Downtown Manhattan Skyline and Waterfront
World Trade Center Site – Battery Park City – Battery Park
Tour Summary: Take an exciting journey through downtown Manhattan. Learn about a wide-range of historical and contemporary sites and topics including: Dutch New Amsterdam, the American Revolution, the World Trade Center, the great New York Port, the immigration experience, Battery Park City, urban farming, military fortifications, green buildings and the architecture of lower Manhattan.
During this informative and lively tour, you will also take in the spectacular views of the harbor and explore the parks, monuments, memorials and public art that dot the landscape.
Duration: 2 hours (approximate)
Tour Meeting Location: Outside 17 State Street by the bright orange Keith Haring sculpture. 17 State Street is across from Battery Park and just south of Pearl Street. Please see map at the bottom of this post for the exact location of where we will meet.
Subways: 1 to South Ferry, 4 and 5 to Bowling Green, and N and R to Whitehall.
Price: $15 per person
Contact: Email: nyctransported@gmail.com or call 917-226-6914
Tour leader: Doug Fox is a Manhattan native and a New York City tour guide. He has explored the far corners of the City by foot, bike and boat (read NYC Transported to view posts and pictures of his many urban adventures). Doug is passionate about New York and enjoys sharing his broad range of interests with visitors and locales alike.
Sites and topics we will visit and explore during this walking tour:
- Dutch New Amsterdam and the new Peter Minuit Plaza
- An innovative urban farming experiment that has just launched in Battery Park
- 1 World Trade Center (formally known as Freedom Tower) is already transforming the skyline and the National 9/11 Memorial and Museum will open on the upcoming 10th anniversary
- Battery Park City, a planned residential and business community built on landfill from the World Trade Center site, features a wonderful esplanade, green spaces, monuments and public art
- The Immigrant Experience: The Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island and Castle Clinton
- The growth and transformation of the New York port and harbor: From crowded finger piers that surrounded Manhattan to the massive container ships and terminals of today
- The Hudson River revitalized: A cleaner river has created new opportunities for water-based leisure, commercial and educational activities
- Eco-friendly architecture: New downtown residential and office buildings incorporate the most advanced green and sustainable features and designs
- American revolutionaries: Following the reading of the Declaration of Independence, New Yorkers stormed Bowling Green and toppled the equestrian statue of George III
- Military fortifications encircle New York Harbor: In anticipation of a British attack that never came, the US built a circle of forts on lower Manhattan and the surrounding islands just before the War of 1812
- The Alexander Hamilton Custom House and how duties from the prosperous New York port helped fund the federal government
Tour Meeting Location
We will meet by the bright orange Keith Haring sculpture just outside of:
17 State Street
New York, NY 10004
Here is a map that shows our meeting location:
View Walking Tour of Downtown Manhattan Waterfront in a larger map
