Sorry, but I will no longer be giving free walking tours of New York City. It's just not in the cards. This site will stay here, though, as a reminder of just how cool an NYC walking tour site can be, just how special such a site's blog can be. There are blogs and there are blogs, and walkingtourny.com's blog fell into either category, depending on my mood. Of course, it never was much of a blog...

Rejoice or lament, the first snow of 2010-2011 will be here before we know it. That can mean only one thing: Walking in NYC will become more challenging. Fear not! Walking in the winter can be considerably more pleasant than walking in the summer, if not quite as wonderful as walking in the spring or autumn.

The MTA will install 48 solar panels at the Coney Island. The system uses really interesting "closed-loop" technology for maximum efficiency.

What I find interesting, though, are the economics. The system will cost about $1.1 million and is expected to save taxpayers and riders about $170,000 in energy costs. Do the math and this means it will pay for itself in only seven years. That is outstanding! Gone are the days when "not economical" was an argument against solar.

Not to say there is not a whole sh!tton of great food in Manhattan, but I have found the best restaurants overall to be in Queens. Queens is where all of those cool "ethnic" groups actually live. Manhattan is just where we work and play.

Mythos, in my home village of Flushing, is one of my favorite Greek restaurants in Queens and all of New York City

The Big Apple is a fashion mecca, but when you don't have a car and driver or VIP access, it helps to be creative and resourceful. The most fashionable people in New York City are those who dress for walking. Even the high-flyers like to walk the streets of New York. Trust me. If they didn't, they'd stay in LA where the weather is nicer. Speaking of which,

here are a few accessories that you can't do without...

... in the winter:

1. A hat. Tell me that's not fashionable!
2. A warm, dry comfy pair of shoes or boots and decent socks.

The Statue of Liberty's Crown is small, and the number of people who want to get inside it is very large. This makes it expensive and time consuming to get there. It is worth something for the bragging rights, but you miss out on a lot to put that little feather in your cap.

No wonder the response has been so low over the past couple of days! I took the site offline for maintenance and forgot to put it back online. Maybe that's a good thing on net. Maybe I was intentionally sabotaging myself from having to walk around in this incorrigible heat.

OK, well, we're back in business. I've rested. Go ahead and contact me if you want a custom tour of New York City!

These are the little details you miss without a guide. There was not a tourist in sight when I discovered the Miracle Vine of St. Francis of Assisi (it grows in the dirt of a church by that name). This thing climbs about nine stories on two sides of a building. How it can grow that big out of a little patch of dirt like that is nothing short of a miracle.

It was beyond perfect today -- temperatures in the 70s, sunshine, a pleasant breeze. By all rights, I should have been out walking around today and showing people the wonders of our great city, such as the Miracle Vine. Alas, it was not to be.

Can't win 'em all, but today was definitely a loss. Why is it that huge groups will sign up for tours on days that it happens to rain, and days like this are un-booked? Clearly, there is no justice in the universe.

... but nobody contacted me today. Oh well. Maybe the weather report scared them off which is really too bad because it turned out to be a lovely day in New York City. I spent the day doing a little research in the East Village. It was nice, but it would have been nice to have had a little company!