Beginning in 1624, the Dutch West India Company transformed an edge of Manhattan wilderness into the colonial trading post of New Amsterdam. They controlled Manhattan for only 40 years, until 1664, when the British took over. And yet the Dutch influence set the character of New York for the next 400 years, particularly in its […]
The first Jewish immigrants to Manhattan arrived in 1654, during Dutch colonial times. The small group of 23 men, women, & children were allowed to stay, but with considerable restrictions. Their immediate concern was how to earn a living when many occupations were closed to them. During the Dutch and British periods, groups of Jews […]
Alexander Hamilton immigrated to British Colonial New York as a young, orphaned nobody, but quickly rose to be an influential player in the Revolutionary War and the founding of the United States of America. On the southern tip of Manhattan, Hamilton lived, studied, worked, and served to create a financially robust nation in good standing […]
Walking tour. Experience the story of a new founding figure for America named Liss - and see New York City in a whole new way. You'll learn about the life of an enslaved Black woman seeking her freedom in a country fighting for its own, while traveling through the very streets where she walked during […]
Walking tour. Just east of today’s City Hall and Municipal Building, this was once was a foul-smelling, disease-ridden district. Brought to life in the movie Gangs of New York, it was a place of violence, gang wars, poverty, and corruption. The district evokes such places of notoriety as Paradise Square, Cow Bay, and Bottle Alley, […]
Uncover the layers of New York’s past in this fast-moving, team-based hunt through the city’s oldest neighborhood. Teams will compete to solve a series of location-based clues and puzzles, leading them to landmarks tied to more than 400 years of history. Players will race through the narrow streets of Lower Manhattan to discover sites like […]
Replacing deserted piers along Lower Manhattan’s Hudson River shoreline, Battery Park City has emerged as a remarkable living space. Its 92 acres of landfill were developed by the Battery Park City Authority, an innovative group of public and private advocates. The secret of Battery Park City’s success is its integration of public amenities and private […]
Explore The Battery with the landscape architects who have helped shape it for nearly three decades. Learn about how The Battery’s location at the tip of Manhattan destined it to become the birthplace of country’s first corporate headquarters — for the Dutch West India Company — and how this strategically located open space has continuously […]
As the U.S. approaches its 250th birthday of the Declaration of Independence, we will walk Wall Street to recall its colonial history, recap its role as the banking center of capitalism, and observe its recent rise of a reinvented residential neighborhood. Skyscraper Museum director Carol WIllis will lead a 90-minute walking tour that meets in […]
Gotham Park is a grass-roots community effort reimagining how spaces under the iconic Brooklyn Bridge in Manhattan can become a new type of urban community park that nurtures connection, curiosity, wonder, and resilience. The bridge is a sleeping giant, a landmark recognized the world over, but it lands in a fenced-off, dark, underutilized parking lot. […]
90-minute walking tour that will take you on a winding journey that unravels the darker past of the South Street Seaport Historic District and Lower Manhattan.
Special sail on the historic Pioneer with Noah S. Chesnin, director of policy and outreach for the New York Seascape Program at the New York Aquarium. Cruise through New York […]