BAM. DUMBO. BedStuy: What Brooklyn Is Coming To

Sunday, January 23, 9:30 a.m.-3 p.m.

Spend Sunday morning getting acquainted with the quintessential urban archetype: Brooklyn—New York's most populous borough. Brooklyn's got everything, and we'll sample the best it has to offer. Begin in the Fort Greene neighborhood with a behind-the-scenes tour of Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM). Founded in 1861, BAM is the country's oldest continuously operating performing arts center and is the founding anchor and heart of the BAM Cultural District. From the Fort Greene neighborhood we'll move to Bed Stuy and visit the Bedford Stuyvesant Restoration Corporation, the nation's first community development corporation. We'll eat lunch and wrap up our trip at St. Ann's Warehouse, an avant-garde performing arts space in the neighborhood called DUMBO (which stands for Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass). While there we'll check out the Brooklyn waterfront and take in DUMBO's breathtaking waterfront views of Manhattan's skyline.

During this excursion, you'll see that Brooklyn is where the real New York's at.

The cost for this experience is $150 for members and $300 for nonmembers. Separate registration is required. Space is limited.

Breaking the Cycle in Harlem

Monday, January 24, 9:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m.

See the Harlem Children's Zone (HCZ) and visit with its world-renowned president/CEO, Geoffrey Canada. Learn how the HCZ is breaking the cycle of generational poverty in central Harlem.

Founded in 1970, HCZ is a renowned, community-based nonprofit that offers education, social-service, and community-building services in central Harlem. The organization has created a network of programs for children from birth through college, serving more than 8,000 at-risk youth within its 97-block zone. With documented results, HCZ is serving as a model for tackling poverty nationwide. Visit www.hcz.org for information on HCZ.

There is no charge for this experience. Tickets will be available onsite.

Take a Walk on the Lower East Side

Monday, January 24, 2:30-5:30 p.m.

This walking tour strolls past the rich history and culture of the Lower East Side of Manhattan, a gateway for America's immigrants from the Dutch colonial era through today. For centuries this community has remade itself in the image of new arrivals while retaining a diverse heritage of old worlds. We'll have the opportunity to see this area through the eyes of World Savvy, an interdisciplinary academic and arts program for youth that helps integrate global issues into the classroom to educate and engage youth in community and world affairs. This walking tour will explore the various landmarks left behind by diverse waves of immigration into New York City. We will investigate the First Houses—the first public housing project in the United States—the Nuyorican Poet's Café, the churches and mosques, and the world-famous McSorley's Old Ale House—the oldest continually operating pub in New York City. We'll wrap up the tour with a stop for fresh hot knishes at Yonah Schimmel Knish Bakery, a Lower East Side staple since 1890! Weather permitting. Bus tour in the event of inclement weather.

There is no charge for this experience. Tickets will be available onsite.

Get on the High Line

Tuesday, January 25, 9:15-11 a.m.

Dress for the weather and join a guided walking tour of the High Line, an innovative new public park built on a historic elevated rail structure on Manhattan's West Side. "A whole host of city planners"—in Detroit, Jersey City, Philadelphia, Chicago, not to mention Rotterdam, Hong Kong, and Singapore—have seen the High Line's success and are considering or revisiting "efforts to convert relics from their own industrial pasts into potential economic engines," the New York Times reports. The bus ride to the High Line will include an insider's briefing by a senior staff member of Friends of the High Line.

There is no charge for this experience. Tickets will be available onsite.