Sonya took us on a great tour of street art in East Side and into China town. A small group of us 6 or 7 met at Pod hotel and took subway down town. Half of us on the tour were had come along on our own - but we soon felt like family!!

As we travelled Sonya talked about the artworks being developed now in some of the subway stations - it's good to know there's some beauty and inspiration coming on down there!

We went to a great local food market and Sonya told us the history of the markets in New York which was very interesting. Great to hear from a knowledgable New Yorker who loves her city. We learned a little about the history of immigration ( past and present) tenement life and the incredible diversity in the city. Long may it continue please Mr Trump!

We went on to see some of the street art - which for sure we would have missed without her guidance.

Amongst other things visited what must surely be the largest sweet shop in the world! Sonya was relaxed, friendly, keen and gave us lots of insights to the history, life and development of people coming to live in New York from all over the world.

From Sonya I got a sense of how people have fetched up in New York over the last 100 years or so and how they then set about building lives for themselves and continue to do so in this amazing city. Definitely recommend this tour - fun and informative....110%
Thanks Sonya

This was our second time touring with Andrew & Streetwise. We even booked the same tour, The Immigrant. Being history buffs we found it fascinating the first time around & since we were traveling with a different couple this time we thought we'd book it again. Andrew has an undying love for his city & its history and it shows. He really knows his stuff. He took us through the Lower East Side, Chinatown, Little Italy, Soho and parts of the Village. All the while regaling us with captivating stories of the various immigrant waves, dating back 150 years or more. We started at the Essex Market. Walking through he pointed out the dichotomy of finding Caribbean green grocers hawking inexpensive fruits & vegetables, side by each with hipster artisanal bakeries. This pattern repeats itself in the neighborhood which is undergoing a good deal of development right alongside (& on top of) historic old buildings & tenements. Onward we marched to CW Pencil shop (super cool), Economy Candy shop (OMG) and various shops in Chinatown, some selling live frogs and all manner of shall we say, interesting products. Up to Soho and we learned all about the Cast Iron Historic District. You've got to do the tour to learn why it is so called. Amazing! We ambled through the Prada Epicenter store. This place is not only a retail store but a public space, a gallery, and a performance space. And it is stunning. But truly, the best part of the tour (for me) was visiting an art installation called the New York Earth Room. It's a 3500 square foot flat which has nothing in it except soil, yes, soil, at least 2 feet deep, since 1977! We finished up at Washington Square where true to its history had an Anti-Trump protest underway. Andrew, you did it again. Finding all these fascinating things to share with us. Kudos to you for little duplication between the 1st tour four years ago & this one. And I've barely covered a quarter of it. We can't thank you enough, we loved it.

My friend and I stayed at the Pod Hotel for four days in February. Upon arrival we noticed the walking tours that were offered and were excited to see that they were areas that we had been hoping to see anyway. We decided to try one (Meatpacking District, Greenwhich Village, Highline) tour to see what it was all about and we were not disappointed! We were sad that we wouldn't be around to do all five tours that they offer at the Pod. After the first one, we had no doubt that the next morning would be best spent exploring DUMBO and Brooklyn Heights with Andrew from Streetwise. I would definitely recommend these tours for anyone wanting to get a little off the beaten tourist path and see New York from a New Yorker. No better way to see it!