Wall Street Walks at Booth 2404 at the 2014 NJEA Convention

 Find Wall Street Walks owner Annaline and tour guide Marie at the 2014 NJEA Convention in Atlantic City, going on right now! We are at booth 2404. Come say hello!

---

For more information about Wall Street and New York's Financial District, join a Wall Street Walks guided walking tour!

Wall Street Walks Offering FREE TOURS for Night at the Museums on June 24th

Wall Street Walks will offer free tours of Lower Manhattan on June 24th as a part of the River to River Festival's Night at the Museums.

Tours will leave every 30 minutes, on the hour and half hour, from 4PM to 7:30PM, starting on the sidewalk outside 57 Wall Street. Each tour is limited to 60 people per time slot. 

You may reserve a free advance ticket here. 

Space will also be reserved for walk-ups.

What is the River to River Festival?

Spend the evening visiting the 13 museums and historic sites in Lower Manhattan for free. One of the most concentrated and diverse group of museums in the world, the museums of Lower Manhattan are a genuine American treasure. Museum content and exhibits range from fascinating multimedia shows to intimate galleries of moving personal artifacts to dramatic historical landmarks.And, the sites are within comfortable walking distance of each other. Lower Manhattan is where New York's history and culture begin - start your own journey here.

---

For more information about Wall Street and New York's Financial District, join a Wall Street Walks guided walking tour!

Wall Street Walks Featured on Hopper

Wall Street Walks featured on Hopper

Wall Street Walks just got a great write-up on the travel blog Hopper in an article titled "Experience the Real World of High Finance on Wall Street." They even gave us our own page, complete with reviews and travel suggestions! Very cool. Hopper is highly recommended. Click through to read the full article, which covers much more than our walking tours.

---

For more information about Wall Street and New York's Financial District, join a Wall Street Walks guided walking tour!

“LITTLE SYRIA” - NYC's Forgotten Neighborhood

Friday, May 3, 2013 - Monday, May 27, 2013
3LD Art & Technology Center
80 Greenwich Street, New York, NY 10006

“LITTLE SYRIA" NEW YORK CITY

by Wall Street Walks Tour Guide Marie Beirne

In the 1980’s, when I worked at NASDAQ on the 98^th Floor of Two World Trade Center, every evening I waited for the x90 express bus to Yorkville, in front of St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church which once stood across Liberty Street from the South Tower.

I have very fond memories of that divine and beloved little church, surrounded on three sides by the parking lot…looking a little lonely and frail, all by itself, especially at nightfall.

Tonight, at a lecture,  I found out that after 9/11, when workers got to the foundation of the destroyed St. Nicholas’,  buried in the rubble, they found artifacts of an old church, the cornerstone of St. Joseph's from “Little Syria”, New York City. The cornerstone now resides in Our Lady of Lebanon Maronite Cathedral in Brooklyn Heights.

It is rare for New Yorkers to be surprised with news of an old neighborhood you never heard of before…what a delight the discovery of “Little Syria” was for the audience.

On April 30 at the 9/11 Tribute Center, Linda Jacobs, author, archaeologist, and an expert on the Syrian immigrant community in New York City, and Todd Fine, co-founder of the “Save Washington Street,” preservation campaign presented “Little Syria’: Lower Manhattan Before the World Trade Center,” a discussion on the history of the neighborhood in the southwestern corner of Lower Manhattan.

Beginning in the late 1800’s, the neighborhood developed a flavor of the Arab world from which many of the immigrants originated.  Their entrepreneurial spirit transformed the neighborhood, which came to be known as “Little Syria”, into a thriving community lined with shops and coffeehouses. Many of these immigrants owned small restaurants and grocery stores and had easy access to the docks where produce was brought in on boats from New Jersey.  Each furnished with signs written in their native Arabic.  Here bilingual Arab-Americans raised their families, educated their children, formed religious and community organizations and gradually became part of the life of the city of New York.

Eventually the Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel and the World Trade Center displaced the folks in this neighborhood who moved to Atlantic Avenue and other neighborhoods of Brooklyn. 

Most New Yorkers, and even many Lebanese-Americans and Arab-Americans, are unaware that Lower Manhattan — along Washington Street from Battery Park through the 9/11 Memorial to Chambers Street — was once the center of Arab-American life in the United States, from the 1870s to the 1940s called “Little Syria” or the “Mother Colony.”

Today, only three buildings from that era remain and are physically connected: 103 Washington Street, an Arab church that served as a Irish bar for many years.   The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission designated the building a New York City landmark on July 14, 2009. 

Two other remaining buildings: 105-107 Washington Street, a community house inaugurated by the governor of New York Al Smith to serve the “Little Syria” neighborhood; and 109 Washington Street, a tenement building still containing apartments are now part of an active campaign by Save Washington Street [http://savewashingtonstreet.org/history/] a national coalition of organizations and individuals advocating for the preservation of the last two sites.

While the coalition’s first objective is to achieve the landmark designation of the community center at 105-107 Washington Street, already advocated by Community Board 1 of New York City, the long-term goal of the coalition is to improve education about this diverse neighborhood, and about Arab-American history .

Be sure to discover “Little Syria” for yourself, starting on May 3, and continuing through May 27, the Arab American National Museum (based in Dearborn, Michigan) will present at the 3LD Art & Technology Center (80 Greenwich Street) an exhibition documenting the neighborhood's history.

Join Wall Street Walks on one of our guided walking tours to uncover more of the many, many secrets of NYC. We offer an exciting peek at the New York no one else knows! 

NYC Decks Out in Its Trashiest Haute Couture for the 2013 Met Gala

Every heavily kohl-lined eye in the world will be turned to NYC tonight as fashion’s best and brightest don their haute couture shredded leather for this year’s Met Gala. This year’s theme “Punk: Chaos to Couture” is sure to channel the raucous, devil-may-care heyday of the likes of the New York Dolls, Suicide, The Ramones, Blondie, Patti Smith, Sex Pistols, and Talking Heads. The Costume Institute Gala (commonly referred to as the “Met Ball” by all those in the know) is a celebration of the annual opening of the Metropolitan Museum's fashion exhibit at the Costume Institute. The preceding red carpet is THE place to see celebrities dressed to the nines in the year’s edgiest avant garde looks. In Gala’s past, photos from the event were posted online, but this unprecedented carpet will feature a live streaming feed, beginning at 7 p.m. EST via the fashion site www.modaoperandi.com in coordination with Conde Nast, Samsung, and Vogue magazine. Though the Met Museum may be a far cry from the seedy interior of CBGB, this year’s gala promises to capture the spirit of the trends of yesteryear – be it from a precariously perched Devo cone hat to a strategically placed tattoo a la Richard Hell. This modern interpretation of the counter culture in the mid-seventies heralds back to the music scene of New York circa ‘74–’76 and will most certainly pay homage to classic punk details like studs, spikes, safety pins, distressed denims, and, of course, lots and lots of leather. Sure to be decked out in their best trash bag chic are co-chairs Rooney Mara (popular for her portrayal of punk princess Lisbeth Salander in Hollywood’s “Girl Who…”series), co-founder of Moda Operandi / Vogue editor Lauren Santo Domingo, and famed Italian fashion designer Riccardo Tisci. The fashion world is sure to hold its breath for a singular shot of Anna Wintour in plaid bondage pants.

Get all of the hottest updates in NYC – from Downtown and beyond – with Wall Street Walks.

Copyright: W Magazine

      

Remembering September 11, 2001

The night before, Michael Jackson performed his 30^th Anniversary Special at Madison Square Garden and Yankees fans were disappointed when the game with their biggest rivalry, the Boston Red Sox, was rescheduled due to rain. The next morning, of course, was gorgeous.

That day, September 11, 2001, people all over New York City made their way to work humming Billie Jean and crossing their fingers against another rainout in the last moments of “life before.” Then, between 8:46 and 10:03 AM EST, four planes crashed into our beloved Twin Towers, the Pentagon and a field in Somerset County, Pennsylvania, over 2,500 lives were lost and countless others were irrevocably changed in the worst terrorist attack in United States history.

Eleven years later, the construction is humming on the site of the new World Trade Center and the Freedom Tower is standing tall over the Wall Street area as it nears completion. Life in NYC is back to normal … but it’s a new normal for those of us who remember the days after, when the streets were quiet and we all took a little extra time to check in with everyone we passed.

Our new normal is one in which we love our city more than ever and take tremendous pride in honoring New York’s rich history, and her future, with people from all over the world. Join us for a Wall Street Walks tour and let us share a little bit of our New York City with you. Click here to learn more: https://www.wallstreetwalks.com/tours_main.html

New York City History

Settled in 1625, as New Amsterdam, New York City’s history is some of the richest and most vibrant in the entire United States. The actual birthplace of the American government, New York has seen an incredible amount of US, and worldwide firsts, two of which were recorded exactly 130 years ago this week.

On Monday, September 4, 1882, Thomas Edison switched on his large generator plant in downtown Manhattan and at 3 PM that afternoon, Pearl Street was lit with electricity for the first time ever.

The next morning, September 5, 10,000 workers joined together to march through New York City in the very first Labor Day Parade. The procession featured banners including: “To the Workers Should Belong the Wealth” and “Children in School, Not in Factories.”

Come join us for a Wall Street Walks tour and learn even more about the vibrant history of New York City. Our new fall schedule features tours at 11:00 AM on Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays, and 11:00 AM and 1:00 PM on Fridays. Click here to get your tickets now: https://www.wallstreetwalks.com/tours_main.html

Another Big Week For Car Companies

Before it was phased out in 2004, Oldsmobile produced over 35 million cars in its 107-year history. A staple of the Detroit Motor City industrial scene, over 14 million Oldsmobiles were built in their Lansing, Michigan factory. Opened on August 21, 1897, General Motors closed the division on April 29, 2004, presaging a decline into a 2009 bankruptcy for the iconic car company. Not to worry, though! GM bounced back and last year they were the world’s number one car manufacturer.

Another General Motors division, Cadillac Motor Company, was founded 5 years and 1 day after Oldsmobile on August 22, 1902. Named after the founder of the city of Detroit, Cadillac laid the foundation for mass automobile production by creating interchangeable parts for its cars. Just ten years later, they launched the first production automobile with an electric self-starter – a “car with no crank.” Faring much better than its older sister, Oldsmobile, Cadillac is still breaking new ground in the automotive industry and continues to be the “Standard of the World.”

Except of course, in New York, where every savvy urbanite knows that your feet are really your best vehicle for getting around town. The city is packed with so much energy and there is always something new to discover, even if you’ve lived in Manhattan your entire life. There’s so much to encounter, experience and learn from just from wandering these magical streets of ours.

The next time you’re downtown, check out one of our Wall Street Walks tours and let us show you what we’ve discovered then share with us some discoveries of your own! 

Downtown Ghost Tours beginning in October- get ready for Halloween!

Get yourself in a spooky mood for Halloween by taking one of our downtown Ghost Tours in October! Experience New York City’s most haunted neighborhood with your very own guide to the underworld of the Financial District. 

Get ghoulish by exploring cemeteries, haunted sites like the Fraunces Tavern, and the dark back alleys of the oldest neighborhood in New York. Walk with the restless spirits of those driven to madness after the Great Stock Market crash. Don’t lose your head as you try to spot the famous horseman of Kipp’s Bay. Finally, to prove you “ain’t afraid of no ghosts,” drop into one of the filming sites of Ghostbusters 2.

The Wall Street Walks Ghost Tours take place Fridays and Saturdays in October at 5:30pm and 7:30pm. We're also giving tours at the same times on Halloween (October 31), the spookiest night of the year! Join us! 

Click here to buy tickets to a Ghost Tour.

A Great Week in Car History

What a great week in car history! Let’s start with July 30, 1863, when Henry Ford famously said, “If I’d listened to what my customers wanted, I’d have given them a faster horse.” Also this week, on August 1, 1941, Jeep rolled out its first ever model and on August 3, Firestone Tire and Rubber Company will celebrate its 112^th Anniversary.

Thanks to the brilliance that was Henry Ford’s mind and the ingenuity of inventors and engineers who continued his legacy, America saw the birth of a car industry that would revolutionize the way we did everything! From, getting ourselves around town, to increasing travel beyond our city limits, to expanding our knowledge and access to the world around us, cars have become a way of life, a method for bandying social status, and for many people, a tangible portrayal of their own personalities.

Here in Manhattan, however, you’ll notice we use our cars mostly to sit in traffic. That’s why Wall Street Walks hits the town on our feet to get the most out of what this amazing city has to offer! Be sure to check out one of our incredible tours while you’re in town this summer. Happy August!

Happy Birthday Donald Trump!

You know the man, you know the empire, you know the hair …  but did you know that it was his birthday? This week on June 14, Donald J. Trump will turn 66 years old and he certainly has a lot of reasons to celebrate.

Born in 1946, in Queens, “The Donald” became a public figure as the result of his hugely successful career as a real estate developer in New York City during the late 70’s and 80’s. His building projects include the Grand Hyatt hotel on 42nd Street at Grand Central Terminal and the apartment-retail complex he built on New York’s Fifth Avenue, the iconic Trump Tower. 

Trump enjoyed unfathomable, well-publicized success for many years until a financial blow at his casino, the Taj Mahal, and a plummet in the real estate market in 1990, caused his net worth to drop drastically.

Not one to be beaten easily, Trump worked his way back and by the late 90’s got his net worth up into the multiple-billions. These days he enjoys a thriving career not only in real estate and development, but also in entertainment ventures such as producing beauty pageants, managing Central Park’s ice skating rinks and acting as a reality star on his own television show, The Celebrity Apprentice.

Summer in New York City

Summer in New York is such an exciting time. The days are long, the nights are cool and the city is bursting at the seams with exciting, fun outdoor activities to suit every taste imaginable.

If you’re in the city and looking for a way to celebrate the warm weather – may we suggest a Wall Street Walks tour? Not only is it amazing to stroll around the bustling streets of New York, you can visit the celebrated landmarks where America was born. Learn how an 18th century bazaar became the greatest financial center of the world. Walk in the footsteps of America’s forefathers and stand in the shadow of the rebirth of Ground Zero.

Another one of our favorite NY summertime activities is the River To River Festival held in locations across Lower Manhattan. Kicking off on June 17, the 2012 River To River Festival will host hundreds of events including live music, theater, dance and other cultural happenings through July 15.

This summer, treat yourself to a real downtown New York experience. Explore the rich and exciting history of the Wall Street Area then enjoy one of the great River To River Festival shows. Make a day of it … you’ll be glad you did!

75th Anniversary of the Death of John D. Rockefeller

This week marks the 75th anniversary of the death of John D. Rockefeller. Once known as the richest man in the world, Rockefeller gave over 500 million dollars to a variety of causes including education, science and religion institutions.

Born in Richford, New York, Rockefeller was an enterprising man who built his first oil refinery near Cleveland and incorporated Standard Oil Company when he was just 31 years old. His son, John D. Rockefeller, Jr., was his only heir and he carried on his father’s legacy of philanthropy.

In 1901 John D. Rockefeller, Jr. created Rockefeller University in NYC and during World War II, helped establish the USO for the troops. Later, Rockefeller Jr. personally funded the construction of Rockefeller Center, creating over 75,000 jobs during the depression, and establishing what is now a world-famous landmark in the center of midtown Manhattan.

Washington Inauguration

On April 30, 1789, just a few short weeks after the first United States Congress met at Federal Hall in to establish the first American government, George Washington stepped out onto an upstairs balcony and was sworn in as the first President of the United States.

Located in the heart of New York City’s financial district, Federal Hall is where America’s forefathers wrote the Bill of Rights and it served as a home for the Supreme Court and other city government offices until it was demolished in 1812.

The building that is now located on Wall Street was initially used as a Customs House but now is the home to Federal Hall National Memorial, a museum and memorial honoring the first President and the rich history of the United States.

Starting April 30 and lasting through May 2012, Federal Hall will be celebrating George Washington as well as the days when New York City was the national capital.

New Wall Street Walks website is live

The new Wall Street Walks website is now up, featuring expanded resources for NYC visitors, more pictures, videos and information about our tours, a gift certificate feature and fun interactive quizzes about downtown NY and stock market history.
Please visit www.wallstreetwalks.com to see what we've been up to!

Wall Street Walks: Inside Federal Hall

Inside the Federal Hall National Memorial, Wall Street Walks tour guide Annaline shows her tour group a model of the old Federal Hall, which was demolished in 1812. The old structure, which served as the first capitol building of the United States, was the site of George Washington's inauguration. Built in 1842 as the new York Customs House, the new building is now a landmark, a National Memorial and a museum. With no entry fee and exhibits that include the Bible upon which George Washington swore his oath of office, Federal Hall is a must-see when traveling to New York City.

Fraunces Tavern, an Historical Landmark and a Stop on the Wall Street Walks Tour

Fraunces Tavern, located at 54 Pearl Street in New York City, was built in 1719 as a residence for a merchant named Stephan Delancey. In 1762, it was converted in a tavern which proved to be very popular as well as historically significant. The history of Fraunces Tavern is interwined with George Washington, the Revolutionary War and the budding U.S. Government that arose just after the war.

After nearly 250 years of serving travelers in New York City, you can still sit down and enjoy a meal at Fraunces Tavern. If you'd like to learn more about this American treasure, book a ticket on a Wall Street Walks guided walking tour of the Financial District of New York.

Wall Street Walks Tour Stop at the New York Stock Exchange

This video shows Wall Street Walks tour guide Annaline Dinkelmann speaking to her walking tour group outside the New York Stock Exchange on Wall Street in New York City. On a typical summer day, Wall Street is packed with tourists, bankers, NYSE employees and security. At the end of the video you can see Federal Hall, which is the building with the tall steps leading up to it. This building is on the site of what once was the U.S. Capitol building, as well as the site of George Washington's inauguration as the first President of the United States. The Wall Street area is steeped in American history, and tour guide Annaline is an expert in the ins and outs of the Financial District of NYC.

To find out more, please visit the Wall Street Walks website and book a ticket for a guided tour. You can also find Wall Street Walks on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.

Wall Street Walks Stops at Ground Zero and One World Trade Center

The Freedom Tower on the left rises majestically above the skyline.

One of the west side stops on all Wall Street Walks guided walking tours of downtown Manhattan is Ground Zero. The vantage point shown in these photos is just about the best view of the construction that is happening at Ground Zero: across the avenue, on the patio just above the Cortlandt Street R train stop. The huge building that is being constructed to replace the Twin Towers is commonly referred to as the Freedom Tower, but is currently called One World Trade Center, or "1 WTC."

Wall Street Walks tour stop at Ground Zero.

The Freedom Tower will rise 1776 feet above the ground when finished. Construction is currently about one third complete, with a projected completion date of 2014. Above you can see Annaline, the tour guide in the light blue shirt, talking to her tour group about the history and the future of the World Trade Center site.

Construction of One World Trade Center as of June 2011.

If you'd like to enhance your own visit to New York City with the help and expertise of a local, book tickets for a Wall Street Walks guided walking tour by clicking here. With a focus on the history of downtown NYC and the Financial District, Wall Street Walks tours offer insight into what makes New York City tick.

Wall Street Walks Tour: Atop the Steps of Federal Hall

One of the stops on each Wall Street Walks guided walking tour is 26 Wall Street, now known as Federal Hall. This location has been an important site in the history of the United States from the very beginning, and in later blog posts we will discuss all that has transpired here. The U.S. Capitol building once stood on this site, back when New York City was the capitol of the United States. That building was later demolished and the New York Customs House was built on the site.
Here, tour guide Annaline Dinkelmann speaks to her tour group on the very same spot that many newscasters use when reporting on the goings-on of Wall Street. The elevation of the steps, and the NYSE in the background, make for a perfect spot to discuss the intricacies of Wall Street.
To learn more about the history of Wall Street, click through and buy a ticket to a Wall Street Walks guided tour.