The NYC Tour of the Century
Happy autumn from NYC, where it’s beginning to feel a lot like winter. The Rockefeller Center, Central Park, and Bryant Park skating rinks are all open; the Rockettes went live over the weekend; mini snowflakes danced through the East Village today on my morning walk. The holidays are here, ladies and gentleman!
Things have gotten, ahem, busy for me in the last few months. So busy, in fact, that I haven’t had time to check in with my loyal supporters! A quick update:
🗽 The East Village Food Tour is closing in on the NYC Pizza Experience as the most popular Nicky Tour of the season, but most new bookings have been custom requests. For me, this has been a fantastic way to get creative and expand my knowledge of the city through some cool experiences (I’m saving the most unique for the second half of the newsletter):
In September, I took a mother and her son (into art, guitars, and engineering) on a two day custom tour of Bushwick (for street art at the Bushwick Collective), DUMBO (to get up close and personal with the Brooklyn and Manhattan Bridges), and Nolita (I had a feeling they’d be at peace in Elizabeth Street Garden amidst a chaotic NYC morning).
A few weeks later, I led a shuttle bus full of first responders from the San Antonio, Texas area in town for the Tunnel to Towers 5k Race on a 6-hour jaunt through the city, complete with Schmackary’s cookies for the road.
In October, I led a group of Mount Sinai ophthalmology residents on a tour of the Lower East Side; they wanted to understand the immigrant history of the community they’re now serving.
⭐ The last time I checked in, I was celebrating 46 Google Reviews—now, we’re up to 71 (plus 17 on TripAdvisor), and the 100-review goal I set for myself is within reach by the end of the year. If you’ve taken a tour with me and would like to leave a review, here’s the link to do so.
📷 The Nicky Tours social media empire has been on hiatus (so many tours!) but we’ll be back soon with more excellent, fun, and informative content (like this). Follow us on Instagram here for more.
Thank you to everyone who’s supported the business to this point—keep spreading the word! Now, onto the main event: the most exciting tour I expect I’ll lead this year.
The Ultimate Custom Tour: NYC Marathon Day
I’ve gotten some pretty specific tour inquiries over the last few months, but I was absolutely delighted by the challenge of putting together something for the Grossman family, who contacted me from Fresno, CA with a very specific request. Kyle, the son of Dori and Neil, was running the NYC Marathon at the beginning of November—might I be able to guide them around, spot to spot, to see Kyle in as many places as possible on Marathon day?
I immediately jumped at the opportunity. Marathon day is already my favorite single day in New York. And once I heard the Grossman story, I was all in. Through the Doug Flutie Jr. Foundation for Autism, Kyle has run roughly a dozen marathons all over the world, and he wanted to add New York to his list. While Kyle ran alongside a guide, the family enlisted me to maximize viewing opportunities along the route. I did some research and crafted a gameplan: if we timed everything right, we’d be able to see Kyle in four different spots along the course:
Lots of subways, lots of running around; I was confident in the plan, but everything depended on the group itself. I’d only talked to Neil over the phone, and I knew there would be about eight in the Grossman party—would the group be up for the challenge? Then, I met the party in their hotel lobby in Midtown East and I knew we were all systems go! Especially after Neil and Dori surprised me with my very own “Team Kyle” sweater for race day:
I quickly broke down the plan in the lobby, then we were off to the Downtown 6 train, busting it towards Bay Ridge. Using both the New York Roadrunners app and Kyle’s Find My Friends location, we were able to track him minute to minute, cheering as he passed us around Mile 5. Then—no time to waste—we sprinted across the course and back towards the train, needing to catch another northbound R train in time to make it up to Atlantic Avenue before Kyle did.
I was most nervous at this point—we needed good luck with the trains, as Kyle was making good time—and, to our delight, our train whizzed into the station exactly as we arrived on the platform. We piled on, holding our breaths and sending good energy to the Subway Gods, who really were shining down on us. We got to Atlantic Avenue just as Kyle approached, and made it to the course to give Kyle high-fives as he raced towards Flatbush Ave.
From there, we could take it a little easier; we had until Mile 17 to catch Kyle again. We hopped onto the 4 train, this time casually enough to stop for a subway photo or two:
Then it was on to the Upper East Side for a bathroom stop near Mile 17 (shoutout to the shall-not-be-named bodega owners who let us sneak into the back) and a stroll around the neighborhood.
We cheered on Kyle at Mile 17 before hustling over to Central Park, where we caught him for the fourth and final time just after Mile 24.
We found Kyle after the race, found him and the family a well-deserved car ride back to the hotel, and said our farewells…until Tuesday, when I again took the Grossmans around NYC for an “official” full-day tour that counts as one of the highlights of my year. Thank you Neil, Dori, and Kyle! Until next year, when we go for five.
Friends and family coming into the city for the holidays? Treat them to a private Nicky Tour. Friends and family of subscribers to this newsletter get 10% off every tour.
