Interviewer (3:04)

Sarah, how does this festival continue to honor Jane Jacobs legacy.

Sarah Celentano (3:09)

So one of the things that Jane Jacobs really prioritized was walkability and the sense of community that gets built when people are out in their city exploring it. And this is absolutely what Janes Walk NYC does. You know, it's a weekend of hundreds of free walking tours throughout the five boroughs on a number of different topics, giving people an opportunity to really learn more about the city they call home, but also to connect with fellow New Yorkers.

Interviewer (3:39)

How has the New York City iteration of the festival grown in the last 15 years?

Sarah Celentano (3:43)

SARAH well, we're very excited to share that the New York City chapter is the largest of all of the global Jane's Walk gathering gatherings. Jane's Walk is actually a worldwide festival, but none as large as the one right here in nyc.

Interviewer (4:02)

Genevieve, why did the Municipal Art Society want to become involved in this festival? Because initially started in Toronto, as you mentioned, where she moved, and then the Mun Municipal Society became involved later.

Genevieve Wagner (4:13)

Yeah, so we started getting involved in 2011. I think our first year we had 25 walks and included, and now we have over 300, which is really wild.

Sarah Celentano (4:25)

And

Genevieve Wagner (4:27)

the mission really aligns with mas and I think it just really made a lot of sense. I know we had some staff members and team members who are connected to Toronto, so I think the word got to us that way. But yeah, the organization is all about how we can use education and advocacy and research and conversation to talk about issues that are affecting our city, thinking about the past, present and future of New York City. So, yeah, MAS collaborating and producing the festival just felt like a very natural fit.

Alison Stewart (4:59)

We're talking About Jane's Walk NYC 2026, a festival organized by the Municipal Art Society. It starts today, May 1, and continues through Sunday, May 3. My guests are Sarah Salitano and Genevieve Wagner from the Municipal Art Society. Listeners, we want to get you in on this conversation. Maybe it's a certain street in your neighborhood or some other place you love to walk around the city. Where is it? Or maybe you've participated in Jane's Walk before as a. As a leader, perh. Or a participant in a group. Call and tell us about your experience. Our phone number is 2124-3396-9221-2433. WNYC George on line one is calling from Manhattan. Hi George, thanks for taking the time to call. All of it. You're on the air.

George (Caller) (5:44)

Hi Allison. Thanks for doing this segment. James walks as the most wonderful time of the year for preservationists and passionate New Yorkers on Saturday. Actually, I'M leading a Jane's Walk of Tin Pan Alley, the birthplace of American popular music, on West 28th Street. And then I'm getting on my bike and doing a Jane, taking a Jane's Walk of the East, Rubber Moses of the east river, and then down to the East Village for Yiddish theater and then to a tour of First Street. And I should point out that I was able to get reservations for all of these events because I am a longtime of MAS as well as wnyc.

Alison Stewart (6:24)

Thank you so much for calling in, George. Yeah, there's something like you say 300 walks.

Genevieve Wagner (6:30)

Nearly 300, yes.

Alison Stewart (6:32)

And there's like a significant amount of people are volunteering their time to do this. Genevieve, what are the reasons volunteers have given to you for wanting to contribute to this event?

Genevieve Wagner (6:45)

Yeah, I'm so grateful for all of our volunteers like George and all the other folks that are involved. A lot of our volunteers are experts in the field, educators, designers, architects, people who have a lot of experience lecturing and leading tours on these topics. But many people are also New Yorkers who are just really passionate about a specific topic and are really nerdy about it and want to find an accessible, free way to talk about issues or things they're really passionate about. So I often find that people come to the festival because they, they want to find like minded people and have a platform to talk about what they really care about and what they're nerdy about.

Interviewer (7:27)

Sarah, there's a tour called the Longest Short Walk in Brooklyn. Please explain.

Sarah Celentano (7:34)

I actually went on that walk last year and it is kind of a free form experience where the group is walking around Brooklyn, basically around the Brooklyn Public Library branch and just sharing experiences of things that they notice along the way. So it's less of this kind of structured instructional walk than it is more of like a communal experience of really engaged walking.

Interviewer (8:03)

Let's talk to Eric, who's calling in from Sunnyside. Hi Eric, thanks for taking the time to call. All of it. You are on the air.

Eric (Caller) (8:11)

Hi, I'm actually, I'm leading a walk on Sunday in Sunnyside. It's a survey of arts and culture. So we'll be checking out public art, murals and architecture, the history of music in the neighborhood, from jazz to punk rock, and then looking at current offerings. So Sunnyside has the only Hispanic theater in Queens. There's lots of sites of local performances and festivals and also spaces exhibiting work by local artists. And I have guests, speakers lined up. So I'll invite a couple folks along the way to talk with folks on the walk about the work that they do in the neighborhood.

Interviewer (8:49)

That sounds great, Eric. Have a terrific walk. Sarah, what are some of the interesting themed walks that participants can sign up for this year?

Sarah Celentano (8:56)

There is such an amazing range of walks this year and every year, really from, you know, public art in our city. There are several walks about the diverse public art in New York city, from the MTA Art and Design program to a tour about 125th street murals. There are walks about several walks about New York City's abolitionist history, a walk about accessibility and disability justice, many walks about ecological sustainability. So there are so many different ways that somebody could engage with the city and there's really something for everyone.

Alison Stewart (9:32)

Genevieve, there are guided tours, but there's also self guided tours. Tell us a little bit about that and how a self guided tour would work.

Genevieve Wagner (9:39)

Yeah, so self guided tours, those started happening around Covid when people couldn't gather together in a group. And it's an offering that I really like that we still offer every Jane's Walk. So this can be a walk that people can do on their computer, on their phone, or they can take themselves on a walk in person. And it might be a PDF or a podcast, an audio tour that they can listen to in their headphones and. And they can experience a neighborhood, a street on their own and on their at their own pace.

Alison Stewart (10:11)

A few of the tours are already sold out, like scrub off the City, Forest bathing in Brooklyn, Bridge park or Chinatown. A walk through history with the Museum of Chinese in America. As I said, they are sold out. How often do these walks reach capacity?

Genevieve Wagner (10:28)

I feel that it's been happening more and more every year and that's really thrilling. And yeah, the interest has really been increasing. And our walk leaders also, as we get more walk leaders, they're so great at promoting their own walks. So I think that's also why we see them selling out so fast.

Interviewer (10:46)

Sarah, there's an audio tour of community care and mutual aid in Fort Greene.

Alison Stewart (10:50)

Could you tell us a little bit about that?

Sarah Celentano (10:53)

So I think this is another opportunity to engage in one of these more non traditional types of walks in a way that engages people with more of the social, the social history, current and past with our city.

Interviewer (11:09)

All right, Genevieve, for people who are interested, maybe this is the first time they've ever heard of the Jane's Walk and they want to get involved, tell us how often they take place, where they should go, how they should decide on a walk.

Genevieve Wagner (11:24)

Okay, sounds good. So our Jane's Walk schedule is on our website, which is mas.org and it's on our landing page and you can look at walks using a big map that we have. It's a google map that has little dots that show every single walk that's happening. So if you want to explore offerings in your neighborhood or you've really been wanting to go to a new neighborhood in New York, you can use the map to look for walks. There's also a search bar where you can put in keywords about topics that you're interested in. And all walks require registration unless it's a self guided walk. So you just sign up and then you get an email with the meeting location, the time and then you meet up with your group.

Interviewer (12:07)

Sarah, do you have any advice for people if it's their first time walking?

Sarah Celentano (12:12)

I would say come with an open mind, ask lots of questions and be prepared to meet a lot of new people.

Interviewer (12:19)

The Jane's Walk NYC Festival starts today and continues through Sunday, May 3rd. I've been speaking to Sarah Celentano and Genevieve Wagner from the Municipal Art Society for the Jane's Walk Team. Thanks for joining us and enjoy your walk.

Genevieve Wagner (12:37)

Thank you so much.

Sarah Celentano (12:38)

Thank you Alison.

Progressive Insurance Announcer (12:39)

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