Get to Know Your City With the Free Walking Tours of Jane’s Walk This Weekend

Take in some fresh air and exercise this weekend while testing your knowledge of the city with a slew of touring possibilities.

It’s the ninth year of Jane’s Walk NYC, a weekend of tours named after Jane Jacobs, opponent of powerful city planner Robert Moses and author of “The Death and Life of Great American Cities,” the 1961 critique of 1950s urban planning policy. In the spirit of Jacobs, the free walks are led by local residents and are meant to spark conversations about planning, history, preservation, development and urban life.

Jane’s Walk NYC is organized by The Municipal Art Society of New York (MAS) but it’s also part of the global Jane’s Walk event with hundreds of smaller events in cities around the world. The walks start on May 3 and continue through May 5.

In Brooklyn, there’s a pretty impressive schedule of tours across the borough.

Hop the train and explore the area around Brooklyn’s last stop on the 3 line with Zulmilena Then and Farrah Lafontant of Preserving East NY (PENY). You can join them on Saturday, May 4 at 11 a.m. for “The New Lots REgeneration.”

Delve into the environmental issues in Greenpoint with a hike encompassing everything from gardens to the Newtown Creek with Mitch Waxman and Willis Elkins of the Newtown Creek Alliance. The roughly 2.5-mile walk takes place on Sunday, May 5 at 11 a.m.

Take a look at the architectural heritage of Gowanus and learn more about the potential rezoning with a walk on Sunday, May 5 with Brad Vogel of the Gowanus Landmarking Coalition.

All walks are free but you’ll need to save a spot to find out the meeting locations. For more information on all the tours, click here.

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