History Lessons in NYC, New York

WrestleMania meets Debate Club Your hosts Meg Pierson, Zak Martellucci, and Dustin Growick lead a rotating cast of special guest experts in a battle royale of serious—and not so serious—topics.  Who will come out on top? Dinosaurs or mammals? Biology or physics? Space or oceans? Chock-full of trivia, games, and prizes,...

Dinosaurs! Science! Adventure! Break out your pith helmet as we embark upon a brazen expedition through the halls of New York City's world-famous American Museum of Natural History (AMNH). Join your maverick tour guide as we deftly navigate this massive 27-building, 1.6 million square foot landmark cultural institution. Learn the science...

In this talk, we'll first discuss the origins of coffee and coffee houses as a shared communal space. On our world tour, we will sample different coffeehouse experiences throughout history. After that we'll dive into the United States's love affair with coffee shops,particularly in the last century: coffeehouses as a counterculture performance...

Does it seem like our current culture is the most self-obsessed to date? It has seemed like that for five centuries. If anything, our current mania over self-obsession wielded by the hand-held black mirrors we carry in our pockets is only the latest in the habitual renegotiation of self-fashioning whose roots were planted in the 16th century. Are we...

On this walking tour, we’ll discover the life of pirates and prostitutes living in the scrappy Dutch colony of New Amsterdam, long before New York was New York. Step into the wooden shoes of the early settlers and see what life was like being an employee rather than a colonist. Based on exciting new research taking place over the last...

From the debauched slums of Victorian London to dry martinis and fancy cocktail parties,gin has had a remarkable journey, a story that reflects the ever changing moods and sensibilities of society at large. Like many other spirits, it began life in the alchemist’s workshop as a medicinal cure-all, a link it would retain as a mainstay of European...

Our experience is a journey from the 1500s to the present day. We’ll start with explorers trying to find a route to Asia but then encountered a new land. I’ll share Harlem’s role in the American Revolution and the meeting of Alexander Hamilton and General George Washington. Our group will discuss the Trans Atlantic Slave trade in North, Central...

Meet the badass Brooklynites who brought us the ballot. Behind the stately facades of Brooklyn Heights’ most gracious brownstones lies the history of firebrand feminism! The wise “women of Brooklyn” were doctors, lawyers, educators and orators who made some of the foremost contributions to the Suffrage movement. Join us for a walk through their...

Compared over the course of her life to Marlene Dietrich, Virginia Woolf, James Joyce, Franz Kafka, Rainer Maria Rilke, Arthur Rimbaud, a sphinx, a she-wolf, a “foreigner on earth,” and a hurricane, the Jewish Brazilian writer Clarice Lispector moved in mystery. The author of nine novels and a large body of short stories, journalism, and children’s...

After King Henry VIII divorced and executed several of his wives, there was an Elizabethan concern in England about resolving marital issues, and anxiety about “shrews” who challenged male authority and the institution of marriage. Enter Katherine, the allegedly “stark mad or wonderful forward” shrew of Shakespeare’s play who Petruchio sets...

Boston, Philadelphia, Yorktown… these are the places that usually star in the American Revolution, but New York City has a story to tell as well! NYC was burned, abandoned, repopulated, and put under martial law; it became home to pirates, runaway slaves, and smugglers; its churches were turned into hospitals, its warehouses into jails, and its cemeteries...

Why Your Train is F*cked: A love/hate show about the history of the MTA You know when your train is f*cked – this is the show that tells you WHY. Get on board for a deep dive into the history of the MTA. Whether you love it, hate it, or want to compose more informed rage-tweets about it during your next 20 minute delay – we’ve got you covered....

Over 800,000 New Yorkers are now riding a bicycle regularly (NYC DOT). As the subways falter, transit fares increase and the streets grow ever more congested, cycling offers a more efficient way to get around the city, becoming a key part of the city’s commuting network.  However, cyclists’ attempts to share the streets with cars...

This course will prepare you to take and pass the American History CLEP exam, which will result in credits given for this course. The History of the United States I: Early Colonization to 1877 exam covers material that is usually taught in the first semester of a two-semester course in United States history.

The history of Coney Island is like nothing you’ve ever heard before. From prostitutes living in a giant tin elephant, to the invention of the hot dog, to a ride that’s so scary it actually made its riders pee themselves, and we’ll tell you all about it!  Join New York Local Tours as we explore the engaging history of Coney Island’s...