth. See home page for neighborhoods where I lead tours.
Can you lead a tour outside the neighborhoods you list?
Sure. It may require some extra research. I don't lead walking tours in East Flatbush, Brownsville, East New York, Marine Park, and Sheepshead Bay, but I have guided groups on vehicle or subway tours that included those neighborhoods.
In some neighborhoods (Bay Ridge, Bensonhurst, Sunset Park), my tours derived from requests.
Do you lead tours in The Bronx or Staten Island?
Those are too far away for me to research a tour.
If we reserve a 2.5-hour tour, can we extend it?
Yes. You can decide during the tour, once you assess endurance, weather, budget, and your comfort level with me, at least if I don't have another obligation afterward.
Can we do a tour less than 2.5 hours?
Sure, though my base fee (other than for Dyker Heights Christmas Lights) for small groups assumes a 2.5-hour tour.
For classes or large groups, though, sometimes a 2-hour is best.
What's the most walking you've ever done in a day?
Nearly 35,000 steps, 13+ miles. Two different private tours: a 3.5-hour tour, then a 2-hour break, then a 5-hour tour.
Can you combine a religious Jewish neighborhood and a trendy neighborhood?
Yes, but not in 2.5 hours, unless you're focusing only on Williamsburg or Crown Heights, both of which are large neighborhoods with a religious Jewish segment.
Otherwise, I recommend first the 3-hour Brooklyn 101 tour. We can add an extension to Jewish Crown Heights (+ 1 hour) or Jewish Williamsburg (+ 1.5 hours). We might be able to do both.
Please note that "Jewish neighborhoods" are not all the same or near each other.
Can you lead an "immigrant neighborhoods" tour?
In Brooklyn, Sunset Park shows the presence of a significant amount of immigration, from China and Latin America, including Mexico and Puerto Rico. (People from Puerto Rico are not immigrants, as they are American citizens.)
In Queens, the hyperdiverse Jackson Heights has immigrants from an even greater number of places, especially if we dip into adjacent Woodside, Elmhurst, and/or Corona.
What ethnic neighborhood are there? Can we visit some of these "ethnic neighborhoods"?
Yes, but note... there are many ethnic groups in Brooklyn, some longstanding, some not:
Many of these neighborhoods are not the focus of my listed tours, because they don't have the most notable history, architecture, or institutions. But they're still interesting.
Can you lead a food tour?
Yes--and no. Some companies offer food tours in which large (or small) groups only aim to sample, and move relatively slowly.
I generally prefer to highlight neighborhoods in a broader fashion, but can incorporate food stops. Just ask. Dessert and/or ice cream work especially well.
Do you offer a Black history tour?
Not as such. I've conceptualized my tours as introductions to neighborhoods.
So a neighborhood like Bed-Stuy, long the heart of African-American Brooklyn, includes Black history, sparked by walking past certain institutions/buildings, businesses/organizations, and even murals and street co-namings.
Black Brooklyn history is part of other tours, such as a walk (in Brooklyn 202 and Fort Greene/Clinton Hill) past the Shirley Chisholm state office building in Fort Greene, named for the first Black woman in Congress.
Can you take us to Green-Wood Cemetery? (aka Greenwood Cemetery)
Sure. I'm enthusiastic about tours there, and can be flexible on time. See more here.
This is typically on foot, but if you have a vehicle, we can see more.
They offer their own excellent tours, some in trolleys.
Can we visit the former site of Ebbets Field, where the Brooklyn Dodgers played?
Yes, if you're truly a completist. But there's not much of visual interest, given that an undistinguished housing development was built there.
That site is not part of my tours, but is not far, by subway, from my Brooklyn 101 / Brooklyn 202 or Flatbush tours. So we could add it.
Can we bring our dog?
Sorry, these tours are for humans, not pets. If you have a service dog, please contact me so we can discuss.
Can I smoke on the tour?
Please don't--your guide is very allergic. If you must, please step a good distance away.
It's cold or wet or really hot. How can we do a tour but avoid the elements?
My tours--other than vehicle tours--are mostly outdoors, so please dress for the weather!
I can try to build in some stops (public buildings, cafes, shops, a bus ride) to get out of the cold or heat briefly.
If you supply a vehicle, of course, I'm happy to join you.
What tours are seasonal?
The Dyker Heights Holiday Lights tour can only be done between Thanksgiving and New Year's Eve.
The Flatbush tour is offered year-round, but is especially fun just before Halloween.
When the leaves change color in the fall, green neighborhoods include those in Brooklyn 101, Brooklyn 202, Fort Greene/Clinton Hill, Carroll Gardens/Cobble Hill, Flatbush, Park Slope, and Sunnyside.
While Coney Island can be visited year-round, it's best to go when the rides are running: late May through early September. Weekend activity may start in April and continue through September, sometimes October.
How should we dress for the cold weather?
The more layers, the better. During the winter, I do try to make occasional stops indoors, but please be prepared!
Wear a hat. Wear long underwear. You might even try toe warmers.
Do you offer tours in Spanish? Multilingual tours?
Sorry, but as a typical American; I'm not multilingual.
You can find multilingual guides via the Guides Association of New York, of which I'm a member. I've led several tours working with translators.
Do tours start on time?
I am on time/early 99% of the time.
While I appreciate promptness, note that some tour starting places are chosen for convenience near subway stops, and may not be the best place to linger.
So if you're planning to be very early, please alert me first, or get a snack.
My rare public group tours start on time; why disadvantage those who are prompt? We typically don't leave the starting place for 10-15 minutes. So latecomers to public tours may miss some history/background, but shouldn't miss the walk.
Is public transportation included in the price? Food?
No. You can use a credit card or phone to pay via the OMNY reader.
Food is extra. I can recommend places for a snack, meal, or dessert. (A meal adds time to a tour, of course.)
I also can also you to a restaurant or food hall after the tour.
We'd like to drive to the starting place of a tour and park near there--can that work?
Well, yes, but... my tours are generally conceptualized as Point A to Point Z, with start and end points near public transit.
So the routes infrequently circle back toward/near the starting place.
Still, to return to the starting place, you could always take public transit or a vehicle (or walk).
Sometimes, depending on the neighborhood, I can route the tour in more of a circle.
We'd like a tour in a car or bus--do you drive?
Guiding takes concentration, so another driver is required.
Can a tour work if a family member drives?
Maybe, but remember that legal parking is often difficult, so the driver may have to remain while others exit.
If you'd like everyone to get out several times and walk, I recommend that the driver focus on driving.
We only eat kosher--are kosher meals available on private tours?
In certain neighborhoods, sure: Williamsburg, Crown Heights, Midwood, Borough Park.
Can you lead a family reunion tour, or a 70th birthday tour, involving custom research?
Of course. Those can be very interesting and satisfying, for both you and for me.
I usually add a research fee, depending on the list of locations you have relevant to family history, since I must develop a custom route.
Please compile the key locations/addresses beforehand and let me know when you contact me.
Usually the route can include other interesting things on the way.
Can we walk the Brooklyn Bridge before the Brooklyn 101 or 202 tours?
Sure, my route typically starts in DUMBO.
Alternatively, the Brooklyn Museum and/or Brooklyn Botanic Garden are great to visit before these tours, as they can be nearby the start. (That means the tours would end in DUMBO).
Also, we can simply do the DUMBO/Brooklyn Heights tour, and maybe continue into nearby Cobble Hill & Carroll Gardens.
Why can't you just charge $25-$40/person and open tours up to larger groups?
My business model is small-group private tours--except for the infrequent times I lead tours for an established organization, college, or company.
Others operate regularly scheduled public group tours with as many as 15 or 20 or even 30 people, charging per ticket.
If I did that, I might earn more money, but would not be as nimble. I prefer my way.
What's the difference between a group of 2 and a group of 6? A group of 6 and a group of 12?
Well, the smaller the group, the more nimble we can be. That's a standard trade-off.
With a group larger than (approximately) 6 people, it gets tougher to be able to walk together on narrow sidewalks, and for me to talk to the group while walking.
So a group of 12, while "small" by many tour companies' standards, requires a lot more management to find places to gather together to listen to the guide (and not block others.)
Why can't you add us to someone else's tour?
Sorry, I understand the rationale, but... that never works out logistically, so I don't try.
What are the pros and cons of a one-guide operation?
I'm not always available, so larger companies may be more flexible.
However, my clients always get me as the guide. I can try to recommend other guides, but you'll deal with them separately.
What gives *you* the right to lead tours of certain neighborhoods, especially if you don't live there, or the neighborhood is ethnically/racially/religiously different?
A professional tour guide has done some homework, and has organized the tour using that expertise.
Yes, a person/resident from, say, an tenants' group, a business improvement district, an activist group, the local community board, a religious body, historic preservation group, or an artists' collective might lead a different (and worthy!) neighborhood tour.
You get my considered assessment, based on my research, experience, and sensibility.
What are some unusual tours you've led?
Do you really have an "encyclopedic knowledge" of Brooklyn?
Well, Thomas Wolfe said the borough was so complex that "Only the Dead Know Brooklyn."
I know a lot, but I'm always learning. (I do know there's a mystery by that name.)
Can you lead a tour of Prospect Park?
My Brooklyn 101 and Brooklyn 202 tours include a relatively brief visit to the park.
My Park Slope tour also could include a brief visit. If you'd like a full tour of the park, please try Custom NYC Tours or Turnstile Tours.
What's a brownstone? How do we get a look at brownstone interiors?
A brownstone is a row house clad in brown sandstone, popular in 19th century Brooklyn.
"Brownstone Brooklyn" is an umbrella term for row-house neighborhoods built in the 19th and early 20th centuries, including limestone and brick buildings.
Some Brownstone Brooklyn neighborhood organizations offer house tours in spring and fall. I often bring some photos of house interiors.
Do you offer tours of matzo factories?
Well, not officially. Once we could go by Streit's on the Lower East Side and take a peek. (Alas, no more.)
But it may be possible to make an impromptu visit during a Brooklyn tour to Crown Heights or Borough Park, only in the pre-Passover season, of course.
What about tours of TV/movie locations, including Spike Lee's Brooklyn locations or sites in the HBO show "Girls"?
Not really--though I can stop at a couple of places. A full tour requires a bus (which means a large group).
What about a literary tour of Brooklyn?
Literary locations can range far afield, so it depends on the time you have available, your transportation mode, and the number of authors in which you are interested. There are many Brooklyn authors--the Brooklyn Public Library's literary tour can't include a majority.
Please recognize that most "Brooklyn writers" are "writers who live in Brooklyn," not "writers about Brooklyn," as Colson Whitehead wrote.
That said, I'm happy to take you to locations mentioned in books like (for example) Pete Hamill's A Drinking Life, which has several Park Slope addresses.
Can you lead a Battle of Brooklyn (aka Battle of Long Island) tour?
Yes, but... even a limited set of locations will not be close together, so budget time to travel between locations.
Also, it requires walking up some hills, including in Fort Greene Park and Green-Wood Cemetery plus, if you're a completist, a walk into the heart of Prospect Park.
How about a hip-hop tour?
Well, my Bedford-Stuyvesant tour can touch on hip-hop, but it's not a hip-hop tour.
Brooklyn is changing, as gentrification overtakes some hip-hop spots. (Others offer hip-hop tours.)
Can you lead a tour of the Brooklyn Navy Yard or the Brooklyn Army Terminal?
No. That's the specialty of Turnstile Tours.
If we can't come to Brooklyn/New York, how can you work with us online?
I've developed two Coney Island webinars (digital presentations), which should intrigue anyone curious about that legendary place.
I've also developed an Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park/Barclays Center webinar, which is more geared to classes and professionals involved in urban planning, architecture, real estate, and Brooklyn history.
Can you offer advice on planning our overall visit: transportation, restaurants, hotels?
Sure, though please hire me first for a tour and pay a deposit and/or a consultation fee,
Consider other sources, such as TripAdvisor and Yelp. Please see my blog for various advice
Some neighborhoods are very large, and the "value" of staying in them depends on proximity to transit, shopping, etc., so it pays to focus on the specific location, not just the neighborhood. Try Google Street View.
Are there any scams we should avoid on visiting New York City?
Yes. Please check out these tips, from the Guides Association of NYC, regarding fake monks, CD sellers, Battery Park ticket sellers, and Ground Zero street sellers.
Do you accept barter payments?
Not typically, but I'd consider it. What do you have to trade?
For restaurants/bars/hotels in Brooklyn/NYC, I'd consider trading a tour for your staff or clients in exchange for food-and-beverage credit.
(This is not the same as me supplying clients to you; I'd offer a tour/orientation for your staff or as a bonus/perk for your customers.)
How can we save on some good restaurant meals in NYC and around the country?
Thanks for asking. Here's my post with some good advice, and link to a discount. Really.
Is Brooklyn safe? Is the subway safe? Are your tours safe?
Most places where tourists go are quite safe, and crime has been decreasing since the peak some 30 years ago.
I still take the subway, of course, but I advise vigilance--see this blog post.
This is a city; visitors should be especially vigilant at night and on lightly populated streets, and avoid confrontations on the subway.
Some neighborhoods are safer than others, and some parts of neighborhoods safer than other parts.
Check SpotCrime for some granular crime data (but consider the time of such crimes).
Also see this NYPD crime map (click on "Crime Location Map" or "Heat Map" at top right ) and this one, which does not necessarily account for improvements in safety and policing, but does give a sense of Brooklyn's more troubled areas.
You appear less vulnerable if you:
That sounds a little tough.... Are New Yorkers/you rude? You seem a little bossy?
I think we're blunt. We mean well, but we tend not to dilly-dally.
To be a good tour guide, you have to be somewhat bossy, in a friendly way.
Are you contributing to over-tourism in Brooklyn?
Nope. In case you reached my website from a New York Times essay: nearly all my tours are small groups--just a handful of people.
Nor do I operate daily tours through her neighborhood (as some do). Thus I'm not loudly lecturing unruly groups carrying selfie sticks.
Here's my more extensive response.
I'm a former private tour client. Can you give some quick advice on my next visit, though I don't need another tour?
Sure. I'm happy to provide such follow-up service to clients. Email is strongly preferred.
Can you answer my random questions about Brooklyn/NYC?
I might, but please try first on your own, at least if you haven't previously hired me for a tour.
If it takes more than a brief time, I'll ask for a payment for my consultation services. Also consider the NYC Tourist Help and the NYC Travel Tips groups on Facebook.
Where can I buy some cool Brooklyn/NYC t-shirts?
Try Roxy's Tee Parlour. Also try the Transit Museum store and CityStore.
Will *you* hire me?
Sorry, no--this is a one-guide operation.
How do I become a tour guide anyway? Is there a license?
Guides must pass the city licensing exam. Here are some tour guides' web sites regarding how to pass that exam.
Here's more information, including flashcards. Here's a reference guide from the city.
Here's information on membership in the Guides Association of NYC (aka GANYC). Here's a good set of resources from TripSchool.
Will donate a tour to our charity event? Will you lead a tour for our class/group for free?
Sorry, no free tours (other than my annual free Jane's Walk regarding Atlantic Yards, typically the first Friday evening of May and an almost-free tour via Open House New York in mid-October).
I can be flexible on rates for some educational/nonprofit groups.
Do you offer tours of the subway system, and/or Grand Central Terminal/Penn Station?
No, try Rayn Riel of Region.NYC.
We'd like a Brooklyn guide but you're not available. Who to contact?
Try Eliot Niles at Brooklyn Attitude or Jeremy Wilcox of Custom NYC Tours.
You can see listings at the Guides Association of NYC, and post your own request there.
Who built your web site? What website builder did you use?
I built it all myself: design, text, and photographs.
Using the Weebly web site builder made things easier (unsolicited endorsement, but if you sign up with this link you get 10% off and I get a $10 credit).
Is this the longest FAQ any tour guide/company offers?
Probably!
Are you always this long-winded?
Nope. But there's a cool bonus photo below.
What are the top misconceptions about visiting Brooklyn?
Some people think it's just a "neighborhood"! Others think or hope they can see a wide range of neighborhoods and sites in two or three hours.
I do like wide-ranging tour routes and can manage a fast pace, but Brooklyn is very large, so it can take a while to travel between different neighborhoods or landmarks.
This FAQ was too short (ha), so I made a list about misconceptions.
What do you recommend for a first tour?
As a good introduction to the history and feel of Brooklyn, I recommend Brooklyn 101 or Brooklyn 202. For more of the buzz, try Williamsburg or Greenpoint.
The Lower East Side helps explain the huge wave of Eastern European Jewish immigration, the construction of a "usable past," and the complicated legacy of urban renewal.
To understand today's immigrant New York, Jackson Heights in Queens and Sunset Park in Brooklyn are significant neighborhoods.
Why can't you just take us to the highlights (restaurants, stores, attractions) we compiled from reading and social media?
I strongly recommend that you not hopscotch between distant neighborhoods in one short visit, as some travel guide articles misleadingly suggest! Rather, consider attractions and neighborhoods relatively close together.
Why can't we reserve a specific time via an immediate online link?
As a one-guide operation, my availability varies. I promise to respond promptly.
How can we choose between Brooklyn 101 and Williamsburg?
Brooklyn 101 is my best effort to sample neighborhoods, institutions, and cultural centers key to the history and evolution of Brooklyn.
The Williamsburg tour covers a large, complicated, much-buzzed and recently changing neighborhood that is less central to the overall story of Brooklyn. It has far fewer tree-lined streets and no impressive row-house architecture. It's still interesting and "fun"!
What is your "most interesting" tour? What is your "most recommended" tour?
These are actual questions. To answer, I need to know what you have already seen in Brooklyn/NYC, and what you find most interesting and/or are most curious about.
What's your favorite tour?
If you pick it, I will tell you, but it's not one I recommend as a first tour in Brooklyn for new visitors.
Otherwise, I appreciate the opportunity to modify or customize one of my standard tours to incorporate a new query, such as the location of a relative's house or school.
Can you modify tours?
Of course. I can modify all tours to add or subtract scope to make the most of your logistics.
One couple interested in my Brooklyn 101 tour was staying in Windsor Terrace, not far from Park Slope. Rather than have them travel to the typical "starting point" for that tour, I met them at their location and we added an interesting half-hour walk to the tour.
Are the people who go on your tours locals or tourists?
It's a mix. Some are Brooklynites or Manhattanites, or former New Yorkers. Others come from the metro area, other parts of the United States, or abroad. (I got a good number of Australians, it turns out, at least pre-pandemic.)
Some have visiting friends and family who they want to show around. Some are New Yorkers wanting to explore more of their city.
Some have just moved to Brooklyn, or are planning a move. A growing number stay at hotels, guest houses, or AirBnB's in Brooklyn.
Why do you prefer that clients initially use email, rather than call?
I provide personal service, so I'd rather not play phone tag. My website provides a lot of information. I hope that makes the process efficient.
If you want a same-day tour and start with a call, please also try email, because the important questions on the Contact Form speed the process.
f you want a custom tour, I hope to learn your required stops before we talk. My business model is less like a "store" (open to calls at any time) than a "consultant" (let me assess whether I can be helpful).
Why don't you provide a list of all the spots on a tour?
First. that's giving away my "product." More importantly, I modify and customize tours regularly, for example adjusting the starting place and modifying the route, based on pace and interest.
How soon should we reserve?
Some people reserve many months in advance, some at the last minute. In general, a few weeks' notice is wise, especially in the busier months (Spring and Fall).
In the Winter, I can often be flexible about timing, so we can wait to check the weather.
Your tours sound pretty fast-paced. We're not. Will you slow down?
Faster-paced tours can let us see more in a relatively short time period. A private tour means that you can have your preferred pace--just let me know!
If you're worried about walking, the DUMBO & Brooklyn Heights tour offers a relatively gentle route.
Are bathrooms available on the tours?
I always try to plan for public bathrooms or private locations (like cafes) where a bathroom may be available.
Also, please take advantage of bathroom options before you meet me.
If we live in Brooklyn, can we enjoy your tours?
I've led many tours for Brooklynites, some new arrivals, some exploring a neighborhood they think they know, or one new to them.
Or they might be local residents having friends or relatives visit.
Are the tours appropriate for children?
They're not geared to children, though I can adapt them. Over the years, several energetic and curious kids/teens have enjoyed them, especially when they "get" that I'm not testing them with my questions, just trying to prompt their observations.
Rarely do people bring small children or babies; please check with me first. With a stroller, we must move more slowly and keep to a level terrain.
What tours are best for teens?
I'd say the East Village or Williamsburg.
I'm a solo woman. Would it be "weird" to spend a few hours walking around with you?
One female client told me she had had that thought, but decided to go ahead with the tour, and she thought it went fine.
I've periodically led tours for various solo visitors.
Why aren't you listed on a portal site (Tours By Locals, Get Your Guide, Viator, etc.) that we find convenient to use?
Well, I'd have to increase my fees, since such sites take a significant cut of revenue. Also, they'd constrain my flexibility.
How did the pandemic change your tours?
I think the "time off" improved my tours, since I've done deeper research on tour topics. I bring more images now. Nearly every tour has a binder full of images.
Why "New York Like a Native" if you focus on Brooklyn?
Well, I've branched out beyond Brooklyn, to Manhattan and Queens. Most importantly, "like a native" implies a New Yorker's sense of pace and place.
Manhattan is already well-served by guides. I have long led tours in Manhattan's Lower East Side, where I have decades of experience and which has links to Brooklyn's Williamsburg. I have since added the adjacent East Village.
If groups want to hire me for a longer period, I can add on parts of Manhattan. For example, I met a group at Moynihan Station and took them to DUMBO and the Lower East Side, plus Grand Central Station and the Staten Island Ferry.
In 2014, I launched my first Queens tour, in Long Island City, which is a cousin of sorts to Greenpoint and Williamsburg. I have since added Queens tours in Sunnyside & LIC East and in Jackson Heights, and am working on more.
Why do you call the combination of three Queens neighborhoods along the 7 subway line a "Slice of Queens" rather than "Queens 101"?
Queens is so big and spread-out, it's impossible to parallel elements of Brooklyn 101 (major park, central library, major museum, downtown) into a single Queens tour.
Still, the three neighborhoods--Long Island City, Sunnyside, and Jackson Heights--offer a great introduction to Queens.
By not offering regular tours of Manhattan's most popular sites, you're not trying to maximize your income?
Right. As I once told a visitor, my goal is not the most clients, but the right clients.
How do we know we're the right clients?
Well, if you're reading this far, you're on your way! Most people don't read the FAQ.
How can we be even better clients?
Read this.
How many neighborhoods are there? Where do you lead tours in Brooklyn?
The map above shows Brooklyn's breadth. See home page for neighborhoods where I lead tours.
Can you lead a tour outside the neighborhoods you list?
Sure. It may require some extra research. I don't lead walking tours in East Flatbush, Brownsville, East New York, Marine Park, and Sheepshead Bay, but I have guided groups on vehicle or subway tours that included those neighborhoods.
In some neighborhoods (Bay Ridge, Bensonhurst, Sunset Park), my tours derived from requests.
Do you lead tours in The Bronx or Staten Island?
Those are too far away for me to research a tour.
If we reserve a 2.5-hour tour, can we extend it?
Yes. You can decide during the tour, once you assess endurance, weather, budget, and your comfort level with me, at least if I don't have another obligation afterward.
Can we do a tour less than 2.5 hours?
Sure, though my base fee (other than for Dyker Heights Christmas Lights) for small groups assumes a 2.5-hour tour.
For classes or large groups, though, sometimes a 2-hour is best.
What's the most walking you've ever done in a day?
Nearly 35,000 steps, 13+ miles. Two different private tours: a 3.5-hour tour, then a 2-hour break, then a 5-hour tour.
Can you combine a religious Jewish neighborhood and a trendy neighborhood?
Yes, but not in 2.5 hours, unless you're focusing only on Williamsburg or Crown Heights, both of which are large neighborhoods with a religious Jewish segment.
Otherwise, I recommend first the 3-hour Brooklyn 101 tour. We can add an extension to Jewish Crown Heights (+ 1 hour) or Jewish Williamsburg (+ 1.5 hours). We might be able to do both.
Please note that "Jewish neighborhoods" are not all the same or near each other.
Can you lead an "immigrant neighborhoods" tour?
In Brooklyn, Sunset Park shows the presence of a significant amount of immigration, from China and Latin America, including Mexico and Puerto Rico. (People from Puerto Rico are not immigrants, as they are American citizens.)
In Queens, the hyperdiverse Jackson Heights has immigrants from an even greater number of places, especially if we dip into adjacent Woodside, Elmhurst, and/or Corona.
What ethnic neighborhood are there? Can we visit some of these "ethnic neighborhoods"?
Yes, but note... there are many ethnic groups in Brooklyn, some longstanding, some not:
- Polish (Greenpoint)
- Middle Eastern (Bay Ridge; also Atlantic Avenue shopping district)
- African-American (Bedford-Stuyvesant especially)
- West Indian (Crown Heights, Flatbush, etc.)
- Chinese (Sunset Park, Bensonhurst)
- Russian/former Soviet Union (Brighton Beach, Sheepshead Bay, etc.)
- Mexican (Sunset Park, Bushwick)
- Puerto Rican (Sunset Park, Bushwick)
- Italian (pieces of Carroll Gardens/Williamsburg, Bensonhurst, Dyker Heights)
- Pakistani/Bangladeshi (Kensington)
- Turkish (Midwood)
- Orthodox/Hasidic Jewish (multiple neighborhoods)
- Sephardic Jewish (Kings Highway)
Many of these neighborhoods are not the focus of my listed tours, because they don't have the most notable history, architecture, or institutions. But they're still interesting.
Can you lead a food tour?
Yes--and no. Some companies offer food tours in which large (or small) groups only aim to sample, and move relatively slowly.
I generally prefer to highlight neighborhoods in a broader fashion, but can incorporate food stops. Just ask. Dessert and/or ice cream work especially well.
Do you offer a Black history tour?
Not as such. I've conceptualized my tours as introductions to neighborhoods.
So a neighborhood like Bed-Stuy, long the heart of African-American Brooklyn, includes Black history, sparked by walking past certain institutions/buildings, businesses/organizations, and even murals and street co-namings.
Black Brooklyn history is part of other tours, such as a walk (in Brooklyn 202 and Fort Greene/Clinton Hill) past the Shirley Chisholm state office building in Fort Greene, named for the first Black woman in Congress.
Can you take us to Green-Wood Cemetery? (aka Greenwood Cemetery)
Sure. I'm enthusiastic about tours there, and can be flexible on time. See more here.
This is typically on foot, but if you have a vehicle, we can see more.
They offer their own excellent tours, some in trolleys.
Can we visit the former site of Ebbets Field, where the Brooklyn Dodgers played?
Yes, if you're truly a completist. But there's not much of visual interest, given that an undistinguished housing development was built there.
That site is not part of my tours, but is not far, by subway, from my Brooklyn 101 / Brooklyn 202 or Flatbush tours. So we could add it.
Can we bring our dog?
Sorry, these tours are for humans, not pets. If you have a service dog, please contact me so we can discuss.
Can I smoke on the tour?
Please don't--your guide is very allergic. If you must, please step a good distance away.
It's cold or wet or really hot. How can we do a tour but avoid the elements?
My tours--other than vehicle tours--are mostly outdoors, so please dress for the weather!
I can try to build in some stops (public buildings, cafes, shops, a bus ride) to get out of the cold or heat briefly.
If you supply a vehicle, of course, I'm happy to join you.
What tours are seasonal?
The Dyker Heights Holiday Lights tour can only be done between Thanksgiving and New Year's Eve.
The Flatbush tour is offered year-round, but is especially fun just before Halloween.
When the leaves change color in the fall, green neighborhoods include those in Brooklyn 101, Brooklyn 202, Fort Greene/Clinton Hill, Carroll Gardens/Cobble Hill, Flatbush, Park Slope, and Sunnyside.
While Coney Island can be visited year-round, it's best to go when the rides are running: late May through early September. Weekend activity may start in April and continue through September, sometimes October.
How should we dress for the cold weather?
The more layers, the better. During the winter, I do try to make occasional stops indoors, but please be prepared!
Wear a hat. Wear long underwear. You might even try toe warmers.
Do you offer tours in Spanish? Multilingual tours?
Sorry, but as a typical American; I'm not multilingual.
You can find multilingual guides via the Guides Association of New York, of which I'm a member. I've led several tours working with translators.
Do tours start on time?
I am on time/early 99% of the time.
While I appreciate promptness, note that some tour starting places are chosen for convenience near subway stops, and may not be the best place to linger.
So if you're planning to be very early, please alert me first, or get a snack.
My rare public group tours start on time; why disadvantage those who are prompt? We typically don't leave the starting place for 10-15 minutes. So latecomers to public tours may miss some history/background, but shouldn't miss the walk.
Is public transportation included in the price? Food?
No. You can use a credit card or phone to pay via the OMNY reader.
Food is extra. I can recommend places for a snack, meal, or dessert. (A meal adds time to a tour, of course.)
I also can also you to a restaurant or food hall after the tour.
We'd like to drive to the starting place of a tour and park near there--can that work?
Well, yes, but... my tours are generally conceptualized as Point A to Point Z, with start and end points near public transit.
So the routes infrequently circle back toward/near the starting place.
Still, to return to the starting place, you could always take public transit or a vehicle (or walk).
Sometimes, depending on the neighborhood, I can route the tour in more of a circle.
We'd like a tour in a car or bus--do you drive?
Guiding takes concentration, so another driver is required.
Can a tour work if a family member drives?
Maybe, but remember that legal parking is often difficult, so the driver may have to remain while others exit.
If you'd like everyone to get out several times and walk, I recommend that the driver focus on driving.
We only eat kosher--are kosher meals available on private tours?
In certain neighborhoods, sure: Williamsburg, Crown Heights, Midwood, Borough Park.
Can you lead a family reunion tour, or a 70th birthday tour, involving custom research?
Of course. Those can be very interesting and satisfying, for both you and for me.
I usually add a research fee, depending on the list of locations you have relevant to family history, since I must develop a custom route.
Please compile the key locations/addresses beforehand and let me know when you contact me.
Usually the route can include other interesting things on the way.
Can we walk the Brooklyn Bridge before the Brooklyn 101 or 202 tours?
Sure, my route typically starts in DUMBO.
Alternatively, the Brooklyn Museum and/or Brooklyn Botanic Garden are great to visit before these tours, as they can be nearby the start. (That means the tours would end in DUMBO).
Also, we can simply do the DUMBO/Brooklyn Heights tour, and maybe continue into nearby Cobble Hill & Carroll Gardens.
Why can't you just charge $25-$40/person and open tours up to larger groups?
My business model is small-group private tours--except for the infrequent times I lead tours for an established organization, college, or company.
Others operate regularly scheduled public group tours with as many as 15 or 20 or even 30 people, charging per ticket.
If I did that, I might earn more money, but would not be as nimble. I prefer my way.
What's the difference between a group of 2 and a group of 6? A group of 6 and a group of 12?
Well, the smaller the group, the more nimble we can be. That's a standard trade-off.
With a group larger than (approximately) 6 people, it gets tougher to be able to walk together on narrow sidewalks, and for me to talk to the group while walking.
So a group of 12, while "small" by many tour companies' standards, requires a lot more management to find places to gather together to listen to the guide (and not block others.)
Why can't you add us to someone else's tour?
Sorry, I understand the rationale, but... that never works out logistically, so I don't try.
What are the pros and cons of a one-guide operation?
I'm not always available, so larger companies may be more flexible.
However, my clients always get me as the guide. I can try to recommend other guides, but you'll deal with them separately.
What gives *you* the right to lead tours of certain neighborhoods, especially if you don't live there, or the neighborhood is ethnically/racially/religiously different?
A professional tour guide has done some homework, and has organized the tour using that expertise.
Yes, a person/resident from, say, an tenants' group, a business improvement district, an activist group, the local community board, a religious body, historic preservation group, or an artists' collective might lead a different (and worthy!) neighborhood tour.
You get my considered assessment, based on my research, experience, and sensibility.
What are some unusual tours you've led?
- One very energetic guy wanted to see as many neighborhoods as possible in five hours by foot and public transit, since he was moving to Brooklyn and looking for a place to live.
- A couple visiting Brooklyn and local food spent 11 hours with me, Not the healthiest day of eating, but a memorable one.
- A woman from Australia eager to learn about her ancestor's career building houses in Brooklyn pushed me to create a custom tour in Bedford-Stuyvesant and Bushwick.
- A Brooklyn native returning after decades requested three consecutive days of tours to reintroduce himself to the borough.
- A writer working on a novel sought to learn the contours and details of Greenpoint.
- Two different ice cream entrepreneurs wanted to see a cluster of neighborhoods and also visit some ice cream shops.
- A photographer from Spain aimed to see as much as possible in five hours, so we traversed Fort Greene, Clinton Hill, Bedford-Stuyvesant, and Bushwick.
- A school with new teachers wanted to better understand Bedford-Stuyvesant and Crown Heights.
- An extended family reunion traversed the borough by bus to see several neighborhoods, all vastly changed, where the patriarch grew up.
- For an 80th birthday tour, we visited old family haunts (and synagogue) in Bensonhurst, then skipped to the Lower East Side to understand the previous generation.
- A couple who had decided not to travel oversees wanted to see "international" NYC from a base in Brooklyn. We spent 4-5 hours together on three separate days, in both Brooklyn and Queens.
- A Brooklyn native returned to see his old apartment and schools, which just happened to be blocks away from my home.
- A homebuilder from the Midwest was interested in Brooklyn rowhouse details, aiming to incorporate them in a new development.
- A woman wanted a gift for her boyfriend, so I developed a tour that included her neighborhood.
- A very energetic couple booked a full day, so we spent nearly 9 hours (with a lunch stop, etc.) combining Brooklyn 202 with Williamsburg.
Do you really have an "encyclopedic knowledge" of Brooklyn?
Well, Thomas Wolfe said the borough was so complex that "Only the Dead Know Brooklyn."
I know a lot, but I'm always learning. (I do know there's a mystery by that name.)
Can you lead a tour of Prospect Park?
My Brooklyn 101 and Brooklyn 202 tours include a relatively brief visit to the park.
My Park Slope tour also could include a brief visit. If you'd like a full tour of the park, please try Custom NYC Tours or Turnstile Tours.
What's a brownstone? How do we get a look at brownstone interiors?
A brownstone is a row house clad in brown sandstone, popular in 19th century Brooklyn.
"Brownstone Brooklyn" is an umbrella term for row-house neighborhoods built in the 19th and early 20th centuries, including limestone and brick buildings.
Some Brownstone Brooklyn neighborhood organizations offer house tours in spring and fall. I often bring some photos of house interiors.
Do you offer tours of matzo factories?
Well, not officially. Once we could go by Streit's on the Lower East Side and take a peek. (Alas, no more.)
But it may be possible to make an impromptu visit during a Brooklyn tour to Crown Heights or Borough Park, only in the pre-Passover season, of course.
What about tours of TV/movie locations, including Spike Lee's Brooklyn locations or sites in the HBO show "Girls"?
Not really--though I can stop at a couple of places. A full tour requires a bus (which means a large group).
What about a literary tour of Brooklyn?
Literary locations can range far afield, so it depends on the time you have available, your transportation mode, and the number of authors in which you are interested. There are many Brooklyn authors--the Brooklyn Public Library's literary tour can't include a majority.
Please recognize that most "Brooklyn writers" are "writers who live in Brooklyn," not "writers about Brooklyn," as Colson Whitehead wrote.
That said, I'm happy to take you to locations mentioned in books like (for example) Pete Hamill's A Drinking Life, which has several Park Slope addresses.
Can you lead a Battle of Brooklyn (aka Battle of Long Island) tour?
Yes, but... even a limited set of locations will not be close together, so budget time to travel between locations.
Also, it requires walking up some hills, including in Fort Greene Park and Green-Wood Cemetery plus, if you're a completist, a walk into the heart of Prospect Park.
How about a hip-hop tour?
Well, my Bedford-Stuyvesant tour can touch on hip-hop, but it's not a hip-hop tour.
Brooklyn is changing, as gentrification overtakes some hip-hop spots. (Others offer hip-hop tours.)
Can you lead a tour of the Brooklyn Navy Yard or the Brooklyn Army Terminal?
No. That's the specialty of Turnstile Tours.
If we can't come to Brooklyn/New York, how can you work with us online?
I've developed two Coney Island webinars (digital presentations), which should intrigue anyone curious about that legendary place.
I've also developed an Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park/Barclays Center webinar, which is more geared to classes and professionals involved in urban planning, architecture, real estate, and Brooklyn history.
Can you offer advice on planning our overall visit: transportation, restaurants, hotels?
Sure, though please hire me first for a tour and pay a deposit and/or a consultation fee,
Consider other sources, such as TripAdvisor and Yelp. Please see my blog for various advice
Some neighborhoods are very large, and the "value" of staying in them depends on proximity to transit, shopping, etc., so it pays to focus on the specific location, not just the neighborhood. Try Google Street View.
Are there any scams we should avoid on visiting New York City?
Yes. Please check out these tips, from the Guides Association of NYC, regarding fake monks, CD sellers, Battery Park ticket sellers, and Ground Zero street sellers.
Do you accept barter payments?
Not typically, but I'd consider it. What do you have to trade?
For restaurants/bars/hotels in Brooklyn/NYC, I'd consider trading a tour for your staff or clients in exchange for food-and-beverage credit.
(This is not the same as me supplying clients to you; I'd offer a tour/orientation for your staff or as a bonus/perk for your customers.)
How can we save on some good restaurant meals in NYC and around the country?
Thanks for asking. Here's my post with some good advice, and link to a discount. Really.
Is Brooklyn safe? Is the subway safe? Are your tours safe?
Most places where tourists go are quite safe, and crime has been decreasing since the peak some 30 years ago.
I still take the subway, of course, but I advise vigilance--see this blog post.
This is a city; visitors should be especially vigilant at night and on lightly populated streets, and avoid confrontations on the subway.
Some neighborhoods are safer than others, and some parts of neighborhoods safer than other parts.
Check SpotCrime for some granular crime data (but consider the time of such crimes).
Also see this NYPD crime map (click on "Crime Location Map" or "Heat Map" at top right ) and this one, which does not necessarily account for improvements in safety and policing, but does give a sense of Brooklyn's more troubled areas.
You appear less vulnerable if you:
- walk with a sense of purpose
- don't wear "New York" t-shirts that peg you as a tourist
- don't flaunt cameras/jewelry/cash/iPhones in crowds, including the subway
- don't leave your wallet or phone visible in your back pocket
- don't isolate yourself with headphones/earbuds/texting.
That sounds a little tough.... Are New Yorkers/you rude? You seem a little bossy?
I think we're blunt. We mean well, but we tend not to dilly-dally.
To be a good tour guide, you have to be somewhat bossy, in a friendly way.
Are you contributing to over-tourism in Brooklyn?
Nope. In case you reached my website from a New York Times essay: nearly all my tours are small groups--just a handful of people.
Nor do I operate daily tours through her neighborhood (as some do). Thus I'm not loudly lecturing unruly groups carrying selfie sticks.
Here's my more extensive response.
I'm a former private tour client. Can you give some quick advice on my next visit, though I don't need another tour?
Sure. I'm happy to provide such follow-up service to clients. Email is strongly preferred.
Can you answer my random questions about Brooklyn/NYC?
I might, but please try first on your own, at least if you haven't previously hired me for a tour.
If it takes more than a brief time, I'll ask for a payment for my consultation services. Also consider the NYC Tourist Help and the NYC Travel Tips groups on Facebook.
Where can I buy some cool Brooklyn/NYC t-shirts?
Try Roxy's Tee Parlour. Also try the Transit Museum store and CityStore.
Will *you* hire me?
Sorry, no--this is a one-guide operation.
How do I become a tour guide anyway? Is there a license?
Guides must pass the city licensing exam. Here are some tour guides' web sites regarding how to pass that exam.
Here's more information, including flashcards. Here's a reference guide from the city.
Here's information on membership in the Guides Association of NYC (aka GANYC). Here's a good set of resources from TripSchool.
Will donate a tour to our charity event? Will you lead a tour for our class/group for free?
Sorry, no free tours (other than my annual free Jane's Walk regarding Atlantic Yards, typically the first Friday evening of May and an almost-free tour via Open House New York in mid-October).
I can be flexible on rates for some educational/nonprofit groups.
Do you offer tours of the subway system, and/or Grand Central Terminal/Penn Station?
No, try Rayn Riel of Region.NYC.
We'd like a Brooklyn guide but you're not available. Who to contact?
Try Eliot Niles at Brooklyn Attitude or Jeremy Wilcox of Custom NYC Tours.
You can see listings at the Guides Association of NYC, and post your own request there.
Who built your web site? What website builder did you use?
I built it all myself: design, text, and photographs.
Using the Weebly web site builder made things easier (unsolicited endorsement, but if you sign up with this link you get 10% off and I get a $10 credit).
Is this the longest FAQ any tour guide/company offers?
Probably!
Are you always this long-winded?
Nope. But there's a cool bonus photo below.
The restored Astroland rocket, in Coney Island, Brooklyn, inside Deno's Wonder Wheel Park