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New York thru the Lens - Downtown Eclectic |
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| Type |
Day Tours in New York |
| Departs From |
New York |
| Meeting Point |
Sheridan Square, Greenwich Village (also known as West Village, or just The Village). At intersection of Seventh Avenue, West 4th Street, Christopher Street. |
| Duration |
3.5 hours |
| Available |
Sunday, |
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FROM : 175.00 USD |
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Description |
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 First we'll meet up in the heart of Greenwich Village, Sheridan Square.
There are many streets that lead to Sheridan Square. Once you're there, be on the lookout for the small park with the white statues, where our group will meet. From there we'll tour some of the nearby streets that make up some the most scenic and sought-after residential real estate in Manhattan. Greenwich Village is known for being ""off the grid."" That is, while nearly all of Manhattan was designed as a rigid grid of avenues running north and south perpendicular to streets running east and west, the streets of Greenwich Village retain their original haphazard layout, complete with diagonals, odd angles and dead-end alleys. Even life-long New Yorkers can get lost trying to navigate these streets.
One very scenic block that appears to be absolutely unchanged since the 1790s is Commerce and Barrow. Here you'll definitely get a unique perspective on how the scales and perspectives of the Village can change from block to block. From there we'll head east via Bleecker Street and catch another dog-leg street, Minetta Lane. From there it's just a few blocks to the epicenter of the Greenwich Village, Washington Square Park.
New York University has a large presence in this neighborhood.
Occupying many buildings around Washington Square Park, NYU provides a fresh batch of youth to the aging neighborhood each fall when school begins. But the centrally located fountain at Washington Square Park is a popular meeting point for people of all ages. You'll see lots of dogs in the park, impromptu jam sessions by guitarist and drummers, magicians, people reading, and people playing chess. You'll also get some great views looking up Fifth Avenue, which begins at the north end of the park.
Venturing south past Houston Street, we'll be crossing over from Greenwich Village into a neighborhood known as SoHo, which stands for South of Houston. SoHo is now known for its upscale clothing boutiques and restaurants. But the neighborhood was once a robust industrial district of warehouses and factories. Architecturally, the neighborhood still retains this feel. But many of the storefront spaces now fetch some of the highest rents in the commercial real estate market. SoHo has a lot of cobblestone streets and cast-iron facades. The sidewalks are always jam-packed with people on the weekends.
From SoHo we'll cross Broadway and head a little south and a little east, into Little Italy. Mulberry Street is known unofficially as the main street of Little Italy, because each year it hosts the immensely popular Feast of San Gennaro Festival. On many weekends Mulberry Street is closed to automobile traffic and becomes a bustling pedestrian mall, thus providing prime people-watching opportunities.
Before you know it, you'll be in Chinatown. In fact, you can cross back and forth from Little Italy into Chinatown without knowing it. The main artery through Chinatown is Canal Street, which is always chock full of tourists looking for discounts on imitation Rolex watches and Gucci bags. Canal Street is by many measures the true cusp of downtown Manhattan. We'll go a few more blocks south and end up at another dog-leg street, Doyers. From there you'll have plenty of affordable Chinese restaurants to choose from for lunch.
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