Walk smart, not hard: The best of Jane's Walk 2026

One of the best things about being a New Yorker is discovering something new about the city’s neighborhoods while getting a good walk in.

And what better way to learn about a mysterious building’s unusual origins, explore a thriving urban ecosystem, or get a close-up look at the dramas behind an area’s transformation than through a Jane’s Walk?

We’re longtime fans of Jane’s Walk here at The Groove, but for the uninitiated: The Municipal Arts Society’s annual festival of free community-led walking tours is returning on May 1-3. The event is inspired by (and, obviously, named after) New York’s iconic walkable neighborhoods activist (and noted Robert Moses nemesis) Jane Jacobs. Each tour is led by a volunteer, often an expert in their field, and lasts about two to three hours. Registration is currently open here, although with more than 7,000 people expected to participate, some walks may fill up.

Municipal Arts Society president Keri Butler, whose nonprofit has run the New York iteration since 2011, always feels humbled by the passion New Yorkers have for their communities and their willingness to share their neighborhood’s secrets with others.

“Jane’s Walks gets people out and meeting each other. It’s important for our social cohesion,” she said. “We’re so segregated on our phones and computers all the time, and the benefit of these tours is that you can share stories and meet each other in person.” 

There are so many intriguing excursions during the three-day celebration that you almost certainly will get FOMOW (fear of missing out on walks). We at New York Groove picked out a few highlights, but definitely toggle through the Jane’s Walk map to discover what’s happening in your hood and beyond.

Following famous residents

New York has been a haven for celebrities ever since Alexander Hamilton roamed Lower Manhattan to tipple on wine and coffee. But each bold-faced name loved the city in their own way. 

Uptown, curators with the Jackie Robinson Museum will explore the groundbreaking athlete’s longtime engagement with Harlem and relationship with Malcom X and Adam Clayton Powell Jr (plus, Jackie Robinson Day was just yesterday).

Romcom fans will be able to see the Upper West Side through Nora Ephron’s eyes by tracing her filming locations, homes, and places where she fell in love. 

Even fictional stars will get their due. Swing into Spider-Man’s world with a tour of Peter Parker’s presumably rent-stabilized apartment buildings in Sunnyside and as well as several locations in the latest Marvel trilogy.

Or step into Colson Whitehead’s monumental Harlem Trilogy with a visit through 25 years of Ray Carney’s Harlem (apparently the Pulitzer Prize-winning author has been known to join in unannounced). 

The past, and future, of transportation

You may not realize it but the city’s transit network is in the midst of its largest expansion in a century. 

Two tours on May 3 explore how transformative new subway lines would be to the city’s outer borough neighborhoods. Activists with Queenslink are leading a 3.5-mile walk along an abandoned rail line that they want to restore with subway service between Queens Center Mall and the Rockaways, with trails on either side. Then, Regional Plan Association leaders will take participants along a one-mile portion of the proposed Interborough Express light rail line that will eventually provide rail service to 900,000 people along the Bensonhurst-Borough Park border.  

Those who would prefer to navigate neighborhoods on two wheels have many rides to choose from this year, as well. 

On the afternoon of May 1 riders can explore the history of one of New York’s newest parks, Shirley Chisholm State Park in Brooklyn. Later that evening, there’s a seven-mile sunset jaunt through some of the Bronx’s most picturesque bike paths. On Saturday morning, May 2, cyclists can learn about the birth of the electric grid from a Con Edison executive. Then later that afternoon, hop onto The Power Biker, the aptly named visual tour of Robert Moses’s effect on city playgrounds, parks, housing and highways.

If you want to visit the subway without leaving your apartment, there’s even a virtual tour for you. Tina Vaz, head of the MTA’s arts and design office, is conducting an online speaker series, Art Everywhere for Everyone: Inside the MTA’s Public Art Program, delving into how the transit agency commissions artworks for its stations. 

Development and the environment

Since this is a Jane Jacobs-themed festival, expect plenty of conversations around the lasting effects of redevelopment.

Over the past two decades, many of the city’s most controversial neighborhood rezonings have been in Brooklyn. If you want to know why there are so many skyscrapers around the Barclays Center or how the arena came to exist, get up to speed on the unresolved megaproject of Atlantic Yards with journalist Norman Oder. Learn about the transition of Brooklyn’s industrial waterfront by exploring the Gowanus Canal with photographer Ines Leong, and Sunset Park’s Bush Terminal with Turnstile Tours’s Andrew Gustafson and Carinn Candelaria.

Don’t sleep on Flushing, Queens, a neighborhood that has experienced rapid upheaval in recent years. On May 1, explore some of the city’s oldest colonial-era structures ahead of the nation’s 250th birthday. Stay in the area for a Socio-ecological Sunset Tour that examines how developers will reshape 150 acres around Willets Point and Flushing Bay. On Saturday morning, head to Flushing Meadows-Corona Park to see how architects are restoring long-buried wetlands to the area. Then stick around for a tour of the landmarks from the city’s 1964-65 World’s Fair. 

Chebureki, mushrooms and the toilet

After all that walking, you might find yourself famished.

Rego Park, Queens welcomes you with chewy chebureki, mouthwatering manti, and succulent samsa on an Uzbek kosher walking tour (bring cash). Or you can learn how to cultivate your own mushrooms with the New York Restoration Project’s urban agriculture team at their uptown teaching garden.

And when you need a place to relieve yourself, look no further than Access for All: A Walk Through Long Island City’s Public Bathrooms, led by Purpose by Design Architects’ Julie Chou. Come thirsty. Stay hydrated. Leave refreshed.