Recreate the Most Requested Walking Tour of 1840s New York
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.
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What's included in Recreate the Most Requested Walking Tour of 1840s New York
(Subject to Option Inclusions)Itinerary
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.
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?
We stop to appreciate Louis Sullivan's only building in the city, and learn its role in the evolution of the skyscraper style.
Inclusions
- Professional guide
- Gratuities
- 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
Meet
Pickup and Dropoff
You will make your own way to the meeting points
Meeting Points
- We meet inside the Public Theater, New York's first public library. (Bathrooms are available)
Redeem
Ticket Redemption
• Comfortable walking shoes are recommended