A Day Walk Between the Skyscraper Clusters of Manhattan

We begin this cross-city excursion at one of the city'e newest developments, also occasionally called "Dubai-on-the-Hudson." We take a short walk around the marble-clad and elegant mall of mostly high end shops. We'll appreciate views of the Hudson River, New Jersey and see the railroad yards below that are the reason for it all. The Vessel and the Shed are two grand works of architectural "folly" that dominate the courtyard. From here we segue seamlessly to the Highline.

One of the city's most successful redevelopment projects was turning an old elevated freight rail into a park of native flora. We take in the scenery of New York City from the third story level, and learn the fascinating history of Chelsea, an early upscale neighborhood. Stunning new architecture continues to rise along the park's 1.4 mile length.

The Godmother of food halls recently celebrated its 25th anniversary and is constantly updating and expanding its curated offerings. The building itself was part of the system for which the "highline" existed. The trains were for freight and went through the buildings. Here, for Nabisco (National Biscuit Company--"NBC" can be seen on the buildings). It was said for Oreo Cookies the flour came in one side of the building and came out the other as cookies. Today the building houses dozens of specialty, international, rare and exotic food purveyors, likely still more than anywhere assembled outside of Hunts Point. We allow enough time here to sample a bite or two.

We walk through the atmospheric streets of old metal sheds and loading docks that now house the city's chicest establishments.

We stop at Myers of Keswick, "A traditional British store in the heart of NYC." Viewing the staple products of British grocery stores in a mid-19th Century single-family home converted to commercial use 150 years ago is, itself, a singular experience. Their freshly made foods include sausage rolls, pork pie, scotch eggs, and Cornish pastry. Next is Magnolia Bakery, made famous from the 90's show Sex and the City. Around the corner we pass the brownstone where Carrie Bradshaw lived (the show's main character), on one of the city's most beautiful blocks of brownstones. We continue on to McNulty's, a century-old coffee and tea shop. A short walk around the corner we pass the apartment building from "Friends." We visit a cloistered church garden before heading over to Bleecker Street Pizza, among the consistently top-rated pizza joints in the city. A walk along Bleecker Street is a virtual arcade of specialty foods, which guests are welcome to take some time and explore.

Along Bleecker Street we'll visit a few store fronts that together capture the unique character of this iconic block: Ottomanelli's and Sons, a butcher shop that has been more than half a century on the block; a Lotto Store "lounge" (the only place you can purchase lottery tickets with plastic!) where you can hang out, drink coffee, and pick numbers; and the Pop Up Grocer, an Instagram-driven venue of goods curated on the criteria: new and interesting, made responsibly, and packaged appealingly. We walk the iconic awning-clad, vibrant blocks of Greenwich Village with its famous venues, clubs and restaurants, and some fascinating residential conversions. The tour takes on a different attitude for a moment when we pop into the Chess Forum, a local institution for all things chess. Before crossing Houston Street into SoHo (for SOuth of HOuston) we stop at Leon's Bagels, and one of the city's more unique shopfronts (approximately 50 sq. ft?).

Houton Street, one of the few major thoroughfares we cross on the tour, retains a lot of fascinating architectural evidence from when it was widened about 100 years ago. The foodie part of the tour continues when we stop at Dominique Ansel, renowned baker and originator of the cronut, followed by a brief stop at the Ice Cream Museum on Broadway Here we learn the rich history of SoHo and cast iron architecture as we cross over Broadway for the first time on the tour and take a step into the more complex history of the city's move uptown. Here we see first hand the unmistakable role geography and the long gone natural terrain played in the city's move uptown. At Grand Street we stop at Sabon where we'll take part in "the ritual" and leave with a cleanest, smoothest hands you'll have all day. Within a few blocks SoHo transitions into the tenement-rich blocks of Little Italy and the beginning of the Lower East Side.

We pass through Little Italy with the option of stopping at Ferrara's, sometimes referred to as "Disney World for Desserts," and/or the Cannoli King. Traditional "Little Italy (there are a few historic Italian sections in Manhttan) now occupies the blocks of Mulberrry Street above Canal, and is largely restaurants and souvenir shops. The outdoor restaurant seating, elaborate signage, the booths in the street, the promoters, the foliage and vibrant decor, have transformed these sidewalks of Manhattan in a way like no other part of New York. Cars driving single file between the restaurant seating would seem like gondolas if they slowed down.

We pass through the markets and street scenes of Chinatown and talk about the history of the Bowery and the tenement history of the Lower East Side. We explore the tangle of streets and engaging streetscapes that lead down a hill (and history) to the Old Five Points and Mulberry Bend, and the end of the walking part of the tour. From here we catch a bus that takes us to a ferry, and a trip back to Midtown on the water where we will get to see the track of land we covered on the walking tour between the skyscrapers of Midtown Manhattan and the Financial Distrtict.

We catch a ferry at Brookfield Place back to Midtown. Depending on the wait time for the ferry we may have the opportunity to explore this site. The 12-minute ferry ride back to Midtown provides a remarkable opportunity to put the day's walk in the context of the greater city. Many of the sites from the beginning of the day will be seen now from a completely different perspective. From Pier 79 we catch a bus to either Grand Central Terminal, or Penn Station, depending on the customer's tour option.