{"id":313788,"date":"2026-08-04T21:52:09","date_gmt":"2026-08-04T21:52:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/313788\/"},"modified":"2026-08-04T21:52:09","modified_gmt":"2026-08-04T21:52:09","slug":"on-a-secrets-of-central-park-tour-i-saw-a-different-side-of-manhattans-beloved-backyard","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/313788\/","title":{"rendered":"On a \u2018Secrets of Central Park\u2019 Tour, I Saw a Different Side of Manhattan\u2019s Beloved Backyard"},"content":{"rendered":"

Once, on a wintry morning walk through Central Park<\/a>, a place I\u2019m lucky to say is a 10-minute walk from my home, I came face to face with a coyote. Whether it was Romeo or Juliet, two of Central Park\u2019s most elusive mascots, I\u2019ll never know. But the sighting felt like some kind of divine privilege, a fast track through the 10 years it takes to become a real New Yorker. As I continued to wander through The Ramble<\/a>, graced with a few red cardinals for good measure, I was struck by the realization that there\u2019s still so much of my beloved backyard that I don\u2019t know.<\/p>\n

I pride myself on my average ability to spit New York City facts on the fly. I love to point out the hidden peephole at the IFC Center<\/a> whenever I\u2019m passing by the theater with a friend, or make sure whoever is sitting next to me on the Q from Brooklyn keeps their eyes peeled for Masstransiscope<\/a> (1980). But when it came to Central Park, all I could really offer was the trick to finding your way via the cast-iron lampposts. (For those who don\u2019t know: Each post features a stamped code, the first two or three digits matching the nearest cross street, the final digit revealing what side you\u2019re on\u2014east if it’s even, west if it\u2019s odd). Thank you, TikTok.<\/p>\n

Airbnb<\/p>\n

Uncover Central Park’s Secret Places<\/p>\n

I love playing tourist in my own city, but I\u2019m skeptical of any experience that might lead me to museums about ice cream or sex. When a scroll through a list of NYC-specific Airbnb Experiences<\/a> prompted me to \u201cUncover Central Park\u2019s Secret Places<\/a>,\u201d I was immediately intrigued. The tour, led by Bruce Racond of Revolutionary Tours<\/a>, promised to take curious attendees to sites rarely seen above 100th Street, from cascading waterfalls to Revolutionary forts. Racond hosts these tours every Sunday for a little over a dozen guests, and I was able to book a spot for my friend and me a week in advance. We were told to come prepared with comfortable shoes, as we\u2019d be winding through the park for two and a half hours.<\/p>\n

\"Image<\/p>\n

Racond showing us portraits of Olmsted and Vaux<\/p>\n

Jessica Sulima<\/p>\n

When I found myself early for the tour on a bright July afternoon, chatting with some fellow group members, I was surprised to learn that not only were many of the attendees locals like me, but a few were repeat guests of Racond\u2019s. One loyal couple in particular, who came to the city from Long Island, told me that despite spending the entirety of their lives in New York, they\u2019ve consistently found themselves enlightened by Racond\u2019s knowledge.<\/p>\n

When our extolled, khaki-wearing tour guide turned and asked what brought me here, I mentioned the coyote, asking him if he\u2019d ever seen one of the four-legged paramours. He said no, but not without recognizing my profound luck. I liked his vibe immediately\u2014like that of a good-humored history teacher. Born in New York, Racond knows the city intimately; he\u2019s a historian with a master\u2019s degree in American history and has been a licensed tour guide for over 25 years.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Once, on a wintry morning walk through Central Park, a place I\u2019m lucky to say is a 10-minute…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":313789,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[43009,118538,75,84,83,9,24,63,2539],"class_list":["post-313788","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-manhattan","tag-airbnbs","tag-city-walks-tours","tag-manhattan","tag-manhattan-headlines","tag-manhattan-news","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-nyc","tag-shopping"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/313788","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=313788"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/313788\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/313789"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=313788"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=313788"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=313788"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}