Fort Greene – Saturdays from 10a.m. to 5p.m.

Location: 176 Lafayette Ave. (btw. Clermont + Vanderbilt Ave.)

and

Williamsburg – Sundays from 10a.m. to 5p.m.

Location: East River Waterfront (btw. North 6 + 7 St.)

*The Williamsburg location also hosts a huge all food market called Smorgasburg on Saturdays from 11a.m. to 6p.m. on the Waterfront.

I’m partial to the Williamsburg Flea because it’s in my neighborhood. My bias aside, the Waterfront boasts some amazing views of the city with the occasional cool breeze!

Check out The Flea website for more details: www.brooklynflea.com

Happy Shopping!!!

image courtesy of greenpointnews.com

Sakura is one of the most popular events at the Botanical Garden so make sure you get there early!! Even if you won’t be in town during the  festival weekend it’s worth getting over to Brooklyn to see the Garden. It’s a wonderful slice of beauty and serenity in our busy metropolis.

Check out their website for more details!

courtesy of the Brooklyn Botanical Garden

Development is underway to create a new underground park which would use cutting edge solar technology to grow subterranean plants! There’s an old abandoned trolley station on Delancey Street that used to house trains going across the Williamsburg Bridge. The space hasn’t been used since 1948 and developers are hoping to raise funds to bring it back to life! New York is full of amazing things to see and do, but space is at a premium. Green space is even harder to come by and looking underground for new park space is a brilliant idea!

The plan is to use new system of fiber optics that would capture sunlight and transfer it underground. The light would be ample enough to grow plants and light up the space at night! Pretty neat!

The team of architects currently have a Kickstarter going to raise funds to create a mini version of the park in the Essex Market. From there they’ll be able to show developers, government officials, the MTA, and local businesses just how the system works. The High Line has been such a huge success that I imagine this will be a hit as well!

I’ll keep an eye out for updates but for now you can read about the project on their website:

http://delanceyunderground.org/the-project

Hopefully within another couple of years we’ll have a new amazing place to take you on tours!!!

Before picture courtesy of inhabitat.com

After picture courtesy of trendland.net

New Yorkers are very lucky to have a worry-free, abundant source of clean drinking water. But it has not always been so. In the early years of the 1800s, the city had polluted the natural pond calledThe Collect, located under today’s court buildings on Centre Street. Most residents had to rely on wellwater and there were frequent outbreaks of cholera, typhoid, and yellow fever. There were 3500 deathsfrom cholera in 1835 alone. In addition, fire companies had to constantly worry about water shortages and were unable to fight the fire of 1835 due to frozen water supplies (1835 wasn’t a good year). Something had to be done.

That year, voters approved construction of an aqueduct system, drawing water from dams andreservoirs built on the Croton River in Westchester County. When it opened in 1842, it set off a wave of parades and celebrations in the city. The system was expanded numerous times in the 19th century until it was eventually dwarfed by the construction of a whole new aqueduct system drawing waterfrom the Catskill Mountains which was completed in 1917.

The system is a marvel of engineering. It brings more than a billion gallons of water a day to New York City’s 8.5 million residents, and it’s almost entirely powered by gravity. The problem is that shallow pipes and gravity-fed system can only force water up to the 6th floor of any building. This was no problem in the early years of the system but the advent of skyscrapers in the 1880s changed the face of the city, and the city’s ability to provide water to its buildings. The solution is a tank on the building itself. In the 1890s, barrel makers began plying their trade on the tops of buildings and built enormous barrels fed by large pumps in the basement. At the time, there were dozens of manufacturers. Now there are only two: Isseks Brothers, founded in 1890, and Rosenwach Tank Company, founded in 1896. Amazingly, these two companies still make their tanks in much the same way as when the companies were founded. Each tank is built using no adhesives or glue. They are made with wood dowels, metal hoops, and hammer and nails. Each tank is made of cedar and the wood actually expands once water is placed into a new tank. This means the tank leaks for a few days and then seals up tight, all the while acting as a perfect insulator so that New York’s freezing winters don’t mean freezing water. Each company continues to make hundreds every year and repair even more.

It’s amazing to think that one of those archaic looking barrels on our rooftops could have been made last week. You can walk by Rosenwach’s construction yard in Williamsburg, Brooklyn at 87 North 9th St (the intersection of Berry Street). You can also see Rosenwach highlighted on Discovery Channel’s Dirty Jobs with Mike Rowe. The full 30-minute video is available at Rosenwach’s website http://www.rosenwachtank.com/.

If you think the photos of workers on tops of skyscrapers with no harnesses and wielding sledgehammers is a thing of the past, think again! But if you’re pressed for time, and who in New York isn’t, just take a moment and look to the roofs of our great buildings. Rosenwach and Issek Brother’s handiwork will be everywhere, and it always has been, even if you never noticed it before.

courtesy of the Guardian, UK

I couldn’t be more excited about the new exhibit at the Mary Boone Gallery. For the first time, Ai WeiWei’s “Sunflower Seeds” will hit the U.S after an impressive showing at the Tate Modern Gallery in London.

For those unfamiliar with Ai’s work, he’s built an influential career with his art and political activism over the past couple years. His work has caused more than stir with the Chinese government,  resulting in his imprisonment for a time.

With “Sunflower Seeds”,  Ai commissioned artisans from Jiangxi, China to hand paint around a hundred million (5 tons) porceline sunflower seeds as a commentary on social and economic issues in China. When the exhibit first opened in London, visitors were encouraged to walk and lay down upon the seeds.

The exhibit runs from January 7th to February 4th

The Mary Boone Gallery is located on 541 West 24th Street

www.maryboonegallery.com

courtesy of kozmedia.com

Everyone at Real New York Tours would like to wish you a very happy and healthy 2012! We had a great time helping travelers explore and get to know New York City in 2011. Next year will be full of more adventures in this ever changing and majestic city. Let us know when you’ll be in town and we’ll explore together!

Happy New Year!!!!

courtesy of nycinsiderguide.com

Come spend your Christmas morning exploring downtown Manhattan! We’ve added our Downtown Dozen group tour on Sunday December 25th to accommodate guests in town over the holiday. This group tour is 3 hours long and explores the rich history of Downtown Manhattan. It’s only $40 per person which makes it a great Christmas treat for your family or just yourself! We’d love to have you spread holiday cheer with us! Email us for more information or to book your tour! 

courtesy of the examiner.com

If you’ll be visiting the city this week make sure you get a slice of pie and try to catch some of the parade! It’ll be crowded but that’s part of the fun!

The night before you can watch the balloons inflate by the Natural History Museum on Central Park West. The day of, wake up early to snag a spot along the parade route!

Happy Thanksgiving from everyone at Real New York Tours!

courtesy of travelwithval.com

Halloween is just around the corner! If you’re visiting NYC this weekend you’ll want to make sure you pick up a copy of TimeOut New York for a listing all of the ghoulish activities happening each day. One to not be missed:

The 39th Annual Village Halloween Parade

When: Monday October 31st, 7p.m.

Where: Sixth Avenue between Spring Street and 16th Street

Cost: Free!!!