Booking fee
The booking fee includes the costs of booking your tickets such as charges for payment processing. It also covers the provision of our customer care center for processing your order, and all charges imposed by our suppliers.
* This tour requires at least one of the following per booking: Adult, Senior
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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Professional guide
Gratuities
Departure Point
425 Lafayette St, New York, NY 10003, USA
We meet inside the Public Theater, New York's first public library. (Bathrooms are available)
The Public Theater, New York City, New York, United States 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. 15 minutes
Noho, New York City, New York, United States 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? 15 minutes
65 Bleecker St, New York, NY 10012, USA We stop to appreciate Louis Sullivan's only building in the city, and learn its role in the evolution of the skyscraper style. 5 minutes
SoHo, New York City, New York, United States 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.
Canal Street, New York City, New York, United States The walk down to Canal Street is a roster of social and retail history, with stories and characters from a by-gone era.
Foley Square, New York City, New York, United States 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. 5 minutes
Columbus Park, New York City, New York, United States 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. 10 minutes
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
You can cancel up to 24 hours in advance of the experience for a full refund.
For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.
If you cancel less than 24 hours before the experience’s start time, the amount you paid will not be refunded.
Any changes made less than 24 hours before the experience’s start time will not be accepted.
Cut-off times are based on the experience’s local time.
This experience requires good weather. If it’s canceled due to poor weather, you’ll be offered a different date or a full refund.
This experience 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.
christin367
29 Sep 2019
I Was impressed with the tour guide’s knowledge and love for his city. Would definitely take another tour of his.
Elizabeth_W
19 Jul 2019
Robert was a wonderful guide! Very knowledgeable and fun to be with! We learned so much history on the tour and can’t wait to book him again the next time we are in NY.
GUTS
17 Nov 2017
My wife and I very much enjoyed our 1840's NY tour. The history, the architecture, the neighbors, all made for a fascinating morning!. Further, our guide was fabulous, with his detail, knowledge, and caring that we enjoyed our tour
This tour in
New York City
is organized by
Manhattan Unlocked Historical and Archit
We always double-check the availability with our local partners for each booking. Even though this is usually a swift process, it can take up to 24 hours. Once this process is completed you will receive your voucher or ticket by email. If our local partner is not able to confirm your booking we will offer you the best possible alternative. If the new date and/or time doesn’t fit your itinerary, we will reimburse the full amount paid.
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