Dipping a Toe Back into City Life

Someday life will be normal again or at least normal-ish and at that point I will return to Manhattan. I’ll have to memorize the streets and subways again, and figure out how to buy a Metrocard.

I was the happy recipient a year or so ago of Cornwall, Conn., resident John Tauranac’s “Manhattan Block by Block: A Street Atlas,” updated and published in 2015 ($16, you can find it at Amazon and sometimes at the Wish House gift shop in West Cornwall). If I take the train down for my virgin return visit to the city, I guess I can study Tauranac’s book on the trip down (in the unlikely event that I don’t run into someone I know and strike up a lively conversation).

Anyone who’s nervous about returning to the city might want to dip a toe in by taking a tour. I’m not ashamed to say that on many occasions I have taken bus and boat tours of cities I’ve visited. They’re often fun and informative, and they usually take me to a place I wouldn’t have gone to on my own.

If you feel that you already know how to find the Empire State Building and Rockefeller Center (although I bet you’ve never been to Coney Island), consider taking a tour that helps you locate your favorite fictional characters within your favorite city. A company called On Location Tours has returned, feeling that the pandemic is sufficiently over (and that, apparently, the omicron variant isn’t important enough to worry about).

The Sex and the City tour is available  again, with stops in Greenwich Village, the Meatpacking District and SoHo. Everyone who takes the tour gets a cupcake from Magnolia Bakery, and anyone over 21 with legal ID can get a drink at  ONieal’s bar and restaurant on Grand Street.

To find out about other tours including the New York Super Heroes tour and the Marvelous Mrs. Masel tour, go to the website at www.onlocationtours.com and click on New York Tours.