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I try to maintain the public tour schedule on this page, but it can get out of date. So please join my mailing list to keep up to date! Don’t hesitate to email me at jaconet@aol.com if you have any questions.

Jack Eichenbaum’s  Walking Tour Schedule                            Summer  2018   (Revised due to illness.)

Flushing’s Chinese and Korean Commercial Communities  Friday June 15,  6-8 PM                  Meet at the (Korean) Coop Restaurant  133-42 39th Ave for happy hour (3-7 PM) which includes $1 oysters and chicken wings and $3 draft beer. Tour departs outside the restaurant at 6 PM where a $20 fee is collected. The walk includes highlights of downtown Flushing’s burgeoning Chinatown (now NYC’s largest!) with new megamalls under construction, Korean commerce on Union St and Northern Blvd ending in the Korean concentration in the Murray Hill area. Participants can return to downtown Flushing by foot or bus or catch an LIRR train direct to Pennsylvania Station. Korean and Chinese restaurant suggestions distributed. This tour is limited to 30 people. You must register in advance; (email jaconet@aol.com) which I will confirm, hold you on a waiting list or advise of a sellout.  

 

Religious History and Diversity in Flushing    Sunday June 17,  Noon-2 PM                         Meet inside the 1694 Quaker Meeting House, (137-16 Northern Boulevard)  New York State’s oldest house of worship, for the tour introduction. This includes Flushing as the birthplace of religious freedom via the Flushing Remonstrance document and the movement to establish a National Park Monument site in the vicinity. From this location we will walk on a route passing many newer large houses of worship that serve the multi-denominational immigrant community in Flushing and Queens. The tour will end close to the Main/Roosevelt terminus of the #7 train. This is a free tour but limited to 30 people. You must register in advance; (email  jaconet@aol.com) which I will confirm, hold you on a waiting list or advise of a sellout. 

 

Old Astoria from the New Astoria Ferry Landing   TUESDAY,  July 3,  6-8 PM    Rescheduled                                                                                                                                                     Last year NYC Ferry began its new route to Astoria.  This neighborhood was first settled via a ferry from Manhattan that began in the 1830’s but was terminated after the opening of the Triboro Bridge. We will begin our walk at the ferry landing. (3-10 Astoria Blvd.)  A ferry arrives from Wall St (Pier 11) and three intermediate stops at 5:50 PM. Fare is $2.75.  (See  https://www.ferry.nyc/routes-and-schedules/route/astoria/ )  Participants can arrive on this ferry (with me) or get to the landing on their own. The walk will include art at Socrates Sculpture park and Welling Court murals, antebellum residences in Old Astoria, churches and Astoria Park. The walk will end at Bohemian Hall, the century old Czech beer garden for optional drinks and dinner. $20 fee collected at the start of  the walk. You must register in advance (email jaconet@aol.com) which I will confirm, hold you on a waiting list or advise of a sellout.

THE NEW WORLD OF THE NUMBER 7 TRAIN  Rescheduled                                                                      Saturday, July 14,  10 AM-5:30 PM                             

Since 1999, when the Metrocard matured, I have led a tour called The World of the Number 7 Train. This series of six walks and connecting rides along North Queens’ transportation corridor became  my signature tour, focusing on what the #7 train did to and for surrounding neighborhoods since it began service in 1914. So much has changed since the tour began. In the NEW World of the Number 7 Train, walks take place in the Hudson Yards, the Long Island City shoreline, Flushing West, the Iron Triangle, North Corona, and  Woodside-Jackson Heights. The routes are all different from the original tour.  SO COME AGAIN!  Lunch is still in Flushing’s Asian food mecca. Tour fee is $49 and you need to register by check to Jack Eichenbaum, 36-20 Bowne St. #6C, Flushing, NY 11354   (include name, phone and email address) or by PayPal  (go to http://www.geognyc.com/payments/  and  choose payment to a friend) sending me your contact info by email. The full day’s program and other info is available by email.jaconet@aol.com   The tour is limited to 25 people, so reserve ASAP

Jackson Heights:  Garden Apartments, Ethnic Commerce and the Birthplace of Scrabble  Saturday,  July 21   5:30-7:30 PM

 Early in the twentieth century, in conjunction with the building of the #7 train, Jackson Heights was planned as an innovative upper middle class garden apartment community based on suburban developments in northern European cities. Alfred Butts, an architect and the inventor of Scrabble was among early residents. He designed the community room for the Methodist church where his wife played the game with her friends and where street signs reflect Scrabble.  Commercial Jackson Heights has been transformed by immigration from an exclusive WASP enclave to a South Asian and South American mecca. We’ll end proximate to a great variety of restaurants and dinner suggestions will be distributed. Meet in front of Delhi Heights restaurant 74 St/37 Rd. (#7, E,F,R to 74 St/Roosevelt Ave.)    $20 fee collected at the start of the walk. You must register in advance (email jaconet@aol.com) which I will confirm, hold you on a waiting list or advise of a sellout.  This tour is being scheduled in conjunction with a Scrabble tournament  commencing the next morning!