HIP HOP!
Birthplace of Hip-Hop Tour,
Hush Hip-Hop Tours
Just go with the flow — literally. Hop aboard Hush’s leather-upholstered bus and feel the beats of hip-hop pioneer and celebrity tour guide Grandmaster Caz as he leads a 4-hour tour through New York’s most influential hip-hop landmarks. Caz gives a detailed history of the genre’s emergence, from its origins in oft-forgotten establishments, like Harlem World (a once great venue, now a discount store) to its modern-day celebration across the Bronx Walk of Fame. “The tour is important because it teaches people about the pioneer era of hip-hop,” says Caz, “the era that made it what it is today.”
Starting point: 292 Fifth Ave., near 30th Street
Territory covered: East Harlem and the South Bronx
Info:Wednesdays ($69), Fridays and Saturdays ($75) at 11 a.m.; 212-714-3527, hushtours.com
Highlights:
* Feasting your eyes on the mesmerizing graffiti mural along the Jackie Robinson Education Complex
* Releasing your inner b-boy (or b-girl) and getting down low for a break-dancing lesson at Yankee Stadium
* Seeing The Bronx’s best and brightest stars immortalized on street signs along the Bronx Walk of Fame
RUNNING!
UWS Run, City Running Tours
Prefer your sightseeing with a side of cardio? Then lace up those kicks. City Running Tours are perfect for those who want to see notable UWS and Central Park landmarks while burning a few hundred calories. Guides accommodate different paces along the 5-mile route. “It’s an opportunity for runners to continue their daily routine,” says owner Michael Gazaleh, president and CEO of City Running Tours. “For them to tour in this way, doing something they love, it just enhances the experience.”
Starting point: 140 W. 72nd St.
Territory covered: through the Upper West Side
Info: Saturdays at 10 a.m. ($40); tour lasts 90 minutes; 877-415-0058, cityrunningtours.com/nyc
Highlights:
* Asking a bird watcher to look at Pale Male, the famous Central Park red-tailed hawk, through his or her telescope. Just say “please.”
* Getting off the pavement and out of the loop, and running Central Park’s inner wooded trails and pathways
* Seeing John Lennon’s grand old home, the Dakota
GRAFFITI!
Banksy, Shepard Fairey and ROA Tour, Graff Tours
“We want to do away with the negative connotation a lot of people have with graffiti and street art,” says tour guide Kate Murphy. “We show people that it can be used constructively, and bring about positive change in the environment.” Each tour is like a scavenger hunt, as the well-informed guides reveal graffiti hidden in every alley, corner and cranny. You’ll see some of New York’s most renowned pieces of graffiti and be left wondering why graffiti is on the streets and not in museums.
Starting point: Bleecker Street and the Bowery
Territory covered: Lower East Side and the Village
Info: Sundays at 1 p.m. ($25); tour
lasts 90 minutes; 201-397-9138; grafftours.com
Highlights:
* Discovering a hidden mural of Steve Jobs painted between a store gate’s rods
* Catching Lady Aiko’s Houston Street mural, the first by a woman on the coveted street-art stretch
* Seeing Shepard Fairey’s seminal work, “Obey,” on the corner of Rivington Street and the Bowery