From the National Museum of the American Indian you can see a clear path of how the city was designed; a straight line of view that follows Broadway. The buildings seem like they stand back to show this view, and creating this perfect square – or, rather triangle- that is a great gathering space for the people. Being that this important structure stood as the Customs House decades ago, it stands at a prime location that was easily accessed from the ships that docked lower Manhattan. This path from the water to the house would eventually become the official road that exists today. Over the years, these landmarks stood as a pin in the master plan of Manhattan, forcing everything around them to adapt to them. Roads that weren’t there before are created, and forced to terminate at the lot of the landmarks. Trinity church, for example, is crowded by more modern and taller buildings that were obviously not there at the time of design; but thanks to the street layout, the church is framed by these two buildings, a street guiding you perfectly to it. Although it is physically dark, made of brown stone, it seems like a much more holy place with its, and the streets, placement.
Finally, the Brooklyn Bridge also had a line of sight that is followed by a street, and not to mention it has an amazing view from atop it. The fact that the way they tested it was by walking elephants across it is a fun fact that will always be stuck in my head.