2023 Fleet Week Harbor Tours:
If you can’t make it to a tour in person, our May 29 cruise will be live streamed with our friends at Urbanist: Exploring Cities on YouTube.
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The Brooklyn Navy Yard played a pivotal role in World War II, building battleships and aircraft carriers, repairing over 5,000 ships, and sending troops and supplies to fronts across the globe. This tour examines the role of the New York City waterfront in the war effort, explores connections between the Yard and famous battles of World War II, and visits sites of significance that remain from this era, including the former ship assembly areas, workshops, and dry docks that kept the US Navy afloat and fighting around the world. As we move around the Yard, we also listen clips of oral histories recorded with sailors and shipworkers, including from female industrial workers, to bring the story of the Yard at war to life.
Once America’s premier Naval shipyard, today the Brooklyn Navy Yard is a mission-driven industrial park and a hub of industry, technology, and craft. Explore the Navy Yard’s unique architecture and examine the many layers of history visible in the landscape, from Civil War-era machine shops to innovative LEED-Certified structures, and see how these buildings have been adapted for modern manufacturing. Learn about development projects currently underway at the Yard, which is undergoing its largest expansion since World War II. This tour showcases the role the Brooklyn Navy Yard plays in providing economic opportunities for thousands of New Yorkers, from small business owners to manufacturing workers to technology startups, and looks at the infrastructure that keeps the Yard – and all of New York City – running, including stormwater management, solid waste, and alternative energy systems. The tour covers most of the massive 300-acre campus, including visits to the still-active 1851 Dry Dock No. 1, the one-million-square-foot World War II-era Building 77, the sites of the Admiral’s Row and Dock 72 projects, and the LEED Platinum-certified Brooklyn Navy Yard Center at BLDG 92.
Step inside an engineering marvel that is today a center of manufacturing and innovation. Built in 1918-1919, this enormous Cass Gilbert-designed complex served as a supply base for the American military for nearly 50 years. Today, this thriving industrial park is home to over 100 companies in industries ranging from precision manufacturers to biotech researchers, online retailers to chocolatiers. Our walking tours explore how this teeming military transportation hub operated, and how these facilities are put to use today. All tours are offered in partnership with the New York City Economic Development Corporation.
Upcoming Tours led by Andrew Gustafson:
Explore NYC’s new and enduring architecture, engineering marvels, and the revitalized waterfront from the teak decks of Classic Harbor Line’s elegant motor yachts. Hosted by the guides of the American Institute of Architects New York Chapter, this 2 hour and 45 minute circumnavigation tour offers insightful narration about the city’s built environment, from the Hudson and the Battery to the Hell Gate and Spuyten Duyvil. The story of NYC’s development is described as a broad overview for visitors, yet includes deeper insights to satisfy knowledgeable locals and architecture and design professionals. Learn about architectural icons and new and alluring sites, including Little Island at Pier 55, the mega-project Hudson Yards, and the continuing ascent of “supertall” luxury residential towers. Turnstile’s Andrew Gustafson is now part of the AIANY team leading these tours, and you can find his schedule above (subject to change), or join any of the wonderful AIANY boat tours with their engaging and knowledgeable guides.
Discover the natural world in the midst an industrial park on this 2-hour tour of the Brooklyn Navy Yard, where we will explore waterways, meadows, and urban farms. The highlight is a visit to the stunning Brooklyn Grange rooftop farm, where we will learn how they produce thousands of pounds of vegetables annually and are a national leader in the development of rooftop and urban farming techniques. The tour will also visit an oyster restoration project led by students from the New York Harbor School, and the Brooklyn Greenway Initiative‘s Naval Cemetery Landscape.
Join us for a walk through the historic streets of DUMBO as we explore how the water has shaped Brooklyn, and vice versa. DUMBO’s history encapsulates the history of the borough’s 131-mile shoreline – once an agricultural hinterland, this area became America’s first suburb after the introduction of steam ferries, then emerged as a shipping and manufacturing powerhouse rivaling the city across the river. The landscape of DUMBO was built on innovation and hard labor, and we will hear stories of both the captains of industry and ordinary workers who built Brooklyn. We will also explore the deindustrialization of Brooklyn, and the remaking of DUMBO into one of New York City’s most desirable neighborhoods, a commercial and residential district ringed by parkland where piers and factories once stood.
Health and Safety: In-person tours are being offered with modifications to protect the health and safety of our visitors, staff, and the public. Before booking, please review our full statement and guidelines on COVID-19 health and safety.
Tours Info
This tasting exploration showcases the vendors of the Lower East Side’s Essex Market, founded in 1940 and now housed in a new, bustling facility home to over 40 vendors. This 90-minute walking and tasting tour visits 5–6 vendors, with generous tastings that may include top-quality olive oils, tacos, empanadas, fresh-baked breads, hearty soups, and a selection of cheeses and charcuterie. Along the way, we will explore the past and present of New York City’s public market system, from open-air pushcart markets, to the retail and wholesale network built by Mayor Fiorello La Guardia, to markets’ role today providing quality food to communities and creating opportunities for food entrepreneurs to launch and grow new businesses.
Public Tours
These guidelines were updated on October 1, 2022, so please read them carefully and contact us if you have any questions.
Our top priority is ensuring the health and safety of our guests, our staff, and the general public. Please review these guidelines before booking your tour, and feel free to contact us if you have any questions.
While on food tours, participants can remove their masks while eating and drinking, but are asked to please maintain a six-foot distance from people who are not in their immediate pod or group.
Public Tours
Private tours are available seven days a week, depending on availability. Pricing for private tours is based on a minimum occupancy of six guests, and a gratuity of 8.5% is added to all private tour bookings.
Tours take place at the Essex Market, located at 88 Essex Street at the corner of Delancey Street in the Lower East Side. The market is located on the first floor of a large tower called Essex Crossing. Click here for Google Maps directions or view our neighborhood map.
This tour includes 5–6 generous tastings from different market vendors. Tastings will change from week to week, but dishes frequently featured on this tour include olive oils, farmstead cheeses and charcuterie, tacos, empanadas, rice balls, fresh-baked breads and pastries, and meatballs.
We strive to accommodate most dietary restrictions and requests, including vegetarian, vegan, and gluten-free diets, as well as allergies and food sensitivities. When making your booking, please be sure to indicate these so that we can make appropriate arrangements. Our team will strive to accommodate you as best we can, but we cannot guarantee all dietary accommodations. If you have any questions regarding the menu, please contact us directly.
Private tours are available seven days a week, depending on availability. Pricing for private tours is based on a minimum occupancy of six guests, and a gratuity of 8.5% is added to all private tour bookings.
Please contact us for more details on booking a private Essex Market Tour, or visit our Group Tours page.
Founded in 1940, the Essex Market has been a landmark of the Lower East Side since 1940. In 2019, the market opened a new chapter in its history by moving into a new facility on the south side of Delancey Street. Now home to over 40 vendors selling groceries, fresh fruits and vegetables, meat, fish, cheese, and other specialty food items, as well as prepared foods for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, the market is a beloved destination for visitors to New York as well as neighborhood shoppers. Essex Market is also part of a network of public markets operated by the City of New York to provide quality food to communities across the city and support food entrepreneurship.
From farms to pushcarts to public markets, this 2-hour walking and tasting tour explores historical aspects of New York’s food system and the influence of Caribbean and Latin American cultures and cuisines on the past and present of Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Once known for its pickles and kosher meat, today the eastern section of Williamsburg serves up herbal tea remedies from Mexico, sounds of salsa, and traditional ingredients. Based on more than 20 oral history interviews with neighborhood residents and local business owners, and on original archival research, this tour explores the history of Brooklyn’s “Avenue of Puerto Rico” and takes an in-depth look at the Moore Street Market, built in 1941 to mark the end of the pushcart era and today a centerpiece of the Spanish-speaking community. The tour includes 6-8 generous tastings from market vendors and local eateries.
