De Telegraaf: Up To Date in New York

We will have lunch this time on the street. Walking, during a real Food Cart Tour in Midtown (bookable via turnstiletours.com). New York has a long history when it comes to street vending, and although everyone knows pretzels and hot dogs, there are carts selling dishes from around the world. Street food is one of the best kept secrets. It’s not for nothing that a prestigious prize was handed out every year to the street vendor with the tastiest dishes. …

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Crain’s: Brooklyn tour company has found new life online

When the Covid-19 pandemic threatened to shut down their Brooklyn tour-guide business—Turnstile Tours—husband-and-wife team Cindy VandenBosch and Andrew Gustafson reinvented their nine-year-old company on the fly. Founded in 2012, Turnstile Tours’ unofficial motto is “We share stories of how New York City works.” By taking customers behind the scenes of different aspects of city life, especially in Brooklyn, the company aims to highlight the work of ordinary New Yorkers.

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Crain’s: Mom-and-pop shops faced red tape—or silence—from PPP lenders

For small-business owner Cindy VandenBosch, who runs Turnstile Tours from her office in the Brooklyn Navy Yard, the lack of communication from JPMorgan Chase on the status of her Paycheck Protection Program loan prompted her to take desperate measures. When she couldn’t get a single Chase representative on the phone for days, VandenBosch said she rented a Citi bike, donned a mask and gloves, and rode to a branch in Sunset Park for answers.

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Brownstoner: Virtual Prospect Park Launches to Help Brooklynites Adhere to Social Distancing

While you can still appreciate the beauty of the park for brief respites of fresh air with appropriate social distancing, the Prospect Park Alliance is encouraging visitors to head online to explore the green space with a new resource. Virtual Prospect Park includes resources from educators, historians, gardeners and others to allow a look into Brooklyn’s backyard while following the directive to stay indoors as much as possible during the crisis.

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NY Japan: Social Studies Tours for Adults

On a public tour, you can learn how the facility works to transform old things into modern, and to help small businesses that will support New York in the future. Part of that is gathering start-up companies, and providing space in the Brooklyn Navy Yard for shared offices. For a long time, Brooklyn has been a major base for the food manufacturing industry, and beer and whiskey are still being produced in one corner of the site, and the long-established Russ & Daughters has also moved their factory to the Navy Yard this year, inside a renovated historic building that is now open to the public as a new attraction.

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The Telegraph: The 20 Greatest Ways to See New York

Turnstile Tours has built a reputation for offering quirky tours, from historic sites such as Brooklyn’s Army Terminal to street markets, and donates at least 5 per cent of all ticket sales to neighbourhood projects. New for this year are two-hour walking tours of Prospect Park – Central Park’s more compact sister in Brooklyn – exploring the meadows and woodlands, art and architecture and waterways. There’s also a tour of the Gowanus waffle production space for the trendy Wafels & Dinges chain. As well as meeting the chefs and learning how the business works, visitors get to make (and eat) their own waffles.

  • Inside Industry
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  • Prospect Park
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