Want to take a tour of New York City with us? The Flyy Girls series by Ashley Woodfolk centers on four girls who attend an arts high school in Harlem, New York. Each of the Flyy Girls—Lux, Micah, Noelle, and Tobyn—have a unique story that’s deftly woven into the tapestry of New York City. The books take place mainly in Manhattan and Brooklyn, two of NYC’s five boroughs, and what better way to get to know the Flyy Girls better than to visit the places that are important to them? So kick back with us and take a ride on the subway as we follow the Flyy Girls across New York!

Harlem

In Lux: the New Girl, Lux switches high schools (in the middle of her junior year, no less) to Augusta Savage School of the Arts, a performing arts school in East Harlem. Although the school is fictional, it does draw some inspiration from the real-life Harlem School of the Arts. It’s at Augusta Savage where Lux meets and eventually befriends Micah, Noelle, and Tobyn and becomes the newest member of the Flyy Girls.

Harlem Subway Station

If you’ve ever been to New York, you’ll know the subway is the main arm of NYC’s public transit system. All of the Flyy Girls take the subway to get wherever they need to go, especially Lux since she commutes to school from Lower Manhattan (where she lives with her dad and his new wife and baby daughter) into Harlem (where Augusta Savage is located). The 125th St ABCD stop is one of the main subway hubs in Harlem.

Street graffiti

Micah: The Good Girl is an empowering story about mental health and grief, as Micah struggles to cope with the loss of her older brother Milo, who passed away after getting into a biking accident almost a year ago.. Micah and Milo are both artists, and Micah finds Milo’s sketchbook which has a number of graffiti designs. Graffiti is a fixture of New York City’s street art scene, and seeing Milo’s graffiti sketches allows Micah to understand who her brother truly was and gain inspiration from his work.

Central Park Reservoir

Central Park is probably the most well-known public park in Manhattan. In Book 1 of the series, Lux and Micah go through an intense photography class together. At an art show, Micah displays a photo collage that she made with photos of different NYC sites, including the Central Park Reservoir—the huge lake at the center of Central Park. Fun fact: the reservoir spans 106 acres and is 40 feet deep!

Fort Greene Park

Another of the photos in Micah’s photo collage is from Brooklyn. Micah includes a photo that she took from the top of the stairs at the highest point in Fort Greene Park. Another fun fact: Brooklyn has over 60 parks throughout the borough, while Manhattan has over 100 parks.

Central Park North Subway Station

We’re hopping on the subway back into Manhattan to visit our next Flyy Girls location! In Tobyn: The It Girl, Tobyn furthers her love for singing by auditioning for a band called Maybe Someday (which is an AWESOME band name, if we do say so ourselves). The first round of auditions are open to everyone, as each contestant must upload a video of their performance to social media. Tobyn decides to film her audition video at the Central Park North subway station on the crowded platform, and it becomes a can’t-miss public performance because she draws the attention of a bunch of people waiting for their trains who can’t help but to dance along. The video also gets over 100,000 views in just a few days, so not too shabby, Tobyn!

Lincoln Center

Tobyn is also part of Augusta Savage’s a cappella group, the Harlem High Notes. They enter a citywide a cappella competition at Lincoln Center performing and competing against a cappella groups from across the city. Tobyn has a solo as part of the High Notes’ set list, and though we won’t spoil what the results of the competition were, we can’t think of a better place to have a music competition than Lincoln Center.

Manhattan School of Music

Speaking of more music, Tobyn isn’t the only musically inclined member of the Flyy Girls—they all go to a performing arts school, after all! Noelle: The Mean Girl focuses on Noelle, who plays the cello and is in orchestra. At her solo cello showcase performance, Noelle happens to meet a scout from the Manhattan School of Music, which soon becomes her dream college that she decides to apply to. Even better, the Manhattan School of Music (it’s a real school, by the way!) is also located in Harlem, so it won’t take Noelle too far from home.

Chinatown

Noelle’s grandparents on her dad’s side are Chinese, and they own Lee’s Dumplings, a fictional restaurant in Manhattan’s Chinatown. Although her parents initially don’t want her to work at her grandparents’ restaurant, Noelle starts picking up work shifts at Lee’s to help out her parents with their family’s bills. There are so many great food options in Chinatown that it’s hard to go wrong there—evinced by the fact that immediately after this photo was taken, our photographer stopped for a dim sim lunch.

Micah’s Apartment Rooftop

What better way to end our tour of New York than with a sunset? The rooftop of Micah’s apartment building in East Harlem becomes the Flyy Girls’ favorite hangout spot, particularly during golden hour—the final hour of the day before sunset, when the colors are vibrant and the sky is streaked with the last embers of sunlight. The Flyy Girls built their reputation at school by “flying” under the radar even as they pull off increasingly complicated pranks at their school, and many a prank scheme is born on Micah’s rooftop.

And honestly, when you see how those golden hour colors bring the Manhattan skyline to life, what better place is there to be creative?

Want to get to know the Flyy Girls more? Check out author Ashley Woodfolk’s playlist for what Lux and Micah would listen to!