The issue is not only spreading out, but also walking extremely slowly or remaining stationary and end up obstructing the flow of traffic on a given busy sidewalk/pathway. This can be especially bad in parts of midtown when people are going about their daily business.
And trust me, it really pisses off native NYC residents going about our daily business…especially if we’re doing so for work related matters.
I don’t think it’s asking tour groups or tourists too much to step to the side or somehow leave room so the flow of traffic on a given sidewalk/pathway is unobstructed for everyone else.
Especially considering it’s only a minority of tourists/tour groups who are clueless and inconsiderate of others when touring a city with a large population of residents who use the sidewalks/pathways to get around during the day.
And these days when everyone has a smartphone and thinks that they are on a photoshoot. Nope, sorry, I will not walk around while you spend 5 minutes setting up your shot - I have to get to class.
doschicos, lovely idea. It would be great if the groups were smaller. There’d be less spread out, people wouldn’t have to try to fight to the front. From the groups I’ve seen, it looks like about 25 to 40 people.
This thread made me remember the parent at ihuhuihthe WPI Tour who appropriated my seat when I got up to grab a plate at the buffet. Lake Jr. and my nephew were aghast but silent. I was royally annoyed but kept calm. LOL.
Why didn’t Lake Jr. say “Excuse me that’s my mother’s seat?”
I agree with others if the tour behavior is bothering you the best thing to do is to take it up with the admissions office. The tour guides can certain ask people to leave room on the sidewalks and make sure they stop in places were the crowds will be less in the way. I seem to remember tour guides in some of the schools we visited doing just that, though I’m afraid it’s a bit like herding cats - not that easy.
Any harassment should not be tolerated, but the rest is much ado about nothing, IMHO. As a native New Yorker and a current urban resident in the neighborhood of a university, I to,experience the variety of pedestrian behaviors as insuperable forces,of nature, and go with the flow. Otherwise you can drive yourself crazy. Just like defensive driving, defensive walking is the way to go.
No one seems to be taking into account the fact that herd behavior is quite different from individual behavior. Biologists know this.
Accordingly, we hope that the herd leaders (the tour guides) get at least a modicum of instruction in guiding their herds.
I mentioned this to my kiddo who did tours at her school. She said the tour guides ARE trained to stop on,y in areas where there is actually a good place for them to stop. But the people do need to walk from point to point.
She never had an issue with any student harassment, but if she had, she had a walkie talkie and a cell phone with her. She says she would have called someone in admissions and asked for the person to be removed if this happened more than once.
Well yeah Thumper. Tell that to that to the RPI tour guide who talked fast and walked twice as fast as he talked…BACKWARDS, during our tour. We asked him to slow down, he ignored us and kept on racing…BACKWARDS!
@LakeWashington I never said every tour guide was terrific. I just pointed out what my kid said she would do IF a member of her tour was harassing students while on the tour.
Yes, people in groups act differently. I remember a guy who ran seminars that required that people move from one spot to another and he would hire ‘human pointers’ stationed along the way. ‘Stop down, step down’ and point or people going in a group from one spot to another would just fall down. Basically they have to be told where to stand and move.