- Social Impact Experience
Work together on activities such as building garden infrastructure, planting vegetables or harvesting vegetables for New Yorkers in need. Locations in Upper Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens and the Bronx!
Tour Info
Ticket price includes lunch and we make donations on your behalf on this highly interactive, unique social impact tour!
Duration: 4 hours
Tour includes: Full lunch, supplies for street clean up, donations to Green & Blue Eco Care and Sustainable Fashion Community Center as well as supporting minority owned businesses!
Walking Distance: 1.7 miles or 2.7 km
Tour meeting point: In front of The Schomburg Center at 101 135th St, New York, NY, 10030
Tour Capacity: 4 min / 14 max. NOTE: 4 person minimum for tour to operate.
Contact us for Pricing
Join us for a one of a kind social impact experience on our Sustainable Harlem Tour. On this tour guests are able to support hyper-local, community-based organizations and learn about the movements and people behind them, while experiencing Harlem on an authentic level.
We are thrilled to be partnering with some amazing community organizations in Harlem to bring this tour to life.
You will have an opportunity to learn about and volunteer with an important and impactful new venture from the New York Fair Trade Coalition at the Sustainable Fashion Community Center. The space serves as a clothing recycling center, a member-led pop-up shop, and a safe space for gathering, sharing, and educating. The program launched in February of 2021 in direct response to the pandemic with the goals of providing commercial space to business owners free of charge, and bringing financial stability, commerce, beauty, and hope back to NYC.
Next we grab lunch at locally, black-owned and sustainable restaurant FIELDTRIP. Founded by Chef JJ Johnson, a James Beard Award Recipient, and Harlem local, FIELDTRIP highlights rice traditions from around the world with globally-inspired flavors and techniques  Part of their mission is giving back directly to the community with their main focus on feeding the community’s youth. Partnering with Madison Boys and Girls Club as well as Head Start North Bronx they bring reliable healthy meals to the community’s youngest mouths.
Along the way we will meet Simone of Green and Blue Eco Care for a deeper look at the green spaces in East Harlem. Simone is a tree steward who uses her vast knowledge to clean up and green up the community. Her efforts began as “guerilla gardening” and now she works in coordination with the parks department to maintain tree pits, plant new street trees, and maintain a pollinator garden. She facilitates a street-clean up as we make our way through East Harlem.
No tour would be complete without an expert tour guide to bring the destination to life. You will be led through the historic and cultural past and present of Harlem with the one and only Lady Altovise! Altovise has over 20 years of experience guiding in NYC, and has called Harlem home since she first moved to the city. “I was drawn to Harlem in the 6th grade… we had to learn a Langston Hughes poem. Mine was ” Mother to Son”. Little did I know my family had been quoting this poem all of my life!”
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Altovise has over 20 years of experience guiding in NYC, and has called Harlem home since she first moved to the city. Altovise has a crafty and creative way of combining history, sports, the Arts, cuisine, architecture, fashion, nature and pop culture which enables her to zero in on each of her client’s specific areas of interest. A quintessential Southern Belle from Chattanooga, TN her personality shines. She graduated from these illustrious halls of Brainerd High, in the super class of 92. She proudly takes a BIG bite out of the BIG Apple on a daily basis! She holds a BS degree in Speech Communications with an emphasis in Theatre & Voice from her beloved Tennessee State University, where she is the current President of the Alumni Association for New York, New Jersey and Connecticut Chapters.
She made history by becoming the first person to ever earn a Minor Degree from TSU’s celebrated Dance Department under the direction of the one and only, Judy F. Gentry. After graduating TSU, she attended the prestigious American Musical and Dramatic Academy (AMDA) on Broadway in NYC. She is a member of the Actor’s Equity Association. On a weekly basis, she can be found hosting fundraisers directly benefiting scholars from the Tri-State Metro NY Area attending prestigious Historically Black Colleges and Universities all across in the United States of America.
When she’s not guiding with Like A Local, you can find her sharing her passion for the neighborhood on her “History of Gospel Music in Harlem Tour”.
When asked what she is most excited to share with guests on the Sustainable Harlem Social Impact Experience she replied, “The one place I MUST show people on my tour is the African Drum Circle. The one thing I want folks to understand about Harlem is the African Drummers circle. Why… you simply MUST take the tour to find out. There’s no other way to explain it.”
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The Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture is a research library of the New York Public Library located in Harlem, New York City. It focuses on preserving materials related to African American, African Diaspora, and African experiences, and serves as a leading institution for the study of Black history and culture. The center’s collections include books, manuscripts, photographs, art, and other items that document the experiences of people of African descent.
The Schomburg Center is unique in several ways:
- Focus on Black Culture: The center is dedicated to preserving and promoting the rich cultural heritage of people of African descent, making it a valuable resource for scholars and researchers of Black history and culture.
- Extensive Collections: The center holds one of the largest and most comprehensive collections of materials related to the African American experience, including books, manuscripts, photographs, art, and other items.
- Interdisciplinary Approach: The center takes an interdisciplinary approach to its collections and programs, encouraging cross-disciplinary exploration and research.
- National and International Reach: The Schomburg Center is widely recognized as a leading institution for the study of Black history and culture and attracts scholars and researchers from across the United States and around the world.
- Community Engagement: The center also plays an active role in the local community, offering educational programs, exhibitions, and other events that promote a deeper understanding of Black history and culture.
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The New York Fair Trade Coalition (NYFTC) is a non-profit organization that promotes fair trade practices in New York state. The organization’s mission is to raise awareness of fair trade and to increase the availability of fair trade products in the state. Fair trade is an economic system that prioritizes the welfare of workers, communities, and the environment over maximizing profits. Through education, advocacy, and outreach, the NYFTC works to support the growth of the fair trade movement and to encourage the adoption of fair trade practices by businesses, consumers, and policymakers.
Swap, Pop, & Drop-In. The NYC Fair Trade Coalition Sustainable Fashion Community Center(SFCC) in East Harlem hosts clothing swaps, in-person/virtual workshops, and member-led sales events. Stopping by the SFCC gives you a chance to clean out your closet and pick up new to you threads. Whether you are new to the sustainable fashion game or a seasoned conscious shopper there is something for everyone at the Sustainable Fashion Community Center.
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There is a 10% non-refundable cancellation fee for holding the tour guide and the tour date. The balance of the tour is fully refundable up to 14 days prior to the tour date.