You should expect them to be polite and take your goals into consideration. I provide custom itineraries. That may not be the case for all tour guides. In my opinion they should also provide comfort, information, history, amusing facts, suggestions and show you the NYC that New Yorkers experience.

There are so many festivals and parades and other events in New York City it isn't possible to list them all. This is a curated list and I will be adding to it on a regular basis.

It may not be customary to tip where you come from, but in America and especially in New York City, people who work in service industry jobs are often paid less than minimum wage and they rely on tips to pay their bills.

The weather in NYC varies quite a bit and sometimes we don’t even know from day to day what the weather will be like. Be prepared for the rain or cold.

Be mindful - NYC is a very busy and crowded city and New Yorkers tend to be in hurry and are very determined walkers. In a city of 8.6 million people with another 1.5 million commuters there are unwritten rules that make it possible for us to all live together peacefully – people live here.

Public toilets and WiFi - major hotel lobbies usually have both free WiFi and clean restrooms that you can use. As a Tour Guide, I use them all the time! Yes, Grand Central has restrooms.

NYC has so many hotels. They are often expensive and not necessarily in the neighborhoods you would like to explore.

Skip driving a car or taking a cab. These are nightmares in the city. Time consuming and costly. You might want to take a taxi or use Uber or one of the many companies like that that charge a flat fare. That said, the subway and buses aren’t too difficult when you look at a map. AND if you have a charge or debit card with a wifi symbol on it, you can tap and go! No need to buy a metro card.

Much of Manhattan is on a grid pattern till you venture below 14th Street. The avenues (Fifth Avenue, Park Avenue, Madison Avenue etc) are North/South streets. The numbered streets (42nd Street etc) are East/West. Which makes it a little easier to figure out which direction you are going.