Photo: Shutterstock/Jon Chica

NYC’s Underbelly Tour

Culture Insider Guides New York, NY, United States
Photo: Shutterstock/Jon Chica
Julie Schwietert
Apr 29, 2009
Next month, I’ll be celebrating 10 years living in New York City.

DESPITE MY PARENTS’ worries about The Big City, shaped, as most parents’ worries are, by media hype and movie hyperbole, the New York I arrived in after graduating from college in 1999 was a city that had been transformed significantly since its days of gangs, graffiti, gratuitous sex, and sleaze.

Like any city, it had its rougher edges, of course (and, my father pointed out as he and I lifted a bureau over a group of my neighbors smoking ganja on the stoop of my South Bronx apartment building, I lived along those edges).

But New Yorkers nostalgic for the bad old days considered even those edges to be tame versions of a storied past. They insisted on talking about their New York, and they can still be heard today, complaining about shiny, smiley Times Square with its Hershey Store and Hard Rock Cafe.

You might say Curtis Sliwa is one of those New Yorkers.

Sliwa prides himself on (in his words) his “powerful, uplifting messages of overcoming fear and adversity to achieve self-reliance and contribute to one’s community.”

He founded the Guardian Angels, an NYC based civilian crime prevention and safety patrol corps that has inspired spin-off groups in Japan, Australia, Peru, New Zealand, Australia, and South Africa.

But recently, I learned that Sliwa launched a new project: The New York City Underbelly Tour, which takes paying guests on a spin around the “mean streets” of the South Bronx. The three hour tour starts on the “Muggers’ Express” (the 4 train, apparently–my old commute), and drops you off at 167th Street, one stop south of where I used to live on 170th and Jerome.

There, you’re met by a team of Guardian Angels, who will show you “active chop shops, drug houses in the shadows of police precincts, money laundering fronts, and murals dedicated to drug dealers.” At the end of the tour, you’ll “discover how the south Bronx has flourished and prospered”… though for whom, I’m not sure.

There’s been a lot of talk about this tour recently–it was written up in New York Magazine this week–so I’ll add my two cents. Is the Underbelly Tour–at least in concept–the developed world’s version of slum tourism? Would you take this tour? And is there something troubling about Sliwa’s do-gooder deeds, on the one hand, and his let’s-keep-the-gritty-past-alive money-making tour on the other? I’d be interested in your opinion–especially if you’ve been on the Underbelly Tour.

Community Connection:

Learn more about slum tourism in Dominic DeGrazier’s article about his experiences taking a favela tour in Brazil.

What did you think of this story?
Meh
Good
Awesome

More on

New York, NY, United States

9 Direct Flights From NYC Airports for 2023, Starting Under $200

The SeaGlass Carousel in NYC Will Make You Feel Like You Transformed Into a Fish

This Program Lets You Reserve a Spot in the TSA Security Line Before Arriving at the Airport

Where To Stay, Eat, and Play in NYC in 2023

How To Take the Perfect Magic Mushroom Day Trip From New York City

Manhattan by Sail's Classic Ships Are the Best Way To See NYC From the Water

Where To Eat in Every NYC Chinatown Neighborhood

The 32 Most Affordable Michelin Star Restaurants in New York City

What It Really Looks Like To See the NYC Skyline From a Helicopter

This NYC Rooftop Bar Has the Best View of Times Square in the City

We think you might also like

The Most Famous Archeological Site in the World Dominates This European Capital City

This Famous Parisian Church Is Open 24/7 To Maintain 130 Years of Nonstop Praying

This Is France’s Most Famous and Mysterious Island That You Can Visit

The Most Colorful Park in the World Is Actually a Failed Housing Estate for the Rich

The House Where Frida Kahlo Was Born (and Died) Is Now an Extraordinary Museum

The 9 Most Fun Festivals in NYC To Attend in 2023

You Can Bring Your Own Booze To This Amazing 66-Acre Botanical Garden That Has a Grilled Cheese Kiosk

Everything You Should Know About the World’s Tallest Building (Yes, You Can Stay the Night There)

This Is the 43rd Tallest Building in the World, but It's the Most Famous of All

The Smallest Country in the World Has Only One Dog and the World's Largest Church

How To Explore Miami's F1 Scene During Race Weekend

Save Bookmark

We use cookies for analytics tracking and advertising from our partners. For more information read our privacy policy.