NY1: Do You Have What it Takes to Be an NYC Tour Guide?

NY1 participated with the Guides Association of NYC  (GANYC) for a segment that aired Thursday night entitled, "Do You Have  What it Takes to Be an NYC Tour Guide?". We thank NY1-- an excellent  source for local journalism-- for speaking with several GANYC members  about our profession (see accompanying article, which has different info  & quotes than the aired piece).

The  NYC licensing exam, created by former GANYC member Justin Ferate, is an important step to ensure that those giving tours in NYC have a tested, basic base of knowledge before they serve as the ambassadors to our city. GANYC continues to work to promote licensed guides, and the  importance of our profession to preserving this city's economy, culture, and history. We are career guides who take pride in providing unique tours to both visitors and locals. And the range of tours that GANYC members offer is as diverse as the city itself.

We  do wish, however, that rather than focus on an angle about 2 perceived inaccuracies(*) over the course of 4 full tours that the reporter took  (including one GANYC fam tour-- "When New York Was Nieuw Amsterdam", with Joe Svehlak), that the reporter had also mentioned what she learned  and experienced on these 4 tours. Did she learn anything new? What was the experience of the tour like? What was unique about each? 20 seconds of information out of hours worth of touring is not representative about any tour or guide, though we always encourage guides to keep growing and learning. That's why GANYC offers our own internal Certification Course, as well as fam tours, PDPs, and other education offerings.

We  will also note that the reporter was an invited guest on our fam tour,  which was not highlighted in the segment. There are over 3,000 licensed  guides in NYC and GANYC's nearly 400 members are the best of the best. We encourage all licensed NYC guides to join GANYC and become part of the great family we have built, as we all learn and benefit from each other.

Thanks to all who watched the segment, and we encourage everyone to seek out GANYC as the go-to source for tourism in New York.

Article: Do You Have What it Takes to Be an NYC Tour Guide?

[*Regarding the 2 minor inaccuracies the reporter found over the course of 8 hours of touring. The first example, the guide got the amount of the sale correct... the flub was over where that sale ranked in the list of real estate deals (it is among the higher). The second wasn't even an inaccuracy at all. The guide states: "This is the New York Marble -- this is one of the first secular cemeteries in the city." The reporter points out that the other, nearby cemetery with a very similar name was the first secular cemetery in NY, and that the one he was at was the second secular cemetery. The second such cemetery is, by definition, "one of the first secular cemeteries", exactly what the guide said, and is not 'almost true', but 100% true. The reporter found no flaws or quibbles with the Greenwich Village tour she took, nor with Joe Svehlak's excellent New Amsterdam fam tour.]