Leigh specializes in walking tours of Harlem, Morningside Heights, and the Upper West Side:

*Audubon Bird Mural Project in Hamilton Heights. This texciting and evolving Project is gradually adding paintings of about 300 North American birds to the walls of the neighborhood. The murals range from lovely panels that fill in a former window to spectacular paintings covering the entire side of a building. We also visit John James Audubon’s impressive gravesite in the Trinity Church Cemetery.

*Harlem. We visit iconic locations such as the Abyssinian Baptist Church, Apollo Theater, Harlem Hospital murals, Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, 125th Street, and the statues of Adam Clayton Powell, Jr, and Harriet Tubman. We also explore landmarked neighborhoods such as Astor Row, Mount Morris Park, and Strivers Row. As we walk, we enjoy the beautiful architecture and wide boulevards of Harlem. 

*East Harlem (AKA Spanish Harlem or El Barrio). The many colorful murals and mosaics of East Harlem tell us so much about the history, culture, and politics of this neighborhood and its residents. Some murals include scenes of the tropical Caribbean islands from which many members of this community emigrated to New York. Other murals are dedicated to accomplished citizens of East Harlem or honor people who are famous world-wide such as Che Guevara and Celia Cruz. 

*Morningside Heights. We see Columbia University, Barnard College, Teachers College, Manhattan School of Music, and two theological seminaries. And we visit two iconic New York churches: Cathedral of St. John the Divine and Riverside Church. Also, we walk through both Morningside Park and Sakura Park. Finally, there is the impressive tomb of Ulysses S. Grant, Civil War General and later U.S. President.

*Upper West Side. We see Lincoln Center, one of the greatest performing arts complexes in the world. We walk in Riverside Park, and talk about its transformation from railroad yards to high rise apartments. There are stops outside the New-York Historical Society and American Museum of Natural History. Then we walk along Central Park West to look at some of its famous apartment buildings, including the Dakota. Finally we enter the Upper West Side’s other great park, Central Park, where we visit the John Lennon “Imagine” memorial.