Landmarks and Places of Interest
In Upper New York Bay off the tip of Manhattan lie three small islands, each significant in the city's history. On Liberty Island stands the Statue of Liberty, a national monument and a symbol of the nation; it was donated by the people of France in 1885. Nearby Ellis Island was the main receiving center for immigrants entering the United States from 1892 until 1943. Governors Island, the largest and most easterly of the three islands, has been the site of harbor fortifications since 1776.
At the southern tip of Manhattan in Battery Park is Castle Clinton National Monument This round structure, completed in 1811, was originally built as a harbor fortification and named Fort Clinton. In 1824 it was converted to an entertainment center and renamed Castle Garden. From 1855 until 1890 it served as an immigrant landing depot, and from 1896 until 1941 as the city aquarium. Adjoining Bowling Green, where Peter Minuit reputedly bought Manhattan Island from the Algonquin Indians in 1626, stands the former U.S. Customs House. It presents a monumental facade of gray granite adorned with statuary, including Daniel Chester French's The Four Continents. Inside are murals by Reginald Marsh.
A few blocks east is Fraunces Tavern, built in 1719. Its Long Room was the scene of George Washington's farewell to his officers after the Revolutionary War in 1783. Skyscrapers of the financial district rise in the area around Wall Street. Located here are the New York Stock Exchange, the American Stock Exchange, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, and many of the nation's largest commercial banks.
At the west end of Wall Street stands Trinity Church, completed in 1846. It is one of the nation's outstanding examples of Gothic Revival architecture. In its churchyard are buried Alexander Hamilton, Robert Fulton, and other famous people. Also on Wall Street is Federal Hall National Memorial, site of Washington's inauguration as first President of the United States.
In the area northwest of Trinity Church is the site of the former World Trade Center, destroyed during terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001. A focal point of international trade and finance, it was completed in the early 1970's. The center's twin 110-story towers, which rose 1,350 feet (411 m), were the tallest in New York. Nearby is Battery Park City, a residential and commercial development. The World Financial Center, a complex where some of the world's largest financial-services companies have headquarters, is here. On Broadway is St. Paul's Chapel. Built in 1766, it is the city's oldest church. George Washington worshiped here, and his pew, with the Great Seal of the United States above it, is preserved. Farther north on Broadway are City Hall, seat of city government since 1811; the Civic Center; and the Woolworth Building, tallest in the world from 1913 until 1930.
In the vicinity of the Lower East Side is Chinatown. It is a small area, inhabited by Chinese for many generations, and known for its restaurants, shops, and Chinese New Year's celebrations. Running north from Chinatown is the Bowery, a street once wealthy but later a notorious skid row, with many missions, soup kitchens, and cheap hotels. Just west of the Bowery is the Old Merchant's House, a mansion of the 1830's preserved with its original furnishings.
At the north end of the Bowery stands Cooper Union, a college noted for its schools of engineering and art. Nearby is St. Mark's-in-the-Bowerie Church, built in 1795 on the site of Peter Stuyvesant's family chapel. In the cemetery are buried Stuyvesant and other prominent New Yorkers. A few blocks away, near Gramercy Park, is the birthplace and boyhood home of Theodore Roosevelt. It is a national historic site and contains many items relating to the President's career and travels.
Greenwich Village, lying west of Broad-way between Spring and 14th streets, is an area long associated with artists and bohemian life. Many of the streets are lined by coffee shops; restaurants; craft, curio, and antique shops; art galleries; "off-Broadway" theaters; and nightclubs. There are also quiet side streets with quaint old homes, many of them fashionably renovated. Among the village's most notable landmarks are Washington Arch, in Washington Square at the foot of Fifth Avenue, and Grace Church, built in 1846 in Gothic Revival style. East of Washington Square lies the East Village, an extension of Greenwich Village that has several "off-Broadway" theaters. Immediately to the south is the SoHo district, site of numerous art galleries and artists' studios.
Many of the skyscrapers for which New York is famous state Midtown Manhattan. The Empire State Building was the world's tallest building until 1970. Not including its television tower, it rises 1,250 feet (381 m) at Fifth Avenue and 34th Street. From its observation deck on top there is a magnificent view of the city, especially at dusk. The Chrysler Building, rising 1,046 feet (319 m), was also the world's tallest at one time. A block west, built above part of Grand Central Terminal, is the MetLife Building, one of the world's largest in commercial office space.
Times Square, at Broadway and 42nd Street, lies in the heart of New York's theater district. Most of the theaters are located either on or near Broadway. Rockefeller Center, between Fifth and Sixth avenues from 48th to 52nd Street, is a cluster of tall buildings with street-level and rooftop gardens and an outdoor skating rink. Here, too, is the Radio City Music Hall, a large motion picture theater known especially for its dancing "Rockettes." Across on Fifth Avenue is St. Patrick's a magnificent Gothic cathedral built during the latter part of the 19th century.
On Madison Avenue, one block east, are office buildings housing many large advertising agencies. A block farther east is Park Avenue, with its impressive glass-walled office buildings. These include Union Carbide, 47th-48th; Seagram, 52nd-53rd; and Lever House, 53rd-54th.
Near 34th Street on the West Side is Madison Square Garden, a modern sports, entertainment, convention, and office complex. Across town and fronting on the East River is the headquarters of the United Nations, one of New York's chief attractions. Also in Midtown are the large television studios of ABC, CBS, and NBC and such famous department stores as Macy's, Gimbel's, and Bloomingdale's.
The official residence of the mayor of New York is Gracie Mansion, overlooking the East River at 88th Street. It was built in 1799, designed by Pierre C. L'Enfant, the original planner of Washington, D.C. Along upper Fifth Avenue are numerous town houses built around 1900 and now housing institutes and organizations.
Just west of the northwest corner of Central Park is the Episcopal Cathedral of St. John the Divine. It was begun in 1892 and will be the largest Gothic church in the world when completed. The interdenominational Riverside Church, on Riverside Drive at 122nd Street, is Gothic also. It has superb stained-glass windows and a large carillon. Diagonally across the drive is the General Grant National Memorial, where the former President and his wife are entombed.
Historic houses in Upper Manhattan include Hamilton Grange (1802), Morris-Jumel Mansion (1765), and Dyckman House (1783), the only Dutch farmhouse remaining in Manhattan.
Richmondtown Restoration on Staten Island is a restoration of buildings of major historical and architectural interest. Included is the country's oldest known schoolhouse (1696). Conference House in Tottenville was built about 1680. It was the scene of a Revolutionary War conference in which conciliatory proposals made by Admiral Richard Howe of Great Britain were rejected by members of the Continental Congress.
The Plymouth Church of the Pilgrims in Brooklyn was the pastorate of Henry Ward Beecher and a center of the abolitionist movement before the Civil War. Other historic buildings in Brooklyn include Wyckoff House (1639) and the Reformed Protestant Dutch Church of Flatbush (1796). In Queens there are the Bowne House (1661) and King Mansion (1757). Notable in the Bronx are the Van Cortlandt Mansion (1748) and the Bartow-Pell Mansion (1836-42).
