Jane’s Walks (5/5, 6, 7/23)

Jane’s Walk 2023: Garment District NYC (5/5 at 9 AM)
On the Streets Where They Lived (5/5 at 11 AM)
Downtown Dames: Historic Women Celebrated in Public Spaces in Lower Manhattan (5/5 at 1 PM)
Sustainable Walking Tour of East Village Highlighting Community Gardens (5/5 at 3 PM)

Jane’s Walk 2023: 57th Street A–Z (5/6 at 9 AM)
Jewish Harlem (5/6 at11 AM)
East Harlem (5/6 at 1 PM)

Jane’s Walk 2023: Dumbo, Brooklyn Bridge to Winter Garden Atrium at World Financial Center (5/7 at 9 AM)
Union Square: Prism of the City (5/7 at 1 PM)

 All of the walks were free. Each walk was set up in its own way, which made the experience enjoyable. Each leader was free to use her/his own style, timeline, and choice of scripted or non-scripted. Most leaders used some sort of voice amplification, which was a big help. All leaders did a good job. I’ll hit highlights or this would be a very long read.

My first walk, in the Garment District, was great. The leader was quirky but interesting. He led us through a historical venture of how the garment district was in its early years and how it progressed. He included information about how the physical buildings changed during the thirties and forties, and he actually took us into buildings and used those experiences to show us different buildings. A great experience.
On the Streets Where They Lived covered the Upper West Side—Broadway and Riverside Drive, from 106th Street to 110th Street. I didn’t take notes, so I can’t really give you names of the folks who lived there, but the architecture was well worth the tour.
Downtown Dames was a bit of a downer since the leader did not use amplification and did a lot of reading from her handwritten notes.
The East Village walk was great, covering a lot of Community Gardens and touching on the era of the squatters and their plights in the ’70s and ’80s.

Saturday morning was also a treat. The guide along 57th Street was a dynamo. He took us from Ninth Avenue to Madison Avenue. He spoke without amplification, but we could all hear everything. It was fun for me, because I worked at 9 W. 57th Street (with its curved base, famously filmed in the Superman movie). I mentioned its twin at 42nd Street near Sixth Avenue. The leader acknowledged my input.
Jewish Harlem was a lot of fun, though the leader did not use amplification, so I missed a lot of what he said.
The East Harlem tour took me by surprise a little, since a lot of it was focused on Lexington, Madison, and Fifth Avenues, not locations my mind associates with Harlem. But, indeed, to native New Yorkers (I am not one) this is technically true. The walk touched on one of my favorite spots in New York, the Conservatory Gardens (Fifth Avenue and 105th Street). If you’re ever in NYC and have the time to get there, it’s well worth the visit.

Sunday’s walk across the Brooklyn Bridge was not my first time walking the span. I’m glad I did it though, especially to see that the bicyclists have been given their own space, making it safer for walkers. This guide also did not use amplification, so it was hard to hear some of his insights into the walk we were taking. I missed my 11 AM walk because of arriving way the heck at the Hudson River at the end of the 9 AM walk. Why, yes, I had a book with me. After a lengthy lunch break, I attended my final Jane’s Walk of the weekend. I learned a lot about Union Square and had a short visit in a museum as well, to cap it off.

Jane’s Walks, named in honor of Jane Jacobs, is a tradition I have enjoyed for several years (eight? nine?). Her story is very interesting. Go, ye, and Google her.

ConcertMeister