What Tour Group Did You Take to the WTC?

I had a tour group of baseball aficionados from Jay Buckley Baseball Tours. The group was from all over the country. I met them at Rockefeller Center and began the tour from there. They wanted to pay their respects to the Memorial sight on the 20th anniversary of the attacks.

How Long Was The Tour and What Sights Did You See?

The tour was scheduled to go for four hours and we covered a lot of areas. Actually we only did about a three-hour tour because they were heading to Citi Field to see the Yankees v. Mets game. That cut our tour down by about an hour. However, on our way out of Manhattan I took a different route in order to add more content to their tour. Traffic was light. We only made two stops — one at Robert F. Wagner Park for restrooms and views of the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. Then on to the WTC sight. We pulled our coach about a block away. When I’m outdoors, I use a voice amplifier to drown out some of the noise. It makes for a better-quality tour. So I was able to give my tour group an in-depth history of the WTC without straining the vocal chords. Once we walked into the sight, I turned off the amplifier out of deep respect for those who perished on 9/11. Also, microphone use is not permitted at the sight. I pointed out the various interests including the Survivor Tree, the Oculus, the Reflecting Absence Pools, and gave the tour group a half-hour on their own to walk around and take photos if they wanted. After we boarded the bus,, we drove through the neighborhoods of SoHO, Chinatown , Little Italy, Greenwich Village. We kept heading east towards the 59th Street Bridge, aka The Queensboro and Ed Koch Bridge. We also drove through Times Square, Fifth Ave. to point out the library and Patience and Fortitude. This being a baseball group I made sure to tell them about the baseball hats made for each of the lions during the World Series between the Yankees and Mets.

How Long Have you Been Giving Tours?

I started in the tour industry in the early 90s. I have a strong background in professional theatre and decided it was time for a change. So I contacted lots of receptive tour operators here in NYC and was hired to work corporate events as a hostess. During that time I read a lot about NYC history and culture. Also, I was born here so I have a lot of personal history as well. Corporate events were not enough for me. I decided that the leisure market was more suited to my temperament. And so, I began my career as a tour guide after taking the sightseeing guides’ test with the DCA. In 1999, I registered Explore New York® with the city. And then I registered it with the US Patent & Trademark Office in DC. Therefore, Explore New York® is a registered trademark.