Recreate the Most Requested Walking Tour of 1840s New York

12 Reviews 4.83 out of 5 stars Based on 12 reviews collected by Cool New York City and TripAdvisor | New York City, USA

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This is usually booked 28 (0) days in advance.

2 to 3 hours (Approx.)
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Overview

This 2.5-hour walking tour meets at the Public Theater in Astor Place, across from Colonnade Row and what was the highest end residential block in the country in the 1830s, the resides of Astors, Delanos and Roosevelts. We end at the Civic Center, and the old Five Points neighborhood of "Gangs of New York" notoriety.

Going from the upper class residential precinct of today's Astor Place to the gang-infested slums of the Five Points was a typical request of visitors in the 1830s and 40s. That walk down Broadway would have taken them through a part of town that would, in the 1850s, break out as the new fashionable city center, what we now call SoHo. This part of Broadway was once a tether between the locales of these social extremes. In making that walk again, we decode and deconstruct the streetwalls of NoHo and SoHo to reveal the forces at work in the architectural creation of New York City.

What's Included

  • Professional guide
  • Gratuities

Meeting Location

Meeting point

The Public Theater, 425 Lafayette St, New York, NY 10003, USA

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We meet inside the Public Theater, New York's first public library. (Bathrooms are available)

End point

169 Worth St, New York, NY 10013, USA

Start Times

What To Expect

The Public Theater

We start at the ruins of Colonnade Row, the early 1830s residence in the country's elite. We will lay the groundwork of history and the forces that passed through a landmark location of many histories. What's most to be appreciated is the high ground setting of once was a pleasure garden when "the city" was far downtown.
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15 minutes • Admission Ticket Free

Noho

We walk down Broadway and decode the streetscape making sense of history through the buildings, noticing their styles, and sizes, and how they may have been adapted (and re-adapted) for re-use. Images from the past show the evolution of the SoHo section of Broadway. What went on before the fashionable shops and the artists gallery before them? Who were the people who walked the sidewalks?
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15 minutes • Admission Ticket Free

Bayard–Condict Building

We stop to appreciate Louis Sullivan's only building in the city, and learn its role in the evolution of the skyscraper style.
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5 minutes • Admission Ticket Free

SoHo (Pass By)

At Houston Street and Broadway the ancient geography makes it apparent in the asphalt why the grid began here. It was an early site of St. Thomas Episcopal Church, and an upper class residential neighborhood.The tour continues through SoHo, a name place only since the 1950s, which begs the question, how did people refer to this part of town at different times in the past?We go down Broadway with explanations, descriptions, and images that deconstruct of the streetscape and reveal the brick-and-mortar history of New York City.
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Canal Street (Pass By)

The walk down to Canal Street is a roster of social and retail history, with stories and characters from a by-gone era.
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Foley Square

Today's Civic Center was a lake, the shore of which had been the African Burial Ground through much of the British colonial period. The lake would be filled in, and along its old shoreline would develop The Five Points, the most notorious slum in New York City history.
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5 minutes • Admission Ticket Free

Columbus Park

The tour ends at the location of The Five Points, now 500 Pearl Street. From the high historical social standing of the beginning of the tour, we end where the most long-lived desperate and deplorable living conditions once existed, from the Irish (and The Five Points), through the tenements of Mulberry Bend, the area is now at the border of the Court District and Chinatown.
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10 minutes • Admission Ticket Free

Show 5 more stops

Additional Info

  • Confirmation is instant and will be received at time of booking
  • Service animals allowed
  • Public transportation options are available nearby
  • Not recommended for travelers with spinal injuries
  • Travelers should have at least a moderate level of physical fitness

Cancellation Policy

You can cancel up to 24 hours in advance of the tour for a full refund.

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Activity code: C-44899P2

Traveler Photos

Reviews

4.83
12 reviews

Average 4.83 out of 5 stars based on 12 traveler reviews collected by Cool New York City and partner sites such as Cool Destinations and TripAdvisor

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Cancellation Policy

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Free cancellation
100% refund
No refund

You can cancel up to 24 hours in advance of the tour for a full refund.

  • For a full refund, you must cancel at least 24 hours before the tour start time.
  • If you cancel less than 24 hours before the tour start time, the amount you paid will not be refunded.
  • Any changes made less than 24 hours before the tour start time will not be accepted.
  • Cut-off times are based on the tour local time (EDT).
  • This tour requires good weather. If it’s canceled due to poor weather, you’ll be offered a different date or a full refund.
  • This tour requires a minimum number of travelers. If it’s canceled because the minimum isn’t met, you’ll be offered a different date/experience or a full refund.

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