ABOUT THE TOUR GUIDE

RATES

RESERVATIONS

CONTACT

OTHER TOURS:

NEW AMSTERDAM TOURS

ZONING ORIGINS: REAL ESTATE DEVELOPMENT IN LOWER MANHATTAN

GREENWICH VILLAGE - URBAN RENEWAL HISTORY

3 TRIBECA TOURS

JEWS IN NYC

WTC TOUR

GERMAN TOUR

THERE ARE 4 TRIBECA TOURS: The view from my coop's roof in Tribeca showing the changes since I went to NYLS.

TRIBECA TOUR #1- FOR INCOMING NYLS STUDENTS (& Other Law School Students)--- NEW YORK'S COURTHOUSES - Introduction to all the Legal Resources in the area. It not only shows the location of the buildings, but explains what goes on in each of them (including pro bono experiences); and is meant to give the Incoming Students something to think about their future career as we walk along. This tour is also given to foreign Law School Students with a brief explanation of America's Legal System.

TRIBECA TOUR #2- FOR REUNIONS & SPECIAL EVENTS---LAND USE ISSUES IN NORTHWESTERN TRIBECA. In addition to noticing what no longer exists, we will discuss several law suits or creative real estate projects in the local area.

TRIBECA TOUR #3- FOR REAL ESTATE MASTER CLASS STUDENTS---The Trump Condo-Hotel Litigation A lecture about the land use law issues dealing with the new hotel being built in SoHo. (2009)

TRIBECA TOUR #4- FOR REAL ESTATE MASTER CLASS STUDENTS--- How NYC profited from selling dormant Urban Renewal Sites and In-Rem Properties.(2010)

ABOUT THE TOUR GUIDE

• Rick Landman, Esq., a Native New Yorker, has been an AICP Certified Planner for over 30 years, and an Attorney since 1988.
  
  
• He was an adjunct Professor of Planning at NYU's Wagner School and teaches a Land Use law class since 2003. His class was a required core class for the Urban Planning Masters students.
  
  
• Rick has 3 Masters Degrees (M.C.R.P. in City and Regional Planning, Ed.M. in Curriculum Development, M.S. in Civil (Socio) Engineering) and a J.D. in law(cum laude). He was admitted to the New York Bar in 1988.
  
  
• He was the Executive Director of Real Estate Development for the City of New York for 5 years and was the Director of Real Estate Development at NYU for 19 years.
  
  
• One of the Masters Degrees was an Ed.M. in Curriculum Planning, so if you want a "Tour in the Classroom" lecture that can also be arranged. The lectures will be age appropriate to your class's needs.
  
  
• Rick was the chair of several committees of Community Board #1 Manhattan, including the chair of the Planning & Community Infrastructure Committee, the Tribeca Committee and chaired what is now called the Landmarks Committee when Tribeca was first designated in 1992.
  
  
• He moved into a Lower Manhattan converted apartment in the 1970's, that is approximately 1,000 feet from the World Trade Center.
  
  
• He is a licensed NYC Sightseeing Tour Guide. License No.: 1281818 exp. 3/31/12.
  
  
• He also has dual citizenship between the USA and Germany. He is the son of two Jewish Holocaust Survivors, and is active in several Second Generation programs.
  
  

TOUR RATES AND SIZE OF GROUP AND LENGTH OF TIME The Standard Rate for a Large Group Tour (usually for up to 20 persons) which follows one of the existing listed Tours is $250. The lecture can be modified to meet your group's needs. For an additional $50 a new Tour can be researched and designed just for your group's individualized needs. Each Tour is approximately one and a half hours long. Smaller Group Tours ( usually up to 5 people) of existing listed tours can be accommodated at a lower rate of usually $150 for an existing Tour. This tour usually lasts for an hour. The same additional $50 is charged for research and designing a new tour just for your group. There will be some "Per Person Tours" where individuals can join in a pre-scheduled Tour at $15 per person. Cash, Travelers Checks or NYS checks are acceptable forms of payment. INSURANCE Clients assume all liability and risks during the walks. Please be vigilant when crossing the streets. LANGUAGES The tours are given in English or German (Deutsch). CANCELLATIONS Should the tour guide cancel the tour, then a total refund of any deposit will be given and no fee will be charged for the tour. No consequential damages will be offered. However, if the tour was an individualized tour that required specific research, then the deposit from the group is not refundable, should the group decide to cancel. But the rest of the fee will be forgiven should the group wish to cancel the tour. Please give at least 24 hours notice. RESERVATIONS To make a reservation, please click the email icon below and supply the following in the email. Make sure that you get a written confirmation from me before considering the reservation confirmed: The time and days that you are interested in having a tour How many people are expected in your group The location that you are interested in seeing Any special interests, such as historical, cultural, religious, architectual, etc. that you would like me to research for your tour. Your name, phone, address and email address Means of payment

"Classroom without Walls" Tours... All tours can also be transformed into an Indoor Speaking Engagement or modified to meet your group's interests. These tours emphasize historical, zoning and legal issues.	TO BOOK A TOUR
Learn the subject matter while walking through where the events occurred... Remember the "talk" should be as memorable as the "walk"!	.
There will be some tours with fixed dates for individuals to collectively meet for $15 per person, but the dates have not yet been determined. You can email to be placed on a list and will be notified of the dates.	TO GET ON THE LIST

SAMPLE OF OTHER TOURS:

"NEW AMSTERDAM" TOUR FOR DETAILED INFORMATION ON YOUR OWN "NEW AMSTERDAM TOUR" CLICK HERE Every year in November is "Dutch Days" in New York City with multiple events and exhibits held throughout the five boroughs. An annual highlight is the tour of “New Amsterdam” put together by Rick Landman, Esq., AICP, a longtime member of the NY Metro Chapter. Landman gave a tour to relate how early Dutch roots had an impact on New York City's physical form as well as its taxation procedures, zoning regulations and religious freedoms. The tour, which not only included the usual stop to the foundations of the old Dutch City Hall but included a walk around the borders of old New Amsterdam, seeing the Dutch memorials (most of which are on land-fill that didn't exist back then) and discussion of Dutch history and its impacts. Landman noted that the narrow tax lots and the subsequent sky-blocking towers were a direct result from our Dutch origins... Tour starts in front of the Customs House at Bowling Green in front of the eastern most statue and winds it way through Battery Park and up to Wall Street. Please Click Here to Email for Reservations and please place "New Amsterdam Tour" in the Subject Box.

WORLD TRADE CENTER TOURS View from 7 World Trade Center of Lower Manhattan. Tours can include the area from the Battery up to the World Trade Center, or the Financial District up to Tribeca or the Brooklyn Bridge.

I took this photo shortly after 9/11 showing "Ground Zero". Living in Southern Tribeca for 30 years, I was displaced from my apartment for approximately one month, returning home in October. I also have pictures showing how the neighborhood was powered and existed during the era when we were a "gated community". So this tour is given by someone who lived through the experience and rebuilding of the neighborhood.

GREENWICH VILLAGE- URBAN PLANNING TOUR These buildings on MacDougal Street were used as the poster pictures for the demolition of the Village as part of the Urban Renewal Plan in the 1950's. But they were landmarked in the 21st Century as being one of the few federal townhouses still left in Manhattan. The tour will include a walking lecture on Eminent Domain, Condemnation as well as the struggles during the Urban Renewal program in the NYU area.

This is the rendering from the 1953 Washington Square South Urban Renewal Plan's concept for Greenwich Village, pursuant to the Slum Clearance Plan under Title 1 of the Housing Act of 1949. Notice the Washington Square Arch (in yellow) in Washington Square Park. The "Tower in the Park" concept (which was also emphasized in the 1961 Zoning Resolution) included highways and apartment complexes to replace what is now the Village and SoHo.

THE ORIGINS OF ZONING IN AMERICA: This tour focuses on the area near the World Trade Center and includes a walking lecture of how America's Zoning started Lower Manhattan because of the bulk issues created at the Equitable Building in 1916 and winds its way past several of the World's Tallest Buildings up to City Hall Park and ends on the Brooklyn Bridge looking back at the eastside of Manhattan. Once steel construction and elevators turned the real estate market upside down, and each developer tried to build the world's tallest building, New York City was forced to try regulating bulk and use. The Supreme Court upheld NYC's zoning regulations in the 1926 case of Euclid v. Ambler Realty Corp. This tour gives the history while passing the actual locations. It also includes a city park created by the transfer of development rights and discusses several urban renewal projects in the area. Depending on time and interest, we can also include a short discussion of the World Trade Center as we pass by.

SOUTH STREET SEAPORT TOUR: This area was created with the aid of Landmarking and Historic Districts and urban renewal plans, and is now under consideration for a new proposed development.

THE JEWS OF NEW AMSTERDAM/LOWER EAST SIDE: Focusing on the early Jewish roots of New Amsterdam and New York City, including several Jewish cemeteries. The tour will discuss the treatment and contributions of the colonies' and America's earliest Jewish settlers, including both Ashkenazi and Sephardic Jews who came to the "New World" in the 1600's. The life of Asser Levy and the 23 Jews who came from Recife will be discussed. Lower Manhattan contains several memorials and actual locations (buildings now long gone) and remnants of several cemeteries at Chatham Square, West 11th and West 22nd Streets. In addition, we can extend the tour (especially if this is a bus tour) to go to the Lower East Side and see the Tenement Museum as well as several eateries such as Katz's Delicatessen and Russ & Daughters.

GAY TOUR OF THE 1970's: Visit the long gone haunts of the West Village's and a separate tour of the East Village's gay places from a personal perspective. West Village includes: The Stud, The Anvil, The Mineshaft, The Christopher Street Bookstore, Uncle Charlies, The Piers, etc. The East Village includes: The Saint, The St. Marks and Club Bathhouses, Boy Bar, etc.

Walking Tours are personalized to meet your special interests, given in a way that only a Native New Yorker can give. A week's notice is appreciated if research is required for the personalized tour. Shorter notice is acceptable for standard walks.

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