Ibrahima

Ibrahima

Brooklyn Bridge Enthusiast, Tour Guide, Marathon Runner

“Part of why I became a tour guide was to give back to the city. To share the beauty I saw and the love that grew. Passion is not something you can fake. If you love the city, sharing it is easy. People will never remember what you say. They will remember how you make them feel. Every tour is a poem.”

“ I was walking the streets. I was noticed, but I wasn’t the center of attention. I felt that I fit in.You’re not awkward. You’re not weird. You’re home”. That’s what this city does. And it has room for all of us. “It doesn’t matter where you’re from or what you believe. New York is the city for everyone.”

“The first couple of years was hard. I had a lot of jobs that didn’t pay well in the beginning and the language was a big barriere. There was still no doubt in my mind that I could make it in NYC. It was more a matter of when.”

“I wanted to have a story like the people in the movies. The feeling of wanting to achieve greater and better was present. If you say you achieved something in New York it sounds different than any other place.”

“When you see me, you don’t expect the best. I have to start from the beginning. I have to be ready. People say ‘Hey, he’s African, young and has an accent. That’s not your idea of a tour guide is it? In the beginning I had to be able to stand in front of judgment and assumptions when they knew I was going to be their tour guide.”

“When time and emotions allow it, I make it a duty to explain people that September 11 was not a movie. Kids especially need to understand that it is up to them to make their world a better world and never forgetting about that day.”

“When you talk about pizza in NYC you got to talk about Grimaldi’s, Patsy’s and Lombardi’s. These are classic old NYC pizza’s. I took a group of people to a different pizza place in Williamsburg today. Anna Maria. I would usually not tell anyone about that place, cause it’s not touristy. It’s an amazing pizza slice place. Cash only.”

“You want me to tell you something I don’t like about New York? You’re asking the wrong person. I probably don’t like that there is only one New York in the world.”

“Don’t act like you didn’t notice there is a line. Just join the queue!!

Favorite neighborhood? Cypress Hills. It is where I lived for the past decade.

Favorite street to stroll? Broadway, 42nd Street and Bedford Avenue in Brooklyn.

Favorite restaurant in town? Le Baobab

Favorite bar? Ides, the rooftop at Wythe Hotel is an old cooperage transformed into a hotel.

Hidden gem? Delightful pastries at Les Ambassades in Harlem.

How to be(come) a New Yorker? Be tolerant to other cultures, it is why everyone blends in so easily.

Your New York soundtrack? Jamie Foxx — The City’s Yours

“ See, when you’re walking on that bridge you’re not walking, you’re flying You’re rich, you’re beautiful, you’re famous, ‘cos you own it You walk twelve feet above the road, five meters above the cars, You’re not walking, you’re flying It is the only place where you can be and see A plane fly above a bird A bird fly above a person A person walk above a car A car roll above a boat The boat above the subway There is no place like the Brooklyn Bridge And it has two beautiful eyes Called the Gothic Arches I love the Brooklyn Bridge”