Luxury buildings in NYC offer renters excursions for adults

On By Pranco

Even long after COVID-19 ends, New Yorkers may still find it difficult to get along in real life, even with their apartment neighbors.

Now the city’s hottest offering of luxury accommodations has residents venturing out of their buildings to meet new friends. These off-property experiences are called excursions, tours and resident events and are becoming the newest benefit of living in a luxury building. They invite residents to participate in wine tastings, apple picking, sailing and even restaurant hopping – all with their building companions in tow.

The Brodsky Organization, a developer with more than 50 residential buildings in New York, is just one local name offering these tours.

The Brodsky Organization is just one developer offering these benefits to residents, with services available at projects like Brooklyn Crossing. VMI
Brodsky has offered tours of Pennings Orchard across the state to kick off fall. Courtesy of the Brodsky Organization

It debuted these outings last fall in partnership with outdoor activities company Sourced Adventures. The kick-off was a day-long trip to Pennings Orchard in Warwick to pick apples and pumpkins.

Joe Porritt, Brodsky’s director of leasing and marketing, says the developer arranged round-trip transportation in motor coaches at two different pickup points in the city. The cost was $70 per person – a significant discount from Sourced Adventure’s listed price of over $115.

Porritt says the excursion sold out almost immediately. Since then, Brodsky has offered two more: a tour of the North Fork during the summer that visited three wineries, including lunch and more than a dozen tastings. Last fall there was also another trip to Pennings Orchard. Both were also sold out.

“The goal of these trips is to create a community for our residents that you don’t get as good of a sense of with the amenities in the buildings,” Porritt told The Post. “The residents on these trips are there because they want to be social.”

Case in point: Fannie Santana, a teacher who lives in Brodsky’s Brooklyn Crossing project, signed up for the winery outing to connect with her neighbors.

The scene of a Brodsky trip to a Raphael vineyard in Peconic in early June. Courtesy of the Brodsky Organization

“I live in a diverse building with neighbors from different backgrounds, and I wanted to get to know them,” she said. “Anyone in New York can sit with their heads down. The trip was perfect because I already wanted to visit the wineries.”

Santana also accompanied her daughter to the Pennings Orchard trip and says it fostered a sense of connection that could easily be lost in her 51-story building.

“I would definitely do it again,” she said.

Gotham Organization offers sailing trips through the city, for example for residents of The Suffolk. Courtesy of the Gotham Organization
The Suffolk sailing tour offers views of the Manhattan Financial District skyline. Courtesy of the Gotham Organization
Gotham West residents could experience wine tasting on the North Fork during the warmer months. Courtesy of the Gotham Organization
Tenants of The Ashland also got a North Fork tour – and met each other along the way. Courtesy of the Gotham Organization
Meanwhile, residents of Gotham Point visited the Brooklyn Grange. Courtesy of the Gotham Organization

The Gotham Organization’s One Park Point in Brooklyn’s Windsor Terrace neighborhood, and Maven in Mott Haven in the South Bronx, are other properties that host these adult excursions.

They include sailboat tours of Manhattan, rooftop concerts and tubing on the Delaware River – an adventure capped off with a riverside lunch and a brewery visit.

The company’s marketing director, Natasha Mazeau, says the off-property forays are tailor-made for each building – and are always at full capacity.

“They have become a cornerstone for us,” she said.

Dianette Caraballo, who rents Gotham’s The Suffolk on the Lower East Side and works as a data analyst, attended the sailing option and also took a historical walking tour of her neighborhood. If given the chance, she said she would “definitely” sign up for more.

“The tour was great,” she said. “It made me realize how rich the neighborhood is.”

The Suffolk certainly has a chic outdoor lounge, but residents also want more active ways to meet other residents. Chris Cooper
Historical tours of the Lower East Side, where The Suffolk is located, are also available to renters. Chris Cooper
Maven in The Bronx offers culinary-focused tours for residents. RXR
Building tenants will receive free access to ‘Taste of Mott Haven’, a tour of the area past three restaurants, where the developer will provide an aperitif and cocktail at each. Flavor of Mott Haven
The next event will take place on November 12. Flavor of Mott Haven

One Park Point, located directly on Prospect Park, partners with Prospect Park Stables to organize horseback riding tours throughout the park on the park’s trails. Bobby Dweck, director of Focus Property Group, the building’s developer, says the excursions have been so well received that they plan to expand them in the new year to include scavenger hunts, sleigh rides and a running club for adults and teens.

Food was the focus at Maven in The Bronx for “Taste of Mott Haven,” a culinary adventure through the neighborhood. Organized by Tony Billops, a former employee of the Bronx Chamber of Commerce, an occasional event invites residents to visit three restaurants per evening and enjoy an appetizer and cocktail at each, paid for by developer RXR. The next one is on November 20th.

Deepti Mittal of Douglas Elliman attributes the recent increase in these excursions to high rental costs, which continue to rise. In September, the average asking rent in New York City was $3,419, according to MLS data, up 2.7% year over year.

“Excursions are a nice extra if you live in a building,” she says. “Given how expensive renting is, people are shopping around more than they normally would before making a decision. Instead of lowering the price, developers try to stay competitive by offering you more benefits.”