This is how you experience the real, unknown New York
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If you want to see New York from a local’s perspective, book a tour with a Big Apple Greeter. The volunteer guides show visitors their neighborhood. The tours offer a lot of surprises even for those who know the city well.
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Status: 04:25 a.m
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– – –A Big Apple Greeter shows New York visitors Chinatown
Source: 360°media
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What looks like an ordinary bank branch on the corner of Broadway and 74th Street from the outside, turns out to be a real gem once you enter the building. In the entrance area of the small branch of the TD-Bank, a slide show is running on a few monitors, which tells the history of the interesting building: When it opened in 1904, the “Ansonia” was the largest hotel in the world and accommodated, for example, the composer Igor Stravinsky and the Italian composer Tenor Enrico Caruso.
A small, charming touch that visitors and New Yorkers usually miss – if they even walk along this stretch of Broadway on the Upper West Side. Because this part, north of Columbus Circle between Central Park and the Hudson River, is definitely not a must-do. But if you are traveling with one of the Big Apple Greeters, you will discover such hidden places.
Today, more than 300 New Yorkers volunteer as Big Apple Greeters and show foreign guests their neighborhood. This initiative has existed for over 25 years and follows a simple idea: to bring New Yorkers into direct personal contact with people from other cultures and to welcome them to their city.
– –The “Ansonia”, here shortly after its opening in 1904, was the largest hotel in the world at the time
Quelle: Universal Images Group via Getty Images/Universal History Archive
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As a visitor, there is hardly a better chance to experience the metropolis as authentically and as through the eyes of a local. But this attractive offer to get to know one of the more than 100 districts and of course their inhabitants, only 5000 tourists use every year.
The tour leads to insider tips in New York
Born in the Netherlands, John (name changed) usually meets his guests at Columbus Circle across from the Deutsche Bank Center (formerly Time Warner Center) and thus at one of the most beautiful places in the city. Such a walk with John takes around three hours – plenty of time for history and anecdotes.
– –The Columbus Monument at Columbus Circle is the official measuring point from which all distances to and from New York City are calculated
What: CHRISTIAN DOSE
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After the first photo stop at the still well-known Lincoln Center, which is also the venue of the New York Ballet, John heads for the massive Apple Bank building (formerly Central Savings Bank) and amazes his guests: the bank defies all progress and presents itself to you Customers with a magnificent Neo-Renaissance-style counter hall from a bygone era. Unfortunately, photography is forbidden!
The next highlights that John points out, one would probably not even register on their own: The Apthorp apartment building is one of the most glamorous addresses on the Upper West Side and was once inhabited by Cyndi Lauper and Al Pacino, for example.
– –View of the courtyard of the Apthorp residential building, which is one of the most glamorous addresses on the Upper West Side
Source: pa/dpa/Rubenstien_Associates_Inc._Public_Relations
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Zabar’s supermarket with its attached café is ideal for a short refreshment. The family business is now being run by the third generation and covers an entire block. A real insider tip since 1934 and known for good coffee beans and kosher food, among other things.
Anecdotes about everyday life on the Upper West Side
However, the next stop is not an insider tip: After all, “Café Lalo” has been world-famous since the film “You’ve Got Mail” starring Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks (German: “E-Mail für Dich”). But if you don’t know that, you will quickly pass by the rather inconspicuous cake temple, which offers more than 100 different types of cake.
– –Cafe Lalo was made famous by the movie You’ve Got Mail starring Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks
What: CHRISTIAN DOSE
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Between the more or less well-known attractions, John, now a pensioner and formerly a marketing manager, keeps reporting on everyday life on the Upper West Side. The Dakota Building is one of the most famous apartment buildings in the city. One of the residents to this day is Yoko Ono, whose husband John Lennon was shot dead at the entrance to the nine-story building.
Finally, John insists on heading for Central Park – he also volunteers here. However, John omits the well-known Strawberry Fields, memorial to the murdered Beatles singer.
– –The Swedish Cottage houses one of the last remaining puppet theaters in the USA
Quelle: Getty Images/Walter McBride
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Instead, he points to the playground donated by singer Diana Ross, and most notably to the Swedish Cottage, home to one of the last remaining puppet theaters in the United States—this is new information, even for seasoned Central Park connoisseurs. A walk with a Big Apple Greeter is a very personal way, even for New York connoisseurs, to explore the city from a local’s perspective and discover many new details along the way.
Tips and information:
Activities: City tours with a Big Apple Greeter should be requested as early as possible – at least three to four weeks before the desired date. Tours are available in all five boroughs; they last between two and four hours. There’s a wide range of things to do: discover Harlem with the Greeters, take the 7 subway through Queens, or visit a museum together. The volunteer greeters are known for their creative and individual tours (bigapplegreeter.org).
Cost: No. However, donations to the Big Apple Greeter organization (through the website) are encouraged. The greeters generally do not take tips, some allow themselves to be invited for a coffee.
The text is an excerpt from the recently published book “New York, 50 tips off the beaten path” by Christian Dose and Carolin Gerstenmaier, Verlag 360grad-medien.de, 288 pages, 16.95 euros.
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