Most visitors know Midtown for its skyscrapers, bright lights, and busy avenues. But step a block or two away from the crowds and you’ll find a very different New York. This Midtown Manhattan walking tour explores the fascinating Turtle Bay history, hidden landmarks, and remarkable characters that helped shape the city.
For over two hours, Bill Schulz leads you through a neighborhood packed with unforgettable stories. Visit the building where Bernie Madoff orchestrated one of history’s biggest financial frauds, stand outside the steakhouse where John Gotti’s reputation as the “Teflon Don” was cemented, and discover the location behind one of Marilyn Monroe’s most famous movie scenes. Learn why so many artists, writers, politicians, and celebrities called Turtle Bay home. And if you’ve ever been curious about celebrity homes in NYC, this neighborhood has an extraordinary story to tell.
This isn’t just another NYC walking tour or sightseeing route. It’s a chance to explore the secret places in NYC that rarely make the guidebooks, from Revolutionary War connections to Cold War intrigue, Art Deco landmarks, and streets where presidents, movie stars, musicians, and billionaires all crossed paths. If you’re looking for a Manhattan walking tour that goes beyond the obvious, this is the one you’ll be talking about long after it ends.
$50
11am
The northside of PJ Clarke’s on 915 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10022, between 54th and 55th Streets
Every day
2 hours
Max. 20
The best tour you’ll ever get via a guide who has lived in said area for over 20 years.
Despite the neighborhood’s name? Turtles will not be provided. Particularly those of the teenage, mutant variety.
Bill has spent decades covering New York and specializes in the stories most people walk right past. A longtime journalist and licensed sightseeing guide, he combines rarely-heard history, local knowledge, and a healthy sense of humor to bring Turtle Bay to life.
Turtle Bay packs more remarkable stories into a few city blocks than almost anywhere else in Manhattan. Within this neighborhood you’ll find the building where Bernie Madoff ran his billion-dollar fraud, the steakhouse forever linked to John Gotti becoming the “Teflon Don,” and landmarks connected to both the Revolutionary War and a Confederate plot that nearly changed the course of the Civil War.
These same streets have long attracted presidents, artists, architects, writers, and entertainers. A single block has been home to Katharine Hepburn, Bob Dylan, and Stephen Sondheim, while Paul Newman, Scarlett Johansson, Kurt Vonnegut, I. M. Pei, Frank Sinatra, General Douglas MacArthur, Robert F. Kennedy, and many others all spent part of their lives here. One local landmark has even welcomed every U.S. President from Herbert Hoover through Barack Obama.
Bill has lived in Turtle Bay for years and spent decades writing about New York. He knows these streets because he’s walked them, researched them, and written about them. That’s what makes this neighborhood, and this tour, so special.
Bill’s tour of Turtle Bay is highly recommended. He’s full of knowledge, charm, not to mention energy, and has great stories about some of Turtle Bay’s more famous residents, particularly stars of the past.
Even though, it’s my neighborhood, I learned a lot from Bill.
Fun interesting Manhattan Turtle Bay Tour with Bill Schulz
Informative, interesting and fun, A tour around Turtle Bay, an eclectic mix of history, celebrity and quirkiness with some wonderful hidden gems. The walking tour was about a mile, paced well with an extremely knowledgeable historian who lives in the neighbourhood.
I would highly recommend this tour.
Bill Schulz was an engaging and super-fun tour guide!
Loved me the Turtle Bay/Midtown East walking tour guide Bill Schulz gave yesterday! I’ve lived in the neighborhood for a long time, and not only did i learn some totally new, eye-oping factoids, but Bill also delivered a lot of smiles and laughs along the way. I’ll def try a couple of Bowery Boys’ other tours this spring/summer!
As loyal fans of the TV series “The Gilded Age”, we were very excited for the Bowery Boys’ Gilded Age walking tour, and the tour delivered a fun and fact-filled two hours of architecture, history and scandal. Our tour guide Bill was both informative and entertaining – we highly recommend this tour!
The Bowery Boys tour of the New York neighborhood Turtle Bay was very interesting, entertaining and informative. An actual Turtle Bay resident himself, our guide Bill shared insider knowledge of the area. Plus being a professional, he shared great stories gleaned from research. Bill is a terrific storyteller. And funny, too!
It was a great tour, Bill, our guide, did a good job in showing us around and telling stories about the people who lived in the houses that we visited.
Bill was very enthusiastic and knowledgeable
