For those who research and present

Dear Council Member,

I am a licensed New York City Sightseeing Guide, active in the summers with Gray Line, since 2004. I entered the job because of the schedule flexibility, hefty sums of money to save on summer breaks, and most importantly, the leadership and presentation skills to be developed-- A common idea that has attracted my college level colleagues.

I followed my older sister's steps and I have encouraged my younger sister to do the same. Just one summer under her belt and she has made great improvement in her research and presentations skills. Her experience has helped her shed her shyness, boost her confidence, leadership and interaction at her college; a change made well aware in her grades and involvement in extracurricular activities.

I am contacting you today, not only to try to salvage this rare job, that is easy to acquire and learn so much from, by students who lack the comfort of a well connected family. I beseech you to consider the customers that we serve, they, who use the double-deck buses, again and again, as transportation to their point of interest. Without a human to make the same trails interesting, will you allow them to become restless and bored with the same drone on message?

What of these tourists safety? I am happy to inform that along with my charismatic character and the information I impart, I have kept many a tourist from getting banged on their heads thanks to my watchful eyes to any over excited movements that they are bound to make.

Please, also considered the advance-aged tour guide, who is retired, not wanted elsewhere, but in this job can feel fulfilled by sharing stories and spending time with people. Can you take this well earned comfort away from them?

On your shoulder lies so much more than the supposedly “damaging” noise level complaints of some New Yorkers; on there, extremely heavily, lei the livelihood of many employees—some starting the real world, other retiring from it.
I hope my words have a profound effect in your decision.

Regards,
W.S.

P.s. From the very beginning of our great metropolitan city, noise, smell, character and architecture has been immortalized in written, sound and video recorded forms. I haven’t traveled much, yet, I know that few places on earth can keep my hearing sense as active as New York City does. I love the flow of live out my window, and the intricate sounds that surround me, every time I step outside.