Custom Private Tours for Groups
Public Tours
» Tour Calendar
Slide Lectures & Workshops
About Justin Ferate
What People Are
Saying
Contact Justin
Join Mailing List
Suggested Books
Suggested Websites
 
TOUR SCHEDULE (Featured Past Tours) 35 tours listed  » Show Upcoming Tours

 Saturday June 18
THE NEW QUEENS MUSEUM & THE 1939 & 1964 WORLD’S FAIR SITE
The Queens Museum structure was built as the New York City Building – to house the New York City Pavilion at the 1939 World’s Fair. The building was directly adjacent to the great icons of the Fair, the Trylon and Perisphere, and it was one of the few buildings created for the Fair that were intended to be permanent. It is now the only surviving building from the 1939 World’s Fair. One of the proudest periods in the history of the New York City Building was from 1946 to 1950 when it housed the General Assembly of the newly formed United Nations. Today, that original building has been transformed. Join Justin as we tour some of the current exhibitions in this newly expanded Queens Museum. In addition, we’ll have the opportunity to view some of the museum’s several beloved ongoing exhibitions.

We will visit the Panorama of the City of New York – the jewel in the crown of the collection of the Queens Museum of Art.

Now on display in the new wing of the Queens Museum is the ever-beloved Egon and Hildegard Neustadt Collection of Tiffany Glass. The inaugural exhibition for the gallery is Shade Garden: Floral Lamps from the Tiffany Studios, which features 20 lamps exemplifying Tiffany’s masterful translation of nature into glass.

The Queens Museum will always be inextricably linked to the 1939 and 1964 World’s Fairs, and now on display is a collection of more than 10,000 objects pertaining to the two expositions.

After our visit to the Queens Museum, we’ll take a brief walking tour of this vibrant public space to learn about the remaining landmarks from the World’s Fairs, and the incredible history of two of New York’s most important cultural events.

PLEASE PRINT OUT WOLFE WALKERS BROCHURE FOR BUS INSTRUCTIONS, IF DESIRED.

Watches brands can capitalize on each moment. For example a toothpaste advertiser can congratulate every winner of an watches uk store award show, as they accept their trophies and show off their pearly white smiles. Trends start at fashion week and make their way all across the Omega replica watches store fashion world, beginning with famous international designers like Vera Wang and Marc Jacobs and replica watches eventually making their way down to the clothes sold at all kinds of stores, from Gap to Topshop to Target. If a high-end label waits six months before its lines arrive in the fake Rolex shop, it risks looking dated as the replica watches internet and the High Street have long ago been there and done that.




 Saturday June 4
Stanford White and Friends
Join Justin Ferate as we seek out monuments and memories of one of this nation’s greatest architects: Stanford White, while also focusing on White’s generous embracing of the works of his fellow artists. We’ll begin at the Renwick Triangle, to view the site where Stanford White was born. Traveling to Cooper Square, we’ll view the statue of Peter Cooper – a sculpture by White’s long-time friend, Augustus St. Gaudens with a neoclassical base and granite entablature designed by Stanford White. Moving westward, we’ll travel the byways of Greenwich Village to see White’s magnificent Italianate creation, Judson Memorial Church, complete with an Italian campanile (bell tower). We’ll also view and discuss the history of what is possibly Stanford White’s most beloved monument: Washington Arch, dedicated to the Inauguration of the first President of the United States.

En route, we’ll also discuss White’s inordinately active social life with buildings such as the Benedick (featured in Edith Wharton’s novel, House of Mirth), the Salmagundi Club, and the Tile Club, which was remodeled by White. We’ll also note the site of the 10th Street Studio Building, designed by architect Richard Morris Hunt in 1857 as the first modern artists’ studio building in the United States. This building was the center of New York’s art world (and the home base for many of Stanford White’s friends) throughout the remainder of the 19th century.

For a diversion, we’ll also view the home of Lockwood de Forest and the adjacent Ava, which was once home to the beloved Greenwich Village writer Dawn Powell. The buildings are replete with exquisite East Indian teak carvings conceived and executed for Lockwood de Forest, a prominent decorator and associate of Louis Comfort Tiffany (and, of course, a friend of Stanford White). These two structures are an absolute delight for the eye!

We’ll also discover the Church of the Ascension, designed in 1840 by noted architect Richard Upjohn (Trinity Church Wall Street). During the years 1885-1889, Stanford White hired a group of artists in redesigning the church’s interiors. John La Farge created the immense altar mural – one of the finest in the nation. Other details were by Louis St. Gaudens, David Maitland Armstrong, and Charles Follen McKim. The church is truly a Stanford White ensemble!

Come join us! There’s much more to see on this jaunt as we discover some of the New York’s great treasures by Stanford White and his friends!



 Sunday May 22
Historic Long Island: “Knothole,” Sagamore Hill & Old Bethpage Village
A very special bus and walking tour to take a private tour of Theodore Roosevelt's Long Island estate, "Sagamore Hill"; the writer Christopher Morley's magical hideaway, "Knothole"; and Old Bethpage Village Restoration with its array of handsome 19th century historic structures. Luncheon at Grasso's Restaurant in the charming former whaling village of Cold Spring Harbor.

Please click on "Tour Details" for an extensive description.

Be certain to order your meal on the Registration Form!



 Sunday May 15
Wall Street: Finance & History
Join Annaline Dinkelmann, Owner and Founder of Wall Street Walks and Justin Ferate, with a background in architectural and social history, on this tour of Wall Street from two different perspectives.

From the era of the Colonial Dutch to the present day, American Finance has resonated throughout the canyons of Wall Street. Grasp the origins of Wall Street – from the international prowess of the New York’s waterfront, to the founding of the NY Stock Exchange under a buttonwood tree, to the world of today with high-speed international communications. We’ll focus on the workings of “The Street” as well as the historical political implications of this thoroughfare that once defined the northern boundary of Nieuw Amsterdam.

In addition, we’ll discuss the religious implications of Wall Street, with its two grand churches, Trinity Church and its smaller chapel, St. Paul’s – arguably our national church – where President George Washington went to pray after his inauguration.

Learn about financial icons J.P. Morgan, Andrew Carnegie, and John D. Rockefeller and how they made history. Discover the importance of the Dow Jones Index so you can understand what financial shows are talking about when they give their closing bell reports.

A few of the many sites include the New York Stock Exchange, J. P. Morgan Guaranty Trust, Fraunces Tavern, the American Stock Exchange, and the Federal Reserve Bank.


 Saturday April 30
Fordham Antiquites Museum + Fordham + Belmont
Discover the antiquities of the Fordham University Museum of Greek, Etruscan and Roman Art with tour leader Justin Ferate. Located in the William D. Walsh Family Library, the antiquities museum occupies 4,000 square feet of space on the main floor of the Library. It features more than 260 antiquities dating from the 10th century BCE through the 3rd century CE. The collection spans several periods, Mycenaean, Villanovan, Classical Greece, Geometrical, Archaic Roman, Imperial Roman, Republican, Etruscan, and South Italian. There are red-figure and red-and-black-figure ceramics, and the shiny black Etruscan pottery known as Bucchero, as well as an array of sculpture and terra cotta heads.

Delight in a stroll through the jewel-like splendor of the Fordham University campus. Today, Fordham, with its shaded green lawns and it handsome Gothic structures, is one of the largest Roman Catholic institutions in America. In the 1840s, Fordham University was called “St. John’s College” and the clarion bells from its main tower inspired Edgar Allan Poe’s poem, “The Bells.” We’ll visit the 19th century quadrangle of the original St. John’s College campus and visit the magnificent St. John’s Chapel. Contributing to the richness of the interior and relieving the simplicity of the exterior are stained glass windows donated by King Louis Philippe of France. The present altar, Installed in 1943, came from St. Patrick's Cathedral on Manhattan’s Fifth Avenue, where it had served for over sixty years.

Then, almost by surprise, we’ll be in Italy…. well, almost. Belmont is often considered to be New York’s most authentic working class Italian neighborhood. It’s like the back streets of Naples, the eastern neighborhoods of Rome, or the tenements behind Milan Cathedral. Belmont is a unique neighborhood that was the first home to tens of thousands of Italian immigrants and has maintained its unique flavor for almost one hundred years. Indeed, the aroma of fresh bread wafts in the air as clean laundry hangs out to dry. Markets are abundant with fresh vegetables, fruits, and bunches of fresh oregano – along with mounds of olives and piñoli nuts. Be dazzled by the array of Italian cheeses, including freshly made mozzarella. Stroll through the salumerias, bakeries, and pasta shops.

Lunch at one of the dining venues or visit Belmont’s popular pastry shops and espresso bars. Perhaps you’ll hear the church bells of Our Lady of Mount Carmel. Somewhere in the distance, amidst the murmur of Italian conversation in the restaurant, you may even hear the warm, romantic sounds of Dion and the Belmonts, crooning on a nearby street corner. Ciao bella!

IMPERATIVE: Photo ID will be required to enter the Fordham Campus. Don’t forget!


 Saturday April 16
A Little Bit of Paris: Columbia University, Riverside Drive, Grant’s Tomb & International House
The site of the General Grant National Memorial was an important site in the American Revolution. High on a promontory, overlooking the Hudson River, it was here that President George Washington had envisioned building the United States Capitol. Join tour leader Justin Ferate as we discover this romantic Parisian-inspired neighborhood, conceived by Calvert Vaux and Frederick Law Olmsted to be the pivotal sight on their grand Parisian-style thoroughfare, Riverside Drive.

We’ll begin our tour with a visit to the Columbia University campus, designed by Charles Follen McKim of McKim, Mead & White. We’ll view the iconic Low Library and the beloved statues of Alma Mater, by Daniel Chester French and The Thinker by Auguste Rodin. If available, we hope to visit St. Paul’s Chapel, with its splendid Guastavino vaulted ceilings and magnificent stained glass windows by John La Farge. As we stroll the neighborhood, we’ll discuss institutions such as Barnard College, Teachers College, and Union Theological Seminary. We’ll visit and explore Grant’s Tomb – modeled after Les Invalides in Paris – the tomb of Napoleon Bonaparte.

Discover the International House New York, a private, non-profit residence and program center oriented to international graduate students, scholars engaging in research, trainees, and interns. Founded by John D. Rockefeller Jr. to foster international communications, the informal daily interaction among its 700 international residents, from over 100 countries, combine with specially designed programs, facilities and residential life to foster diversity of thought and experience. International House has been known to attract prominent guest speakers through the years, from Eleanor Roosevelt and Isaac Stern to Sandra Day O'Connor and Nelson Mandela.

Adjacent to International House is another Rockefeller bequest: Sakura Park (“sakura” means “cherry blossom” in Japanese), the site of Japan's original gift of cherry trees to New York City in 1912. (Hopefully, they’ll be in bloom!) In 1960, the City of Tokyo gave the gift of a tōrō lantern, when New York became her sister city. Former Crown Prince and current Emperor of Japan, Akihito, attended the official dedication on October 10 of that year. Crown Prince Akihito would later rededicate the tōrō with his princess in 1987.

We’ll also view a little-known bronze statue of General Daniel Adams Butterfield by the noted sculptor Gutzon Borglum (of Mount Rushmore fame). The statue is oriented toward Grant's Tomb across Riverside Drive positioning Butterfield to view the tomb of his fellow Civil War general and the president in whose cabinet he served. General Butterfield experimented with bugle calls for his troops and is credited with the composition of “Taps.”



 Sunday April 3
Tales of TriBeCa
The neighborhood of “TriBeCa” or the “Triangle Below Canal” boasts of an almost magical historical quality and a pervasive sense of a place lost in time. After the Civil War, shipping in Manhattan shifted from the East River to the Hudson River. Huge steamships moored at the piers on the Lower West Side and New York became one of the world’s greatest ports. In this area along the Hudson, the Washington Market, would appropriate the Federal and Greek Revival homes as warehouses for storage of produce. Large warehouse buildings with vast loft spaces would be built to accommodate the new businesses. Today, since the markets have moved to the Bronx - the loft spaces of “TriBeCa” have become extremely desirable for residential use


 Saturday December 12
BRUNCH + “THE ZIEGFELD CLUB” WITH LAURIE SANDERSON
OPEN TO ALL!
This year, the Annual Wolfe Walkers Holiday Brunch will incorporate a very special slide presentation about “The Ziegfeld Club” and its long and rich association with the Ziegfeld Follies. We’ll meet guest lecturer Laurie Sanderson, a former actress and playwright, who is the Executive Director of the Ziegfeld Club – founded in 1936 by Florenz Ziegfeld’s widow Billie Burke. (You may remember Billie Burke as “Glinda the Good Witch” in “The Wizard of Oz.”) Ms. Sanderson’s grandmother was a Ziegfeld Girl and a club member, and Ms. Sanderson spent her adolescence meeting the last “Follies” performers, listening to them play piano, sing, and reminisce about the days when they would perform in three “Follies” shows a night – followed by the exclusive “Midnight Frolic.” This slide presentation will prove to be a once-in-a-lifetime experience. Come join us!

Tour fee includes: Brunch Selection with one drink and illustrated lecture, “The Ziegfeld Club,” with Laurie Sanderson.

Reserve now! Space limited to 38 people.




 Saturday November 14
OLD AND NEW PENNSYLVANIA STATION + THE HOUDINI MUSEUM
Join Justin Ferate as we examine the history of New York’s great Pennsylvania Station. We’ll explore the past, the present, and the future plans for Pennsylvania Station.

By viewing actual remnants of the former Pennsylvania Station still on view and through photographs, we’ll explore countless aspects of the building – both in the past and the present. We will also visit the Pennsylvania Station Post Office to discuss the proposals for transforming it into an exciting addition to the Manhattan streetscape: Moynihan Station.

End the tour with a visit to unusual Houdini Museum of New York, which has on display several hundred of the most rare and most important pieces that were used by and personally belonged to Harry Houdini. In the museum’s archives are over 1,500 pieces of Houdini memorabilia that allows for ever-changing exhibitions. Since we’ll be visiting a “magical place” – there’s even a rabbit!



 Saturday November 7
BUS TRIP: THE ROEBLING MUSEUM & THE VILLAGE OF ROEBLING, NEW JERSEY
What an adventure! Join Justin Ferate on a visit to The Roebling Museum and the “model workers’ community” of Roebling, New Jersey. The Roebling Museum’s mission is to document, preserve, and exhibit the history of the John A. Roebling’s Sons Company, the Roebling family, and the village of Roebling. Its focus is not only on the industrial and technological achievements of the company but on the unique social history of its workforce and the town it created. The Roebling Museum is located in the former factory’s Main Gate building (ca. 1907) and is adjacent to the village of Roebling, one of this nation's most intact “model workers’ communities.” The museum and village are on the National Register of Historic Places.

Tour fee includes Bus, Luncheon, Tour costs, Admissions & Gratuities.


 Saturday October 31
SNUG HARBOR, CHINESE SCHOLAR’S GARDEN + NATIONAL LIGHTHOUSE MUSEUM
Travel with Justin on the Staten Island Ferry for several remarkable experiences. Immediately upon arrival in Staten Island, we’ll travel by city bus for about ten minutes to our first destination: Snug Harbor. Originally known as Sailors' Snug Harbor, this impressive complex consists of a collection of architecturally significant 19th century buildings set in an 83-acre park along the Kill Van Kull waterfront on the north shore of Staten Island. United States. Today, the buildings and grounds of the former Sailors’ Snug Harbor are used by arts organizations under the umbrella of the Snug Harbor Cultural Center and Botanical Garden.

Amazingly, Snug Harbor includes an impressive array of 26 Greek Revival, Beaux Arts, Italianate, and Victorian buildings. The site is considered Staten Island's "crown jewel" and "an incomparable remnant of New York's 19th century seafaring past." Snug Harbor is a National Historic Landmark District.

While at Snug Harbor, Justin will lead a private tour of the Chinese Scholar’s Garden – an authentic Chinese garden designed in the ancient traditional style – with walls, rooms, bridges, reflecting pools, moon gates, waterfalls, and contemplative plaques with poems in Chinese. The building materials were all imported from China and the garden was constructed by a team of forty Chinese artists and artisans who came here from Suzhou in China – where these gardens can traditionally be found.

We’ll lunch on the grounds of Snug Harbor and then return by city bus to the Staten Island Ferry. Adjacent to the ferry terminal is the National Lighthouse Museum, where we will take a private tour of the collections and the site. The site was specifically selected for the National Lighthouse Museum because of its historic significance. The museum building was once the home of the United States Lighthouse Service Depot, which was established at this location on the New York Harbor in 1864.

We’ll take a private tour of this new museum and the site to discover more about the role of lighthouses in New York and in national history. Then, we will travel back to Manhattan by way of the Staten Island Ferry.


Tour fee includes all admissions.


 Saturday October 17
A JOURNEY TO HISTORIC & REVITALIZED HARLEM
Culturally and architecturally, Harlem is one of this nation’s most remarkable neighborhoods. Our tour will begin on “Sugar Hill” – noted for its grand homes, churches, and world-famous institutions. Join Justin Ferate at the delightful community garden near the former Harlem castle of James Bailey of Barnum and Bailey Circus.

As we stroll downhill to the Harlem Valley, we’ll view charming streets with handsome 19th century rowhouses. We’ll also view the recently re-sited Alexander Hamilton Grange and City College, the Gothic “castle on the hill” which boasts of eight Nobel Prize winners. Discover “Striver’s Row,” Abyssinian Baptist Church, and (time permitting) the Schomburg Library – with its splendid murals by noted African American artist Aaron Douglas. Discover sites associated with Ma Rainey, James Weldon Johnson, “Fats” Waller, Langston Hughes, the Delany Sisters (“Having Our Say”), Zora Neale Hurston, Dorothy Maynor, and America’s first self-made female millionaire, Madam C. J. Walker. The tour will address the ongoing revitalization of this nationally historic neighborhood. During the course of the tour, we’ll also explore often-overlooked Harlem sites.



 Saturday October 10
E. L. DOCTOROW IN THE BRONX
The prominent writer E. L. Doctorow was considered "one of America's greatest novelists" and was the recipient of numerous writing awards. Born in the Bronx, Doctorow – the son of second-generation Americans of Russian Jewish extraction – was perhaps presciently named after the beloved Bronx writer, Edgar Allan Poe, whose home still stands not far from Doctorow’s own Bronx neighborhood of Mount Eden. Join with Urban Historian Jean Arrington and explore the Mount Eden neighborhood where E. L. Doctorow grew up. Explore Doctorow’s childhood memories and their impact on his career as a great American writer.

In his 1985 novel World's Fair about the Depression-Era Bronx, Doctorow states, "Every neighborhood had its school like my school, its movie, its street of shops built into the sides of the apartment houses; it was tunneled with subways and bound together with trolley lines, and elevated lines."

Jean Arrington writes: After hearing Doctorow give a reading from World's Fair, I was inspired to read the book. I was then inspired to read it again, underlining all the specific addresses and places. One Saturday morning I met a friend at the 174th Street stop on the D train, my list of places in hand: Doctorow's house at 1650 Eastburn Avenue, the apartment on the Grand Concourse they moved to during the Depression after his father's music business had failed, his school PS 70, the ovals in Mount Eden Avenue, the Surrey Theater where on Saturday mornings for a dime Edgar would see the newsreel, two feature films, a serial, and a cartoon, the public library on the forbidding Irish and Italian side of Webster Avenue, the sites of the lying-in hospital where he was born, the synagogue his grandmother attended, the drugstore where she bought for her asthma a “medicinal leaf legally available without a prescription.”

While delving into the author’s childhood memories, I discovered a small enclave of the Bronx that hadn't changed significantly since Doctorow had loved those streets as a little boy.



 Saturday September 26
OFFBEAT FLUSHING LANDMARKS
Join Justin Ferate on this offbeat tour of Flushing, Queens – highlighting a varied selection of unusual landmark buildings. Today, Flushing is one of the country’s most diverse communities. Sites will include Flushing Town Hall, Friends (Quaker) Meeting House, Lewis Latimer House, a Korean pagoda, Kingsland Homestead, Voelker-Orth Museum, Bowne House, and the Birthplace of Nancy Reagan.

Please bring lunch and beverage for trip.
Tour cost includes all admission fees.


 Saturday September 12
FORT GREENE & CLINTON HILL, BROOKLYN
Join Justin Ferate as we explore two adjacent Brooklyn neighborhoods: Fort Greene and Clinton Hill – both now newly chic. At the turn of the 20th century, Fort Greene’s Washington Park and nearby Clinton Avenue were among Brooklyn’s most fashionable addresses. In the era of World War II, the neighborhoods experienced decline, but have now seen major turnarounds. The impressive array of 19th century wooden, brick, and brownstone mansions and rowhouses comprises one of the city’s great treasure troves of domestic architecture. This ethnically diverse community is popular with artists, designers, and filmmakers – among others. Sights will include grand brownstone streets, the “mansion row” of the Pratt family, Pratt Institute, and landmarks such as Stanford White’s great Revolutionary War Martyrs’ Monument – arguably one of this nation’s most important Revolutionary War memorials. End your tour at Junior’s Restaurant for a slice of their world-renowned cheesecake.


 Saturday July 11
BUS: New Paltz & Hurley: 17th & 18th Century Stone Houses
Tour 17th & 18th Century stone houses in New Paltz (museum houses) and Hurley (private residences). The houses of Hurley are only open to the public one day a year! Don't miss this opportunity!

First, we’ll travel by bus up the Hudson River to New Paltz to take a guided tour of the Historic Huguenot Street National Landmark District. This community boasts of seven intact early 18th century stone houses built by Huguenot settlers fleeing discrimination and religious persecution in France and Belgium.

Then, we’ll travel north to the town of Hurley, New York to visit another collection of stone houses built from 1685–1786. After homemade luncheon at the local Dutch church, stroll the streets of this quaint village at your own pace as you tour a selection of 300-year-old privately owned stone houses – opened only one day a year to the public.



 Sunday May 31
An Offbeat Day in Staten Island: TOTTENVILLE
FERRY, SUBWAY & WALKING TOUR: Join Justin Ferate as we travel the length of Staten Island to discover vestiges of the island’s rich past. Meet at the Manhattan Terminal of the Staten Island Ferry and travel across New York's Harbor, on an historic ferry journey initiated by a young Staten Islander, one Cornelius Van Der Bilt.

Once on Staten Island, we'll travel overland on SIR (Staten Island Railway) to the end of the line: Tottenville. The SIR train line was once the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad and is now operated by the MTA. Tottenville was once the major New York ferry connection for Perth Amboy, New Jersey. The village still has unusual remnants of its maritime past. We'll see 19th Century houses of ship's captains and Victorian country villas. There's even a library by Carrère & Hastings, architects of the New York Public Library! We’ll make a special visit to Tina Kaasman-Dunn ‘s delightful home – an enchantingly restored 19th century gentleman’s country estate in the style of A. J. Downing. We’ll also view the Henry Biddle Mansion, a NYC Landmark Greek Revival mansion built circa 1850. The front and rear facades are identical, each boasting of a magnificent two-story portico – one of which overlooks the waterfront.

As special treat, we will tour Conference House, the 1680s stone house built by British naval officer, Captain Christopher Billop. At an unsuccessful peace conference here, during the American Revolution, the British government proposed to provide "clemency and full pardon to all repentant rebels." The unrepentant rebels (represented at the conference by Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, and Edward Rutledge) did not agree to the conditions offered and the War for Independence continued. Had this conference gone otherwise, the United States might still be part of Great Britain today.


 Sunday May 24
HYDE PARK: VAL-KILL, SPRINGWOOD, FDR LIBRARY & VANDERBILT MANSION
BUS TOUR: Take a summertime journey up the Hudson River. We have made special arrangements to visit Val-Kill, the very private “snuggery” of Eleanor Roosevelt. Commemorate the life and work of this outstanding woman in American history. Discover more about the humanitarian concerns to which she devoted her considerable intellect.

At Noon, we will tour Springwood, the lifelong home of Franklin D. Roosevelt – America’s only 4-term President. After the tour, time will be allotted for picnic lunches and to visit the FDR Presidential Library and Museum, operated by the National Archives. Stroll the grounds, walk the trails of this 300-acre site, or view the gravesites of Franklin, Eleanor, and their beloved Scottie dog “Fala,”

At 3:30 PM, we will tour the Frederick Vanderbilt Mansion, a grand architectural representation of the era Mark Twain called "The Gilded Age." McKim, Mead and White designed the handsome neoclassical mansion in 1898. In 1906, Whitney Warren, the Vanderbilt relative who co-designed Grand Central Terminal, made final alterations to the mansion.

The mansion remains much as it was – sited on 600 acres – purchased because of Mr. Vanderbilt’s love of horticulture. The beautiful grounds include walking trails, formal gardens, and a spectacular view of the Hudson River. Until the 1930s, lavish parties and balls were held here in the summer and fall. Guests were drawn from America's wealthiest families and European nobility. The mansion required a staff of seventeen workers, including Hyde Park townspeople. The mansion’s own farm provided the meats, fruits, and vegetables for the larder.

If time permits, we’ll also visit St. James Church, an important spiritual anchor for the Roosevelt and Vanderbilt families and the site selected by President Roosevelt for his funeral service.

Please bring your own Picnic Lunch with beverage. There are no food services on site.
You may want to bring a snack or beverage for the bus ride.



 Sunday November 16
Long Island Estates – from the Vanderbilts to the Guggenheims
Visiting two meticulously preserved historic summer mansions of Long Island provides a perfect way to experience the Gold Coast lifestyle of luxury and opulence in the era of “The Great Gatsby.” Join tour leader Justin Ferate as we visit Eagle’s Nest, the former home of William K. Vanderbilt II and Falaise, the former home of Harry F. Guggenheim. Our luncheon will be at Louie’s Oyster Bar & Grille. Situated on beautiful Manhasset Bay, the restaurant’s magnificent location serves up a panoramic view of the New York City skyline and Long Island Sound.



 Sunday November 2
Spuyten Duyvil on the Hudson
The bucolic Bronx country village of Spuyten Duyvil grew up after the Civil War. Here, Isaac G. Johnson established a highly successful iron foundry on the parcel of land where the Hudson and Harlem Rivers converge. Washington Irving contended that the name “Spuyten Duyvil” was derived from the Dutch. Irving recounted a legendary tale of Peter Stuyvesant's trumpeter, who vowed to row across the dangerously choppy waters "in spite of the devil."

Discover the charming wooden cottages that survive from historic Spuyten Duyvil along with some of the prominent landmarks, both natural and man-made. Included in this often wooded stroll will be the romantic Villa Charlotte Bronte, an exquisite stone and half-timber country church by Francis Kimball (with noteworthy Tiffany windows), and Henry Hudson Park with its 100-foot Doric column topped with a 16-foot bronze sculpture of Henry Hudson by the noted 19th century sculptor Karl Bitter. The explorer Hudson is permanently poised to overlook the river that bears his name.

DON'T FORGET DAYLIGHT SAVINGS TIME!


 Sunday October 19
“Frankfurt-on-the-Hudson” – Jewish Washington Heights
This very unusual comprehensive tour – conducted by Shulamith “Shuli” Berger from the Lower East Side Jewish Conservancy – will focus on the distinctive history and contemporary Jewish community of Washington Heights. Shuli is the Curator of Special Collections at the Yeshiva University Library and a Washington Heights resident.

Our tour will begin on the campus of Yeshiva University. The inauguration, in 1928, of an imposing Moorish Revival building on Amsterdam Avenue (architects Charles B. Meyers and Henry Beaumont Herts) finalized YU's relocation from the overcrowded, impoverished neighborhood of the Lower East Side to the then bucolic Washington Heights. We will tour this dynamic, urban campus.

Making our way west, we will view the major facilities of K'hal Adath Jeshurun, (1939) – known locally as “Breuer’s” – a unique German-tradition kehilla (centralized religious community) on Bennett Avenue. We will discuss the legacy of Rabbi Sampson Raphael Hirsch who, in 1851, founded the original kehilla that bore this name in Frankfurt-am-Main in Germany. After Kristallnacht (November 10, 1938) Rabbi Hirsch’s grandson, Rabbi Dr. Joseph Breuer, came to Washington Heights and revived the spiritual traditions on these shores.

Our tour will also include Mount Sinai Jewish Center, an Orthodox Ashkenazi congregation that includes, along with its older long-time members, many congregants in their 20s and 30s.

Our next stop will be Chabad of Washington Heights, the most recent addition to communal life in Washington Heights. We’ll then take a possibly unexpected elevator ride to the top of the bluff to Bennett Park. Built on the site of Fort Washington, from which the Continental Army delayed the advance of British troops in 1776, the park was named for James Gordon Bennett, Sr. – the newspaper publisher who launched the New York Herald in 1835. Bennett Park is located at the highest natural point in Manhattan.

Tour concludes with viewing of the Hebrew Tabernacle Congregation, founded in 1906 and housed in a dramatic Art Deco building. For those who want to end the tour with a “nosh” – Justin will make a special post-tour stop at Gideon’s Kosher Bakery !


 Sunday September 21
Upper Manhattan: Inwood & Historic Dyckman Farmhouse
Join Tour Leader Justin Ferate and discover the rich palimpsest of history in the Upper Manhattan neighborhood of Inwood. The area’s rugged glacial formations along the Hudson and Harlem Rivers encouraged numerous Native American encampments. Generations of New Yorkers reported having found arrowheads in the rocky cliffs. Here, Peter Minuit would “purchase” Manhattan for 60 guilders in what remains the only remaining natural forest in Manhattan. Here, Hessian soldiers created huts to weather the winters during the American Revolution. Here is the oldest farmhouse in Manhattan – a reminder of Manhattan’s Dutch settlement. Here, the elite families of Manhattan would build grand country estates on rugged stone cliffs. Here, handsome 20th century apartment buildings would spring up along the far-reaching subway lines.

WHILE IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD: Some may want to discover the brand new Swindler Cove Park after the tour.
More in Full Description....


 Sunday September 14
World Trade Center Memorials: A Walking Tour & Ferry Ride
Join Justin Ferate as we discover an array of memorials dedicated to those who lost their lives in the World Trade Center disaster. Included will be the newly opened 9/11 Memorial Plaza on the site of the former World Trade Center towers. The Memorial features two enormous waterfalls and reflecting pools, each about an acre in size, set within the footprints of the original Twin Towers. More than 400 trees surround the reflecting pools. The design conveys a spirit of hope and renewal, and creates a contemplative space separate from the usual sights and sounds of a bustling metropolis.

In addition, we will view an array of other memorials and monuments – from St. Paul’s Chapel, where the rescue endeavors took place, to the Firefighters’ Memorial Wall, to the memorial cross at St. Peter’s Church, to Eleven Tears – the rock crystal memorial dedicated to those American Express workers who lost their lives in the disaster. The tour will end with a ride on the Staten Island Ferry to visit what Justin considers to be the best of the World Trade Center memorials: Postcards, an intimate, haunting shrine-like memorial shaped like two postcards caught in the winds…messages to those we’ve loved and lost.



 Saturday September 28
57th Street: Art! Music! Culture!
57th Street has long been a treasure trove of artistic, musical, and cultural delights. Join noted Tour Leader Justin Ferate as we discover the history, legends, and lore of this fascinating thoroughfare. Among the various sites will be Trump Tower, Tiffany’s, the Fuller Building, the Solow Building, Carnegie Hall, Steinway Hall, the Art Students’ League, and a selection of art galleries. Rediscover old friends, discover remnants of the street’s residential past, and view high-end new buildings. Tour will include several special interior visits.


 Sunday December 16
HOLIDAY BRUNCH & WOOLWORTH BUILDING SLIDE LECTURE
Take the opportunity to share an end-of-the-year meal with other Wolfe Walkers at our long-time holiday venue, Pete’s Tavern. See the table where O. Henry wrote his beloved Christmas classic, “The Gift of the Magi.” In addition to the pleasurable meal and the friendly camaraderie of being with fellow Wolfe Walkers, Justin will present an enlightening new slide show: “The Woolworth Building: The Cathedral of Commerce.”



 Sunday December 2
THE CLOISTERS AND FORT TRYON PARK
High atop Manhattan Island, the Cloisters house the Metropolitan Museum of Art's collection of art and architecture from medieval Europe. Best known for the beautiful tapestries on display, the Cloisters also offer architectural installations and fantastic views of the Hudson River. Join Justin for this special tour of this remarkable institution.

Located on four acres overlooking the Hudson River in northern Manhattan's Fort Tryon Park (previously designed by Frederick Law Olmsted as a summer estate), the building incorporates elements from five medieval French cloisters – quadrangles enclosed by a roofed or vaulted passageway, or arcade – and from other monastic sites in southern France. Three of the cloisters reconstructed at the branch museum feature gardens planted according to horticultural information found in medieval treatises and poetry, garden documents and herbals, and medieval works of art, such as tapestries, stained-glass windows, and column capitals. Approximately five thousand works of art from medieval Europe, dating from about A.D. 800 with particular emphasis on the twelfth through fifteenth century, are exhibited in this unique and sympathetic context.

In celebration of the Christmas holidays, the Cloisters will also be decorated with appropriate Medieval ornamentation for the season. Weather permitting, we’ll stroll Fort Tryon Park, the site of an American Revolutionary fort and later the summer estate of newspaper publisher James Gordon Bennett. Ask Justin about the owl!




 Monday November 19
The Synagogues of New York's Lower East Side
FREE Book-Signing with Dr. Gerard Wolfe:
Join Gerard Wolfe, the founder of the Wolfe Walkers, for this very special book-signing event!

It has often been said that nowhere in the United States can one find a greater collection of magnificent and historic synagogues than on New York's Lower East Side. As the ultimate destination for millions of immigrant eastern European Jews during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, it became the new homeland and hoped-for goldene medinah (promised land) for immigrants fleeing persecution, poverty, and oppression, while struggling to live a new and productive life. Yet to many visitors and students today these synagogues are shrouded in mystery, as documentary information on them tends to be dispersed and difficult to find.

With The Synagogues of New York's Lower East Side, Gerard R. Wolfe fills that void, giving readers unparalleled access to the story of how the Jewish community took root on the Lower East Side of Manhattan. Using archival photographs taken by Jo Renée Fine and contemporary shots taken by Norman Borden alongside his text, Wolfe focuses on the synagogues built or acquired by eastern European Ashkenazi Jewish immigrants during the great era of mass immigration, painting vivid portraits of the individual congregations and the new and vital culture that was emerging. For many, the Lower East Side became the portal to America and the stepping-stone to a new and better life. Today, the synagogues in which these immigrants worshiped remain as a poignant visual reminder of what had become the largest Jewish community in the world.

Originally published in 1978, The Synagogues of New York's Lower East Side became the authoritative study of the subject. Now completely revised and updated, the book incorporates new text, photographs, and maps, along with an invaluable glossary. Published by Fordham University Press, Wolfe's book is an essential and accessible source for those who want to understand the varied and rich history of New York's Lower East Side and its Jewish population. Its readable and illuminating view into the diversity of synagogues – large and small, past and present – and their people makes this book ideal for teachers, students, museum educators, and general readers as well.

PLEASE READ ATTACHED WW BROCHURE FOR MORE INFORMATION.


 Saturday November 10
DISCOVER THE CREATION OF FRESHKILLS PARK!
TOUR CLOSED Ferry & Bus Tour: Join Justin at Manhattan’s Staten Island Ferry Terminal to begin this discovery tour of the new Freshkills Park! In Staten Island, we’ll meet a special bus and a member of the New York City Parks Department who will take us on this very unusual adventure. At 2,200 acres, Freshkills Park will be almost three times the size of Central Park and the largest park developed in New York City in over 100 years. James Corner of Field Operations, the same firm that created the stunning landscape designs for the High Line, produced the master plan to guide the long-term development of Freshkills Park.

The full build–out will continue in phases for the next 30 years, with development over the next several years focused on providing public access to the interior of the site and showcasing its unusual combination of natural and engineered beauty. While nearly 45 percent of the site was once used for landfill, the remainder of the site is currently composed of wetlands, open waterways, and unfilled lowland areas. The tops of the landfill mounds themselves offer spectacular vistas of the expansive site, as well as views of Lower Manhattan.

When completed the 2,200 acres of open space will host restored maritime forests, dry prairies with chestnut trees, and swampland that will be home to many species of marine animals and birds. Very few urban parks compare in size to what Fresh Kills will become. The park will support a wide range of activities from mountain biking and kayaking to cross country skiing and all manner of field sports.

Freshkills Park is a fascinating and inspiring project that weaves together a series of unusual issues and disciplines: ecology, landfill infrastructure, urban planning and landscape architecture, public art, land reclamation, sustainability, renewable energy, and New York City history. This will undoubtedly prove to be an informative and eye-opening tour!

TOUR IS LIMITED TO 23 PARTICIPANTS. Please read attached WW brochure for additional information.



 Saturday October 27
THE GHOSTS OF GREENWICH VILLAGE
For a Hallowe’en treat, join us as Justin leads a stroll of Ghosts & Goblins, Pranksters & Mayhem. Explore the byways of Greenwich Village and hear tales of legendary ghosts, graveyards, gossip, and mischief. For a touch of the macabre, we'll visit the official Hanging Tree for New York City.

A few of the other stops include:
• A burial ground for over 22,000 bodies
• The Ghostly Firehouse
• The site where Edgar Allen Poe wrote “The Raven”
• The 11th Street Cemetery
• The sightings of Eleanor Roosevelt’s ghost
• The haunted house on 10th Street
• The Ghost of Gay Street



 Saturday October 13
Museum of Chinese in America, Chinatown Walk + Dim Sum Luncheon
Join Justin as we discover the history of Manhattan’s Chinatown as well as the history of the Chinese community in the United States. Included will be a private educator-guided tour of the new Museum of Chinese in America (MOCA) designed by the internationally acclaimed artist and designer Maya Lin. Explore this new Manhattan architectural treasure as we discover the exhibit, With a Single Step: Stories in the Making of America. This one-hour gallery talk will provide an overview of Chinese in America from the 19th century to present day. Items in the Museum’s collection are used to highlight the major themes of the exhibit.

After the gallery tour, we will stroll the streets of Chinatown, discovering some of its social and cultural sites (including a secret underground tunnel) ending with a Dim Sum luncheon at the Golden Unicorn (Vegetarian options available).

TOUR IS LIMITED TO 25 PARTICIPANTS. Please read attached WW brochure for additional information.



 Saturday October 6
Landmarks of Early African-American New York
Few are aware of the role of African Americans in the history of Lower Manhattan. Even fewer are aware that in 1612, a freeman of African and Portuguese descent, Joao “Jan” Rodrigues, became the first non-native settler on the island of Manhattan. In 1626, the later Dutch settlers brought Africans to New Amsterdam as slaves. By 1711, roughly 1/6 of New York’s residents were black – most enslaved and some free. During the tour, we’ll visit such noted sites as New York’s slave market, the site of the slave revolt of 1712, the notorious “Five Points” district, Abolitionist-related sites, the New York African Free School, the site of African Society for Mutual Relief and the site of Freedom’s Journal, the first African American owned and operated newspaper in the nation.

In addition, from the 1690s until the 1790s, both free and enslaved Africans were interred in a burial ground in Lower Manhattan, beyond the boundaries of New Amsterdam. Built over by development, the cemetery was officially “rediscovered” in 1991. Our tour will include a visit to the new African Burial Ground Memorial – dedicated to those who are buried in this hallowed ground.

During the tour, we’ll encounter such people as Joseph François Mangin, designer of New York’s City Hall and the Venerable Pierre Toussaint – a candidate for Roman Catholic sainthood. We’ll address and visit noted religious sites associated with the black community: John Street Methodist Church, St. Peter’s Roman Catholic Church, Mother AME Zion, St. Philip’s Episcopal Church, and the Abyssinian Baptist Church. We’ll also discover overlooked heroes and heroines. Learn of Elizabeth Jennings who, in 1854, successfully sued to eliminate racial discrimination for New York’s public transit. Discover Dr. James McCune Smith, the first licensed African American doctor in the country. Learn of the New York connections for Frederick Douglass, the most famous African American of the 19th century – often called the “father of the Civil Rights movement.”



 Sunday September 30
FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT’S USONIA HOMES
Bus and Walking Tour: The utopian community of Usonia is located near Pleasantville, New York. Here, after World War II, a group of idealistic men and women enlisted Frank Lloyd Wright to design and help them create a cooperative community based on Wright’s ideals. Wright invented the name “Usonia,” to convey his concept of the “United States of North America.” Join Tour Leader, Justin Ferate, who has arranged for special permission to visit this little-known private community.

THIS TOUR IS SOLD OUT.


 Saturday June 9
Hudson River Bicycle Ride with Jacqueline Goossens
Join the Wolfe Walkers and the enthusiastic leader Jacqueline Goossens for our annual free bicycle tour. Bring your own bike or rent one at our meeting place: Bike & Roll on Pier 84. We'll bike at a moderate pace along the Hudson River to the foot of the George Washington Bridge. Return by way of Riverside Drive with its beautiful architecture, inspiring monuments, and lush greenery. Please pack a lunch and beverage. Tour will end at Bike & Roll at Pier 84. [Please note that Bike & Roll has drop-off points uptown (extra fee of $5).]

Advance Reservations are required for the Hudson River Bicycle Tour.
Register at: jgoossens@verizon.net
Tour group is limited to 10 people.



 Saturday June 2
Broad Channel, Queens & Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge
Join Justin and the official Jamaica Bay Guardian Don Riepe on a specially guided visit to this impressively preserved segment of the historic New York waterfront. One of the unusual and exhilarating sensations of the day will be when your subway car crosses Grassy Bay. You will seemingly be floating – with water on either side of your subway car. Your destination will be Broad Channel, often compared to a Maine fishing village.

We’ll stroll through the village en route to the Visitors’ Center, where we will enjoy our picnic lunches. Then we’ll tour the Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge, a unit of Gateway National Recreation Area - one of the most important urban wildlife refuges in the United States and encompassing 9,155 acres.




 Saturday May 26
Morris-Jumel Mansion & The Hispanic Society in America
Join Justin for a tour of the oldest house in Manhattan: Harlem’s Morris-Jumel Mansion. This splendid house was built in 1765, eleven years before the American Revolution, by British Colonel Roger Morris and his American wife, Mary Philipse. The next tenant of the house was General George Washington, who planned the Battle of Harlem Heights in this home. The later owner of the house, Madame Eliza Jumel, married Aaron Burr here in 1833. (Charles Dickens eternally memorialized a different “life moment” of Eliza Jumel in his novel, Great Expectations.)

We will also view nearby Sylvan Terrace, with its charming double-row of wooden 19th century workers’ houses. This intimate cobblestone street of humble homes is one of New York’s most beloved “secrets.”

Then, from the top of Harlem Heights, we’ll stroll about eight blocks to the Hispanic Society of America to view its world-renowned paintings by Diego Velázquez, Francisco de Goya, El Greco, and an impressive array of other noted Spanish painters. This is a rare collection of internationally beloved art treasures installed around a beautiful Spanish patio.
Justin Ferate's Tours of the City    |    (212) 223-2777    |    
Design by Pixel Marsala / nycPlayground.com