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Offered languages
- English
This is not a sightseeing cruise -- it’s a guided look at how New York City’s core infrastructure actually works. Led by a transportation planner and licensed NYC guide, the tour uses the East River as a moving classroom to explain the systems most people never see: trash movement by barge, wastewater and sewer outfalls, landfills that expanded the shoreline, rail and subway tunnels beneath the river, and the bridges that knit the city together.
Rather than focusing on landmarks alone, the tour connects everyday infrastructure to history and public health -- from Dutch-era dumping in Lower Manhattan to modern shoreline rebuilding, from working waterfronts and rat-shaping waste patterns to stacked train tunnels under the river. Guests experience rare, water-level views while learning how engineering decisions beneath and above the East River shaped New York as a city.
The result is an expert-led experience that reveals the hidden systems behind the skyline.
What's Included
Meeting and pickup
Please meet at the corner of Hanover Square and Pearl Street outside Starbucks. We will then walk together to the ferry terminal to board.
Itinerary
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1Lower Manhattan
Learn how Dutch New Amsterdam expanded Manhattan using landfill, garbage, and debris, shaping today’s shoreline and Financial District. Hear how the Fulton Fish Market and riverfront trade generated waste, smells, rats, and early sanitation systems along the East River.
30 minutes • Admission ticket included -
2Brooklyn Bridge
View the Brooklyn Bridge and learn how nearby dumping grounds later became today’s barge-based restaurants.
5 minutes • Admission ticket included -
3Manhattan Bridge
View the Manhattan Bridge while discussing historic DUMBO photos, rail traffic, and the industrial waterfront below.
5 minutes • Admission ticket included -
4Williamsburg Bridge
Learn how the Williamsburg Bridge connects to subway culture, the L-train shutdown, and once-proposed gondola plans.
5 minutes • Admission ticket included -
5
Learn how the East Side Coastal Resiliency project is rebuilding the shoreline to protect Lower Manhattan from flooding, including new land creation and rapid bridge construction over the FDR Drive.
10 minutes • Admission ticket free -
6United Nations Headquarters
Pass the United Nations while learning how landfill, trash barges, helipads, and modern shoreline projects shaped this stretch of the East River.
10 minutes • Admission ticket included -
7Manhattan Skyline
Take in the Manhattan skyline from the water while learning how landfills, bridges, tunnels, and utilities shaped the city’s growth along the East River.
20 minutes • Admission ticket included -
8
See the Queensboro Bridge while learning about its former streetcar service to Roosevelt Island, subway tunnels stacked beneath the river, and historic utility tunnels linking Queens and Manhattan.
10 minutes • Admission ticket included -
9Queens
See Rikers Island and learn how it was built on landfill, its relationship to surrounding waterways, and its proximity to major aviation and waste infrastructure. Watch aircraft approach LaGuardia Airport and learn how flight paths intersect with islands, landfills, and the East River. View the Long Island City skyline from the water and learn about the area’s industrial past, including rail yards and Long Island Rail Road waterfront operations.
20 minutes • Admission ticket free -
10
See the Bronx River and learn how it was polluted and later restored as it meets the tidal waters of the East River. View the New Fulton Fish Market at Hunts Point and learn how seafood distribution, refrigeration, waste handling, and river access sustain the Bronx’s working waterfront. Learn about Hart Island, New York City’s potter’s field, and how ferry access, isolation, and public health shaped its history. As the river opens toward Long Island Sound, view the Whitestone and Throgs Neck Bridges and experience rare water-level views of Manhattan, Queens, and the Bronx.
20 minutes • Admission ticket free -
11Roosevelt Island
View Roosevelt Island from the river while learning about the Roosevelt Island Tramway, the island’s former trolley service, Delacorte’s Fountain and early sewage infrastructure, and its underground pneumatic trash tube system.
10 minutes • Admission ticket included
Additional info
- Service animals allowed
- Public transportation options are available nearby
- Infants are required to sit on an adult’s lap
- Suitable for all physical fitness levels
Tags
Cancellation Policy
For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.
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Cancellation Policy
- For a full refund, you must cancel at least 24 hours before the experience’s start time.
- If you cancel less than 24 hours before the experience’s start time, the amount you paid will not be refunded.
- Any changes made less than 24 hours before the experience’s start time will not be accepted.
Rating
You can cancel up to 24 hours in advance of the experience for a full refund.
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