Customer Reviews

New York: The Bronx 2004

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I came across Soundwalks when researching aspects of New York City for a novel. On a clear, cold winter morning holiday (MLK Day), a friend of mine and I went into the Bronx and did the Bronx:Graffiti walk and Bronx: Hip-hop walk (you can buy the walks separately on another website). The walks definitely gave a great sense of place, history and neighborhood. It really felt as if we had an insider tour guide. The only thing was that the Bronx: Graffiti walk was slightly out of date; some of the murals had been painted over; others had been replaced by completely different murals (including the first one of the walk). As for the Bronx: Hiphop walk, I think fans immersed in hip-hop culture will appreciate the walk more; still it was fascinating to walk in the Bronx River projects, the heart of hip hop and to see where it all got started. And wow, it is simply amazing to see at how much Bronx has changed; Bronx River row, once known as "Little Vietnam" by the police is different. I have to admit I was kind of leery of walking into the South Bronx, with its reputation that follows it even today. However, the Bronx is a diverse borough with families and residents of all sorts. Me, a short little Asian girl and my friend, a white girl who could not look any more suburban felt perfectly fine walking around doing the two tours. We also did them relatively early in the day, around 11am and 2pm, on a cold day. I don't know what it would be like in the summer with people hangin' out on the street, but honestly, the feeling I got was that it was not much different than say Jamaica, Queens. Overall it was a great experience that I highly recommend.