Fall is here and with the new season comes a new line-up of Untapped New York walking tours! Join us over the next few months as we host brand-new experiences, specialized limited-run tours, and expanded editions of longtime favorites that will reveal the hidden secrets of New York City. Untapped New York’s expert and licensed tour guides will lead you in exploring sites like Manhattan’s iconic Art Deco skyscrapers, the oldest Brooklyn subway stations, the gritty remnants of Times Square’s red light district, and more. Find your next urban adventure below!
Don’t see a date that fits your schedule? Any of the tours listed below can be booked as a private experience for your group at your preferred date and time. Reach out tours [at] untappedcities.com to request a private tour.
NYC’s Irish History Tour
Tour Highlights
- Stroll to the Asch Building where a tragic fire spurred the implementation of the Sullivan Hoey fire control laws
- From the famine ships at Cobh to the fairytale of New York, learn about the history of the Irish Famine and St. Brendan the Navigator at The Irish Hunger Memorial
- Uncover the FDNY’s Irish roots and hear about generations of brave Irish firefighters
- Take a short subway ride and stroll to Columbus Park where you’ll uncover the secrets and shenanigans of New York City’s mythic slum The Five Points
- Hop on the iron horse to spin a yarn or two with a light and a dark at McSorley’s, the world’s most famous Irish pub in operation for more than 170 years
NYC’s Irish History Tour runs on Wednesdays and Sundays.
Underground Art Deco Architecture
Tour Highlights
- Discover an incomplete Art Deco tower, hidden in plain sight, intended to be the tallest skyscraper in the world, surpassing the Empire State Building
- Use a vast network of underground approaches to access some of NYC’s most iconic Art Deco structures
- Marvel at one of the most overlooked Art Deco buildings in Manhattan
- Find an underground entrance into the Art Deco flagship of one of NYC’s most popular department stores
- Learn about the mysterious primeval stream that still sometimes floods the basement of the Empire State Building
This tour runs once, on October 30th, as part of Archtober!
Secrets of the Bowery
Tour Highlights
- Learn about the famous Bull’s Head Tavern on Canal Street where George Washington set up headquarters
- Visit the spot where P.T. Barnum opened his first store in 1839
- Stop at the site of the Bowery Mission, a mission started in the 1870s and still operates today
- Pass by the old Amato Opera House, constructed in 1899
- Learn about The Bowery’s infamous flophouses
- Find Manhattan’s oldest brick building and learn about its fascinating history and bright future
- Uncover a rare Beaux-Arts treasure hidden in plain sight
Secrets of the Bowery tours start in November and run once a month.
Brooklyn Underground Subway Tour
Tour Highlights
- Uncover abandoned IRT, BMT, and IND stations hidden in plain sight
- Experience the design of the oldest subway station in Brooklyn
- Explore the highest rapid transit station in the world
- Practice your moonwalk (no pressure) where Michael Jackson filmed the music video, Bad
- Discover secrets about the country’s busiest commuter railroad (LIRR)
Brooklyn Underground Subway tours run once a month on alternating Saturdays and Sundays.
Met Opera Backstage Tour
Tour Highlights
- Learn the history of the Metropolitan Opera in the iconic 4,000-seat auditorium
- Visit backstage areas like the scenic and carpentry shops, wig shop, costume shop, and armory*
- See where opera singers get ready in rehearsal and dressing rooms
- Admire the stunning mid-century lobby with its iconic curvy red staircase
Met Opera Backstage Tours run once a month. If you are an Untapped New York Insider, you can get tickets to a backstage tour on November 20th for just $10! Not an Insider yet? Become a member today.
“Unframed” JR Tour of Ellis Island
Tour Highlights
- Celebrate the 10th anniversary of “Unframed,” an immersive art installation by world-renowned artist JR on an exclusive hard hat tour inside the abandoned Ellis Island Hospital, in partnership with Save Ellis Island
- Access buildings usually off-limits to the public to view larger-than-life images pasted onto the walls, floors, furniture, and more
- Hear the heartwarming story of the “babushka grandmother” arriving at Ellis Island
- See images of young girls undergoing treatment for Favus, a fungal scalp infection
- Experience a poignant encounter with the somber faces of those navigating immigration
- Get a glimpse into the historic operating room, populated by doctors and nurses from a bygone era
This walking tour runs twice a month, on Thursday and Saturday.
Powering NYC: East River Ferry Tour
Tour Highlights
- Sail past the abandoned North and South Brother Islands and hear about the demolition of multiple islands in Hell Gate
- Find out what happened to the coal plant next door to the United Nations
- View Manhattan’s largest undeveloped parcel, where there are plans to build a casino and a Museum of Freedom
- Hear plans for the future of Rikers Island and how it may be a catalyst in our clean energy future
- Pass the huge steam plant at the foot of East 14th St. and see what it’s actually producing
- Discover shipwrecks in the Long Island Sound
- Ferry tickets included in ticket price
The next Powering NYC: East River Ferry Tour runs on October 26th as part of Archtober!
Secrets of Penn Station and Moynihan Train Hall
Tour Highlights
- Discover the past, present, and future of Penn Station and fully explore the new Moynihan Train Hall
- See over a dozen indoor and outdoor 1910 Penn Station remnants hidden in plain sight
- Uncover stunning new artworks created by world-renowned artists and playfully scattered throughout Moynihan Train Hall
- View never-before-seen old station photos from the collections of three photographers who documented Penn’s life and demolition
- Wander into one of the most beautiful, newly restored Beaux-arts public spaces in Manhattan
- Explore the new High Line Connector and discover a quick and easy way to access the High Line and Hudson Yards
- Receive a framable, reproduction ticket for the first commuter ride into Pennsylvania Station in 1910
The next Secrets of Penn Station and Moynihan Tran Hall Tour runs on October 12th as part of Archtober!
Greenwich Village Coffee Tasting Tour
Tour Highlights
- Drink a cappuccino from NYC’s oldest cafe
- Discover the former cafe that became the unofficial birthplace of the off-off-Broadway theatre movement
- Taste coffee treats from New York City’s oldest whole-bean retailers
- See NYC’s first espresso machine
- Learn how NYC coffee culture played host to the first Stock Exchange and was considered to be the world’s first internet cafe
This tour runs once a month on alternating Saturdays and Sundays.
Gritty Old Times Square Tour
Tour Highlights
- Learn about the largest sex emporium in New York City (and maybe the world), the freak show where Diane Arbus found her inspiration, as well as the last remaining hot sheet hotel and live peep show in Times Square
- Discover the dirtiest hotel in America, the oldest building on 42nd Street (it’s not what you think), and the most dangerous block in New York City
- Visit sites for classic films like Midnight Cowboy (1969) and Taxi Driver (1976)
This tour runs once a month on Sundays.
A Taste of New York: Food Tour of Chinatown, Little Italy, and the LES
Tour Highlights:
- Discover how the historic buildings of these areas have been transformed and repurposed into art galleries, churches, and event spaces as well as restaurants and more
- Sample traditional Chinese, Italian and Jewish food
- Learn about the history of immigration in these areas and the impact that each group played in this part of New York City, once the most densely populated district in the world
- Uncover the history of what tenement life was like in Chinatown, Little Italy and the Lower East Side, and find out where immigrants shopped, banked, and how they obtained news of the times
- Stop by significant Lower East Side landmarks including the Synagogues, the Jarmulowsky Bank, old movie theaters, Old Saint Patrick’s Basilica, the Bowery, Doyers Street and many more
This tour runs once a month on Saturday!
Secrets of the Brooklyn Bridge and DUMBO
Tour Highlights
- Learn the Brooklyn Bridge’s greatest secrets, including its use as a Cold War fallout shelter, its hidden champagne vaults, the bridge jumper survivor’s support group, and more
- Cross the historic bridge span, experiencing one of the best vantage points in New York City to see Lower Manhattan, Governor’s Island, the Statue of Liberty and Brooklyn
- Discover an often-overlooked roof-top park in DUMBO serving up one of the best views of the Brooklyn and Manhattan Bridges
- Experience one of the most iconic and Instagrammable views in the world
- Uncover hidden gems of the once industrial Brooklyn waterfront now transformed into one of the most visited in NYC complete with its own beach, carousel, and amazing waterfront views
This NYC walking tour runs once a month on alternating Saturdays and Sundays.
Remnants of the World’s Fair
- Discover the hidden-in-plain-sight remnants of the 1939/40 and 1964/65 inside Flushing Meadows Corona Park
- Visit the monument to a 5000-year time capsule
- View the original guidebooks from each of the World’s Fairs
- Get a comprehensive history of the past, present, and future of Flushing Meadow-Corona Park, with Insider information from our partners involved with the preservation of the New York State Pavilion
- Receive reproductions of World’s Fair Maps from both 1939 and 1964
- Complimentary Admission to the Queens Museum, to admire the Panorama of the City of New York
This tour runs once a month on alternating Saturdays and Sundays.
Throughout the fall we’ll also be running signature Untapped New York tours including Secrets of Grand Central Terminal, Gilded Age Mansions of 5th Avenue, NYC Underground Subway, Hard Hat Tour of Ellis Island’s Abandoned Hospital, and Remnants of Dutch New Amsterdam!