36 Hours in Lower Manhattan, New York

By Saima Afroz

December 29, 2019

Lower Manhattan is also known as Downtown Manhattan and it is the southernmost part of the island of Manhattan. Also, the main island and center of business and government of the City of New York, which itself originated at the southern tip of Manhattan Island in 1624. It’s also one of the city’s fastest-growing neighborhoods. Millions of dollars have been put into rebuilding and revitalizing Lower Manhattan since Sept. 11, and the area’s population has more than doubled in the last eight years. As one of New York City’s oldest neighborhoods, Lower Manhattan offers an intriguing contrast of sights: soaring skyscrapers and bustling sidewalks paired with winding cobblestone alleys and picturesque parks. The area contains many historical buildings and sites. From City Hall to The Battery, this tour affords a unique window onto Lower Manhattan and offers visitors an overview of some of the most significant historical sites in all of New York.  City.

Friday

1) 10 a.m. Battery Park

 The Battery Park is located at the southern end of Manhattan, framed by Battery Place and State Street. The Park is 25-acre green space. It is neatly designed with monuments, memorials, gardens, sculptures, and a farm-to-table café. Also, waterfront views from the promenade is very gorgeous. You will see a stone monument with an inscription in both Dutch and English, honoring the Dutch colonization of New Amsterdam when you enter the park. The monument was given to New York by the Dutch government in 1926. Moreover, a statue of Italian explorer and navigator Giovanni da Verrazano. He was the first European known to have reached New York Bay in 1524. Verrazano bridge is named after him. Sculptor of Luis Sanguino is a monument, representing immigrants arriving at Castle Clinton. Another memorial honors the 4,611 missing Americans who died during World War II. On each of the pylons are emblazoned the names, rank, organization, and state of each of the soldiers. Finish your tour by a long walk.

2) 1:30 p.m. Fraunces Tavern

 It is located in a wonderful area at the southern end of Manhattan, near Wall Street. The Tavern has both a bar side and a dining area. They also have live music and it’s a great place to go and spend time with friends beforehand as well. You can really good fish and chips for $20, the Impossible burger, the Blackened Salmon sandwich, chicken pot pie and other. The food will make your day. This place is one of the few in New York that actually feels like New England. You can feel the history steeped into the building. There are interesting artifacts everywhere.

3) 5 p.m. Staten Island ferry

 The Staten Island Ferry is one of the most iconic attractions in New York City for travelers. The ferry connects Lower Manhattan with Staten Island. A ride with the ferry costs $0. It is a ride of five miles in approximately 25 mins. The ride is mostly to relax and enjoy the view. Additionally, you can capture amazing photographs of Statue of Liberty and the NYC skyline. For visitors, this is the wonderful way to see NYC from the water without having to pay for a cruise!

4) 7 p.m. Dinner at  ULYSSES’

It is a Fantastic Irish Bar and band plays Irish Traditional music. It has many selections of food and drinks. Fantastic selection of beers! One of the few places where they make good Irish coffee. The location is unique! You get a hint of the old New Amsterdam, and on how it should have looked like with the cobblestone streets and small buildings, all right in the heart of the Financial District! The restaurant has no happy hour. It is packed during the week. It also has outdoor sitting area. The food cost reasonable price.

Saturday

5) 9 a.m. Breakfast at Dominique Ansel Bakery

It is a very popular spot amongst locals and tourists, so be prepared to stay in quite long line. Great seating inside and out in the back. The cronut of this bakery is amazingly tasty, and cronut always gets sold out. They also cookies, yummy smores, and the egg bun with other pastries. The cookie shot is fantastic, and all the cookies are must try. It is the closest taste to an authentic French pastry that you can get in America. The legendary Cronut (croissant and doughnut) is a masterpiece of the modern culinary age. If you ever are wandering the streets of NY, make a stop by here.

6) 10 a.m. Shopping area

Plenty of options for shopping. If you walk around the area, you will find many clothing stores. Among other retails amazon go stands out because of its innovative shopping experience. In a busy area like lower Manhattan, you can easily grab food, beverage, or other items without going through lengthy checkout process once you have amazon account.

 7) 11 a.m. World Trade Center

Since the greatest tragedy, the very brutal terrorist attack on September 11, 2001, the One World Trade Center area was rebuilt and it is one of the remarkable tourist attractions in lower Manhattan. It is the tallest in North America and sixth tallest building in the world. It is also known as 1 WTC, 9/11, and the Freedom Tower. It includes restaurants, One World Observatory for the public, as well as plenty of commercial office space. It is a great opportunity to visit The National 9/11 Museum and Memorial. Thousands of heartbreaking pictures and videos from the day of the attack and immediately afterwards with artifacts from the original buildings and the rescuers all on display. You can easily spend many hours here and it’s sure will bring tears. In addition, 9/11 Memorial Reflecting Pools are symbol of the silent city after the attack. The waterfall pools are surrounded by bronze parapets that list the names of the victims of the 9/11 attack. You will learn about the most significant acts of heroism and the people who sacrificed their lives to save others. World Trade Center is a great tribute to the victims.

 8) 3 p.m. Bowling Green

Bowling Green is New York City’s oldest park and it is near the Financial District at Broadway and Whitehall St. The site was previously used as council grounds for Native American tribes, parade field, and cattle market where people would sell and buy livestock for their farms. In fact, it was on this site that the legendary sale of Manhattan to Peter Minuit took place in 1626. In the middle of the park, there is a beautiful fountain that’s surrounded by bright colorful flowers that just make you relax in all this busyness. It also has the charging Bull sculpture which is the symbol of American stock market. It is fun to walk around the sculpture and people gather to take pictures with the charging bull.

 Sunday

 9) 10 a.m. Quick Bite/ Starbucks

In New York, there are Starbucks in every alley in. However, Starbucks is a place that you can grab a quick breakfast a day like this. Starbucks is always a good place to eat at when you need a quick and cheap snack or drink. Plus, tasty sandwiches and coffee.

10) 11 a.m. City Hall Park

One of the most historically significant green spaces in the city, history buffs can look out for a spattering of historical markers posted throughout park including a circular tablet depicting key events in the park’s history, set at its southern edge. City Hall Park’s grounds have seen many incarnations. Its western borders are marked by what was once an old Native American trail now famously known as Broadway and the park became known as “the Commons” in the late 17th-century when it was used as a communal pasture for livestock. You will see granite fountain, bronze gas-lit candelabra at each corner, and an umbrella-shaped fixture above its central circular basin. This fountain replaced the park’s original Croton Fountain, which brought fresh water in from the Croton Aqueduct set 40 miles north of the city. Look for Frederick MacMonnies’s 13-foot-tall bronze statue depicting colonial patriot Nathan Hale, an American Revolution-era spy, best known for his dying words, “I only regret that I have but one life to lose for my country.”

11) 2 p.m. National museum of American Indian

The National Museum of the American Indian is located at the southern part of Manhattan, adjacent to both Bowling Green and Battery Parks.  From the park view you can see the front of the museum. It has stone steps with statues on the sides. The museum is divided into quadrants with an elliptical rotunda in the middle. The rotunda is illuminated by natural light from the glass dome with skylights above you. Also, when you look up you can see extraordinary symbolic painting on the ceiling. From the center of the rotunda you can go left or right to see the exhibits of Native Americans.

 Lodging and Transportations

Options for lodging in Lower Manhattan are several. You can choose a good hotel in affordable price. You can book a hotel near the area you are visiting that way it will be easy to relax after a long day. In Manhattan, transportation is something that becoming more easy and convenient day by day. To go around the city, there are many options for the visitors. You can get bus, subway, taxi, uber, and lyft. They are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Buses generally stop every other block on avenue routes and every block on cross-street routes. Late at night, from 11pm to 5am, bus drivers will stop wherever you ask them. Subway stations on the same line are generally about 8 to 10 blocks apart. You can transfer from bus to subway or vice versa within two hours of using your MetroCard. The easiest and quickest way to travel around NYC is by public subway train.