Celebrate NYC this weekend with more than 100 FREE guided walking tours in neighborhoods in all five boroughs. It’s the annual Jane’s Walk, recognizing the contributions of visionary preservationist and urban planner Jane Jacobs, whose work changed the way the world views and understands cities.
Simply, she helped make New York and other cities around the world more livable.
The free Jane’s Walk tours are Saturday and Sunday, guided by docents and volunteers with the Municipal Arts Society, local historians, architects and other experts. Several walks are led by local librarians, who know their communities better than most.
Jane Jacobs lectures and film documentary.
Lecture: It’s too late to register for the Jane Jacobs Centennial lecture tonight with Author and New York Times architecture critic Michael Kimmelman and award-winning author and preservationist Roberta Brandes Gratz. FREE, at 7pm at Museum at Eldridge Street. Registration is required to ensure space.
Documentary: Citizen Jane: Battle for the City is a timely tale of what can happen when engaged citizens fight power for the sake of a better world. Jacobs fought to preserve urban communities in the face of destructive development projects. Director Matt Tyranuer (Valentino: The Last Emperor) vividly brings to life her 1960s showdown with NYC’s ruthless construction kingpin Robert Moses over his plan to raze lower Manhattan to make way for a highway. It was a dramatic struggle over the very soul of the neighborhood, and allowed construction of the World Trade Center and Battery Park City.
- Citizen Jane is showing daily at the IFC Center, 323 Sixth Avenue, through May 9th.
Whether you are interested in the architecture of Lower Manhattan, the history of Brooklyn Heights, the secrets of Staten Island, the mural walls of Harlem, the art spaces of the South Bronx, or the Rockaway Peninsula since Hurricane Sandy, there’s one – or more – walking tours you’ll find interesting.
There are even sunset walks, and running tours of several parks including Central Park.
There also are Jane’s Walks FREE walking tours in Northern New Jersey and Westchester. And the movement has spread around the world, with walks in London, Buenos Aires and more.
See the complete New York City schedule and sign up here. Walks are FREE but sign-ups are required to ensure space. With proper planning you can join back-to-back tours.
Remember to wear comfortable shoes, and bring a water bottlle – preferably a re-usable or recyclable one, because clean streets are something Jane Jacobs promoted.
What do you think about this? We welcome your comments.