SwingStreets

Very interesting tour "off the beaten track" in Harlem, we got to se some lovely spots with beautiful architecture that most New York tourists probably don't visit. Paul, the guide, was very knowledgeable and knew everything about the jazz legends that once populated this area. Highly recommended!

Paul gave a good overview of the different parts of queens. It is an interesting tour if you have never been to queens before or seen all the areas in queens. He gives you a brief insight into how different each locality of queens is from each other.

My sister and I took this tour of Brooklyn because we lived there as young children. Paul our guide was terrific. He took us to so many interesting neighborhoods. He was even willing to show us where we use to live. Since we were the only ones on the tour that day, he was able and more than willing to accommodate us. We can't say enough about Paul and his knowledge of the history of Brooklyn and it's numerous neighborhoods. If you decide to take this tour, it will be a wonderful experience.

Great tour experience if you want to enjoy the history and architecture of Harlem. And the guide gave us all a cd with great jazz songs that added a warm touch to the experience!

Very pleasant, well-informed guide

Personable, with so much knowledge of the area. Loved every minute of it!

Mr Paul Blair is a delight to be with.The tour goes at a steady pace which must be suitable for most folks.With humour and local knowledge Paul entertains you throughout by sharing his extensive knowledge.We liked him a lot ! We would book again but it would have to be with Mr Blair leading the way .

We found the Brooklyn Tour by Zerve on internet after searching with the keyword "Brooklyn Bus Tour" and bought two tickets for my wife and myself. We waited at the specified location to catch the tour group assuming a tour bus should arrive any time but no one else seemed to be waiting for it, so when only a man on foot approached us at 10AM and introduced himself as the tour guide, we were quite surprised. He told us that the tour is on foot and subway going around through several ethnic neighborhoods, despite that we had anticipated to visit museums and some jazz clubs. However, we soon realized he is a very well educated man and professional in journalism and music. Indeed, he is an editor of a very unique jazz magazine circulated in New York, named Hot House. As we walked through various parts of Brooklyn, century old buildings and houses suddenly became interesting as he speaks of their history and recent events in the areas. In Parkslope areas, we learned that major residents are young professionals who have jobs in Manhattan. At one intersection in the area he mentioned that one of the planes collided in midair landed there in 1960. He showed us a newspaper clip that showed a photo of the plane landed at that intersection. The house behind the upside down plane, in the photo, was just in front of us. The other plane collided flew from Columbus, OH, where we live. The collision occurred just 50 years ago ( of two weeks after our tour in Brooklyn as we leaned this on a front page of our local news paper of December 14.). One of other intriguing places was the Little Russia, where an old woman in a Russian scarf was selling used clothes, who looked just like a woman in a picture of Moscow. We entered a near-by glossary, where everybody was speaking in Russian. Visiting Coney Island was another intriguing experience. Coney Island was once a very popular resort place, but it is being torn down now. Nonetheless he insisted to go there, and explained its history of once glorious days. Seemingly very boring old billboards above the closed old entertainment shacks became interesting as he explained how words on the billboard are spelled and what were there many years ago. Of course he guided us in the business district, upscale shopping areas in Brooklyn and the water front from where Manhattan view was very good. Over all, he did a good job in guiding and educating us about Brooklyn. I do not hesitate to recommend his guide to those who want to learn about Brooklyn.

A beautiful sunny day in mid November wasn't the only bit of luch we had on this tour. Both me and my partner were fortunate enough to get Paul, our guide, all to ourselves as we embarked on a deceptively comprehensive tour of Brooklyn. Never rushed, never overloaded with information, Paul shepherded us through a sample of some of Brooklyn's most interesting neighbourhoods, and we enjoyed some laughs along the way. We told him about our love of food and cooking, and we found ourselves browsing in Russian supermarkets in Brighton Beach, and looking for additions to Paul's drinks can collection in a Turkish cafe! We'd never have found a lot of these places ourselves, this isn't your standard guide-book fare, and makes this tour all the more worthwhile, for NYers and visitors alike!

Once again Paul Blair have enlightned our NY stay. He open doors to us we didn't even know existed! It's pure joy to broaden our jazz interest in the jazz capital of the world!

We were a group about ten peoples and with Paul B as our guide. He walked us through Harlem. We got all the information that you can get from a book and add his personal comments to that so you will understand why we can really recommend this tour. Really fantastic and worth every penny. Thank You so much Paul says Mats & Kajsa from Sweden

The leader was knowledgeable and helpful and interesting; The only problem might be that it was a little hard to hear his voice sometimes over street noise.

This walk is a blend of the jazz, social, and architectural history of Harlem. Mr Blair (the tour guide) is certainly well researched in each of these areas. Perhaps more importantly, he shows due respect and reverence for the famous people and landmarks we meet on the tour. I would recommend this tour to any person who has any interest in any of these three subjects. I found the tour to be a pleasant and informative way of spending my time. A bonus is the free jazz C.D. which he gives. The notes that come with it give even more jazz addresses for people to go and do further explorations on their own. I would also recommend this tour to people who know of Harlem, but who have never been, or people such as myself, who think they knew about it, before the tour. I believe Mr Blair has enough data and information to make this a day long tour and enough enthusiasm to keep it going for this long. In short, an enjoyable, informative, value for money tour John Leaver.

Overall, the walk was very pleasant even though it did sprinkle a bit here and there. The unfortunate part of the walk were the many missed opportunities, on the part of our guide, Paul Blair, to truly make this a "Jazz Walk" by providing us with more relevant stories and history of what we where witnessing within the context of "Jazz". Instead, Mr. Blair choose to hurriedly point out a few landmarks here and there, often starting and ending his short presentations only for the benefit of a select few with no concern for the rest of the group. Furthermore, while other reviews praise Mr. Blair as a knowledgeable and well-prepared guide, we found Mr. Blair to be quite lacking. Maybe it's because we watched a few documentaries and/or read a few relevant articles, but we became suspicious when Mr. Blair's response was consistently "I don't know, but if you find out...would you let me know." I don't want to be too critical, but if you're going to call it a "Jazz Walk" then make it a "Jazz Walk" otherwise, just call it a walk through Harlem. Mr. Blair, the self-proclaimed Jazz connoisseur, should be ashamed of himself.

Paul Blair proved remarkably well prepared, with rich background on Harlem and its jazz history. The complimentary CD corresponding to many of the sites visited was a generous addition. Paul delivers an interesting spiel, but also listens to walkers input and questions, customizing to some extent his presentation to the needs and interests of the current group members. Our walk was done in off-and-on precipitation, but our spirits weren't dampened. Well worth the price of admission!