05/07/17 - Day 34 - Manhattan & Brooklyn - Jane's Walk 2017
Jane's Walk is an annual festival of neighborhood walking tours held the first weekend of May in cities around the world. NYC has over a hundred walks available for free over the three day period. I took two walks, one in the Diamond District of Manhattan and a twilight tour of Brooklyn Heights.
Diamond District
Hosted by a woman who works in the trade, this tour lasted about an hour and covered topics regarding the diamond trade in general and the NYC market in particular. Some of it I was already aware of: the DeBeers monopoly on the supply of diamonds, the fact that diamond engagement rings are a fairly recent phenomenon (only since the 1920s-1930s). Some of it I wasn't aware of, such as the fact it grew substantially in 1941 when dealers fled Antwerp & Amsterdam due to the Nazi invasion. That there are more than 2000 individual diamond merchants who work in the district. That there is a single entity that sets the price for all diamonds which is refreshed on a weekly basis, and the Gemological Institute of America that grades and certifies most of the stones that trade in the U.S. resides there. I also learned that all deals are closed with the phrase "mazl" which is basically an oral handshake. More info here: http://www.rambleonron.com/2015/04/25/the-meaning-of-mazl-in-the-diamond-business/
Twilight in Brooklyn
Hosted by a gentleman who was born and raised in Brooklyn, his accent was tremendous. We walked through a few of the streets in Brooklyn Heights where he talked about how Brooklyn became the first suburb for New York for folks who wanted a place in the country away from the city center.
The house at the end of this street was the Behr mansion, It's now an apartment building. When we were walking by one of the residents invited the group to take a look around inside the lobby where some of the original furniture is still in place.
On the way towards the river we stopped at a couple different places that overlooked downtown Manhattan
The tour ended in Brooklyn Bridge park just as the sunset ended.
Diamond District
Hosted by a woman who works in the trade, this tour lasted about an hour and covered topics regarding the diamond trade in general and the NYC market in particular. Some of it I was already aware of: the DeBeers monopoly on the supply of diamonds, the fact that diamond engagement rings are a fairly recent phenomenon (only since the 1920s-1930s). Some of it I wasn't aware of, such as the fact it grew substantially in 1941 when dealers fled Antwerp & Amsterdam due to the Nazi invasion. That there are more than 2000 individual diamond merchants who work in the district. That there is a single entity that sets the price for all diamonds which is refreshed on a weekly basis, and the Gemological Institute of America that grades and certifies most of the stones that trade in the U.S. resides there. I also learned that all deals are closed with the phrase "mazl" which is basically an oral handshake. More info here: http://www.rambleonron.com/2015/04/25/the-meaning-of-mazl-in-the-diamond-business/
Twilight in Brooklyn
Hosted by a gentleman who was born and raised in Brooklyn, his accent was tremendous. We walked through a few of the streets in Brooklyn Heights where he talked about how Brooklyn became the first suburb for New York for folks who wanted a place in the country away from the city center.
The house at the end of this street was the Behr mansion, It's now an apartment building. When we were walking by one of the residents invited the group to take a look around inside the lobby where some of the original furniture is still in place.
On the way towards the river we stopped at a couple different places that overlooked downtown Manhattan
The tour ended in Brooklyn Bridge park just as the sunset ended.
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