Our Tours

Specialty tours that you won’t find anywhere else. Private tours customized to your needs. Check out what we have to offer at Hidden New York Tours.

See Another Side of New York City…

New York is one of the oldest cities in America, with some of its richest history. Much of its urban past is still written in the sidewalks, buildings, and secret corners–if you know where to look. Hidden New York Tours is dedicated to revealing that hidden city to both visitors and residents alike.

From the Gophers to the Westies: The Irish Mob of Hell’s Kitchen

For most people, the Irish Mob conjures up images of old James Cagney movies. Like this one here. But Irish organized crime was a going concern in New York City, at least until the vicious gang known as the Westies was broken up by law enforcement in the late 80’s. Although the onetime Irish enclave of Hell’s Kitchen has become an upscale foodie mecca, most of the places where the gangs lived, killed, and in some cases, dismembered their victims, are still standing. And we think that’s kinda cool. Join us for this bloody tour through the rich and lurid history of Manhattan’s West Side.

Saturdays @ 6pm, beginning 3/5

Plus special dates for March!

Thursday 3/17 @ 12pm, 3pm, & 6pm

Friday 3/4, 3/11, 3/18, & 3/25 @ 6pm

Sunday 3/6, 3/13, 3/21, & 3/28 @ 3pm

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Weird New York: Greenwich Village

At long last, a tour for lovers of the bizarre, the macabre, the insane, and, of course, the weird! From the Barrow Street safe house where prostitutes lured unsuspecting test subjects for the CIA, to the 11th Street townhouse that got a facelift courtesy of domestic terrorists in the 1970s, this tour covers all of the gruesome Greenwich Village stories you never heard on your eighth grade field trip. If the words “Groovy Murders” ring your bells, or you want to know where the term “swingers” comes from (hint: It’s not the Vince Vaughn movie), join us for this one-of-a-kind tour through the dark side of Greenwich Village history.

Fridays @ 6pm, beginning April 1, 2022

 

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Private Tours


So you want to take a tour, but you don’t like strangers? No problem.

All of our public tours can also be done as a private tour, exclusively for you and your guests, or maybe you’d like to do something that isn’t on the public tour menu.

Food tour?  Bar crawl?  Have an urge to explore a specific neighborhood, or learn more about a certain subject?  We’ve got you covered!

We may have a passion for the lesser-known sights of the city, but we are experts in all aspects of New York City’s history, food, and unique culture. Just let us know what you’re interested in, and we can probably make it happen.  Check out some more popular ideas below.

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Private Tour Suggestions

Central Park

Often thought of as New York’s backyard, Central Park is home to some of the city’s most beautiful views… and some of its best kept secrets.  Did you know that there’s a waterfall in the park?  A castle?  An ancient Egyptian obelisk dating back to 1450BC?  Put on your walking shoes for this 2-3 safari through the urban underbrush.

Greenwich Village

From Native American community to Dutch farmland to Gilded Age suburb to Bohemian mecca, Greenwich Village has seen it all.  Often considered the city’s most beautiful neighborhood, the Village is also home to some of its best food.  Take a classic historic walking tour, or add food stops along the way.  Choose your own adventure in this iconic NYC neighborhood!

Harlem

Before it became home to the nation’s premiere African American neighborhood in the 1920s, this neighborhood was first named Neiw Haarlem by the Dutch, and later was home to German, Irish, Italian, Polish, and Hungarian immigrants.  After years of neglect and turmoil, Harlem is now experiencing what some call a second Harlem Renaissance.  Join us as we explore both Harlem’s legendary past and its evolving present.

Lower East Side

So many immigrant families crowded into this neighborhood during the late 19th and early 20th Centuries that 1 in 6 Americans can trace their ancestry back to the Lower East Side.  Some consider it the birthplace of modern America, and that’s one of the reasons we love touring the area.  Like Greenwich Village, the LES tour can be done with or without food, but given the high concentration of 100-year-old institutions like Katz’s and Kossar’s Bialys, we recommend with.

Times Square / Rockefeller Center

Explore the Crossroads of the World and Rockefeller Center with our signature touch of hidden content–like the lost Diego Rivera masterpiece at NBC studios, the real story behind the famous VJ Day photo of the kissing couple (hint: that wasn’t his wife), or the tragic story of the Ziegfeld Follies showgirl reputed to haunt the New Amsterdam Theatre.  See the most well-explored part of the city like you’ve never seen it before.

Lower Manhattan

Come see where it all began.  Originally a Dutch trading post, Lower Manhattan contains New York’s oldest historic sites and some of its most significant.  From the grave of the newly resurgent Alexander Hamilton to the New York Stock Exchange, visit the places that made New York the city we know and love.   This tour contains a healthy dose of the hidden history we’re known for, like the masonic cipher at Trinity Church and the alley that inspired Washington Irving’s tale of the Headless Horseman.  The 9/11 Memorial Site can also be included upon request.

SoHo

In the mid-19th Century, the section of Broadway that runs through SOHO was the city’s theater district–hence the term “Broadway Theater.”  The neighborhood later became a warehouse and manufacturing district, with the highest concentration of cast iron buildings in the world.  It was from these buildings that skyscrapers were born, and many of the earliest examples are still standing today. By the 70’s the area had been taken over by art galleries and artist’s lofts.  Today it is one of the city’s most upscale shopping districts, rivaled only by 5th Avenue.  Come with us as we examine the fascinating architectural heritage of this unique neighborhood.

Brooklyn

After years of rivalry for the heart and soul of the region, Brooklyn was incorporated into New York City in 1898, thereby ceding the battle for supremacy to its hated rival, Manhattan.  Old-timers referred to it as “the mistake of ’98” well into the new century, and some, perhaps, still do.  Today Brooklyn is having its belated revenge, as real estate prices rapidly surpass those of Manhattan.  Come see the beautiful tree-lined streets, waterfront views, and creative communities that have made Brooklyn so desirable to tech start-ups and street artists alike.

Highline / Chelsea Market

An active railroad until 1980, by 1999 the Highline was on the verge of being completely demolished.  Saved by community activists and high profile residents like Dianne Von Furstenburg, today the Highline is one of New York’s most scenic and popular attractions.  After working up an appetite exploring the Highline, we’ll take a walk through Chelsea Market–formerly the Nabisco Factory, birthplace of the Oreo cookie–and now one of the best places for sampling creative cuisine in the city.  We recommend taking this as a food tour.
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