Its not the tours that are illegal in N.Y. it’s the taking of pictures of the slums.
I hope you're not serious!
But that reminds me of the heart attacks I gave a French family when I returned home from a sightseeing walk through a neighborhood not far from La Sorbonne, with my trusted camera, firing away for about 3 hours, puzzled by the Hate America-hate Nixon graffiti everywhere.
It was the koranimal district in Paris at the time (early 70s.)
I should get me a tee shirt that says, "I survived...etc"