I had one day in New York to explore before my 10 pm flight to London but what to do and where to go from morning to night without a hotel room to come back to?  Maybe a Brooklyn Walking Tour? Despite my many visits to New York City over the years, there are a few “touristy” things still left on my checklist that I just can’t seem to bring myself to pay for or participate in so I decided to check out the New York City Airbnb Experiences.  Airbnb Experiences is a new feature that is meant to connect travelers (tourists like me) with locals who are keen to share their knowledge via a tour or experience.  It was there that I saw the “Brooklyn and Manhattan Walking Tour“.  It was a three hour tour for $30 – I had to look at that again because I thought it said $30?!  It did, so I quickly purchased that tour to reserve my spot. Within a few minutes, I received a message from the tour guide, Brian, confirming my reservation, providing meet up information and sharing his cell phone number in case of questions, emergencies or delays.

Travel from Midtown Manhattan to Brooklyn

The tour would start in Brooklyn so I needed to take public transit from Midtown Manhattan to the meeting point.  Since the meetup was at 8:45 a.m. during the rush hour commute, I wasn’t keen on Uber, Lyft or a taxi given the traffic and tolls.  The issue was me as I chose the train that seemed to be most direct with a quick walk (according to both Google Maps and Citymapper) and that was my first mistake.  Both apps took into account delays and such so I waited on the A train (it was late so I texted Brian) when I should have apparently taken a different train and transferred.  The A train eventually arrived and I boarded with the Brooklyn Bridge stop planned.

Lost in Brooklyn Walking Tour

When I came up to the street, I immediately became the blue dot on Google Maps that gets lost as I’m the worst blue dot ever!  I ended up wandering the area for a few blocks before returning to the subway exit and going the other way.  I stopped at a Fire Station to ask for directions and then was on the right route, texting Brian that I was on my way and would meet the group at the first stop.

Manhattan Skyline from Brooklyn

I’ve never visited Brooklyn before so I was keen to explore and take lots of photos of the Manhattan skyline from across the water.  I met the group of three (a couple from Norway and an artist from Sweden) and the guide, Brian, in the park.  We then moved along to learn more about Brooklyn as Brian, who is a licensed tour guide (not required in NYC but he felt it was worth it) told us about interesting stories and facts along the way.  He has just started offering this tour via Airbnb Experiences based on tours he’s done for visiting friends and family so he thought best to share and supplement his income (which currently consists of au pair, teacher and artist).

We learned about the pier transformation to serve the residents of the city rather than build even more expensive housing.  The piers are now served by a new ferry service from Manhattan so it’s easy to get to Brooklyn and take advantage of the parks, pool and volleyball sand.  There are many Brooklyn Bridge events scheduled this summer to entertain people – movie nights, volleyball, basketball clinics, kayaking and more per the Brooklyn Bridge Park press release.

The Brooklyn Bridge Waterfront

We walked our way over to the star of the walk – The Brooklyn Bridge.  As we neared it, photos were taken.  As we walked under it, photos were taken.  As we walked past it, photos were taken.  We all wanted photos with the bridge, the Manhattan skyline and all angles of interesting Brooklyn life. Along the way, Brian filled us in on the history of the Brooklyn bridge (leave it to a woman to get it finished!).  We then found benches for a seated break to learn more (and in my case, enjoy my snack).  It was a bright sunny (and surprisingly hot) day with a few clouds stopping in to tease us with rain (sunscreen reminder!).

Before we would walk over the Brooklyn Bridge we had a few stops to make – restaurants/cafes, shops, the carousel,  and ferry boat stop along the shoreline, through the park and most important – the restroom and coffee shop!

After the coffee shop stop we turned around and stood in the middle of street with the other tourists (needing to move quickly when cabs and cars needed to drive through) to capture the iconic view of the Manhattan Bridge, the one that all the movies and television shows love to use (think Gossip Girl, Sex and the City, etc.).  The view under the bridge framed by buildings in DUMBO while framing the Empire State building in the distance.

Brooklyn Bridge Photo Walk

When it was time to walk over the Brooklyn Bridge, we were told “stay in the walking lane, do not walk in the bike lane, it’s for your safety”.  He wasn’t kidding!  The bikers were using bells, horns and their voices to clear the bike lane to avoid colliding with masses of tourists.  The bikers have their own lane on the bridge, as they should, but seriously don’t even try to cross the line without looking both ways twice as I did to get a photo.

Our group spent a good deal of time walking over the bridge, asking questions and learning more. When we arrived back in the city as evident by the vendors selling souvenirs (note there are a few water/snack vendors on the bridge if you forgot to bring your own).  We walked toward City Hall and to be honest, could have ended the tour right then and there at 3 hours – noon.

Lower Manhattan Walking Tour

As Brian has just started offering this tour, he is still working out the timing, group size, etc. The rest of the tour (the Manhattan part) was yet to be seen so he asked us if we wanted to continue and we all said “yes”.  The couple from Norway needed to call their Airbnb to see if they could store their luggage for a bit longer.

The Oculus at the World Trade Center Station

We then proceeded to the new World Trade Center Station (transit hub and metro center) to learn the history of the competing subway lines (it was also a nice relief to be out of the sun in the air conditioning).  The lines were privately owned at one point and competing which is why they are not connected and often seem to run the same ways.  Of course, that didn’t last long and they are no longer privately owned so work continues to connect subway lines.  Walking underground in the newly constructed pedestrian hallways we arrived at the Westfield World Trade Center Mall to the Oculus viewing point before proceeding outside to the 9/11 Memorial.  The Oculus was designed by architect Santiago Calatrava. The station is said to be the third largest transportation center in New York City connecting eleven train lines in the city.

9/11 Memorial

This (lower) Manhattan walk should be its own tour as you contemplate the sites – a few minutes isn’t really enough.  The 9/11 Museum is open to the public with an admission fee.  Brian said that on Tuesday nights the museum offers free admission from 5 p.m. (tickets limited). We walked around the World Trade Center memorials (there are two – one for each building) and learned that the names on the memorial were not alphabetical but rather grouped together by how they were found together, it was hard not to be emotional.

On the day of our visit, many roses were placed inside the names signifying a birthday.

One bit of hope found in the rubble was a tree that survived that day and was nursed until it could return to the site.  It is now surrounded by a fence. In the distance, an art sculpture was damaged and remains that way.

Visiting Wall Street

As we walked away from the 9/11 memorial site toward Wall Street, you are reminded of the many pre-cautions in place now – barriers (concrete and metal), security, police and scanners – to name only those I could see (so much more I couldn’t see).  Entering Wall Street is also a different experience from my many prior visits.  There are no cars – there are barriers up around the street and visitors to the Stock Exchange have their own security entrance.  One dash of hope that remains as I remember it is the steps filled with people.

We would end our Brooklyn & Manhattan Walking Tour at Wall Street.  I would then walk two blocks away in search of the “Fearless Girl” and Bull of Wall Street.  I was saddened by the swarms of tourists – swarm is the right word as I couldn’t get a photo by myself without hoards of people around me – I gave up and took only a photo of the Fearless Girl flanked by tourists bits and pieces in the photo.

Final Thoughts –

Brooklyn Walking Tour & Lower Manhattan Walking Tour

The Brooklyn & Manhattan Walking Tour, part of Airbnb Experiences, was really an incredible way to see both Brooklyn and the city without the tourist bus, without the hordes of tourists on those busses and without the high prices the companies charge.  The fact that Brian took the time to get licensed as a guide for New York shows his love of the city and his commitment to presenting accurate information on his tours.

I would definitely recommend the walking tour – bring water and snacks and don’t be a bad blue dot on the map.  Go directly to the subway station (make the connections).  As I mentioned to Brian, the tour should be split into two distinct tours. The Brooklyn Walking Tour should end at 3 hours (which is already a long time to be walking in the sun) when the walk over the Brooklyn Bridge meets City Hall.  From there, you can do your own timeline to the Oculus, 9/11 Memorial and Museum.

Note:

• I scheduled an hour from Midtown via the subway and was still late (there was a wait at the cash only ticket counter, plus a long walk underground to the A train platform and delays I didn’t factor in) for the tour so check out Google Maps, CityMapper and other apps for information and add at least a fifteen minute buffer. If you are a bad blue dot like me, add extra time.   You may want to leave even earlier and enjoy breakfast in Brooklyn before meeting the tour at 9 a.m. to ensure you are on time.
• I was one of the first to take this new tour so it may change once Brian works out the timing, size, etc. and resumes later this summer.