West Side Gems: Manhattan Valley & Bloomingdale

Note: Optional social hour beforehand starting at 5:30pm until 6:30pm our departure time. This will allow people to use the restroom as well and be away from the rush hour congestion at 96th and Broadway. Bar Thalia has happy hour half-price drinks 4pm until 6pm. They also serve food. Link below:

http://www.symphonyspace.org/bar-thalia

Cost: $10:00 payable in cash at the tour. This is the last in a series of three tours to raise awareness and money for a very special non-profit called the Broadway Mall Association (BMA), which helps keeps Broadway beautiful from 72nd Street to 168th Street with plantings, landscaping and art exhibits. Read more about BMA here: http://www.broadwaymall.org/home/

All proceeds to the BMA.

This guided walk covers West 96-110th Street between Riverside Drive and Central Park West and explores two neighborhoods that perhaps don’t get the respect and attention they deserve. This diverse and dynamic community has been revitalized over the past two decades thanks to neighborhood residents and businesses.

Discover some cool new places to eat, a great jazz club, and how to get lost in the wild and elusive Northwest corner of Central Park! There’s some fascinating history as well! We’ll be sure to stop by the homes of George Gershwin and Humphrey Bogart, as well as the house where Duke Ellington composed songs. We’ll enjoy the solitude of Strauss Park which honors the former owners of Macy’s who once lived in the area, and other lesser known West Side landmarks and attractions, such as: the delightful Manhattan Avenue Historic District; a church with some of the loveliest Tiffany windows anywhere; Association Residence (today North America’s largest hostel); a rare free standing mansion on Riverside Drive; and a statue that survived the atomic bombing of Hiroshima.

Cheers from Hank

646-596-3005

hankorenstein@gmail.com