Both sections of NYC History get the opportunity to go on three walking tour trips with Mr. Sandler. We're incredibly grateful to the Stuyvesant Alumni Association for making these trips possible for us, for we've had an amazing time. The six trips are:
Harlem
We started the day at Hamilton's Grange, where our Founding Father Alexander Hamilton's house is currently. We then made our way to College of City of New York (CCNY) and to the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, where Langston Hughes's ashes are today. Finally, we made our way down to Columbia University and to Cathedral of St John the Divine. Along the way, Mr. Sandler pointed out several notable landmarks like Astor Row and A'Lelia Walker's (Madame C.J. Walker's daughter) sordid past. Our food stop was Amy Ruth's, where we all got chicken and waffles.
Walking Tour Trips
​
The Hamilton U.S Custom House was our meeting point at 1 Bowling Green. We walked around the financial district, visiting St. Elizabeth Ann Seton's Shrine and the famous Wall Street Bull. We walked down to Wall Street and visited the Stock Exchange and Trump Tower. We also visited the SeaGlass Carousel near there, and started walking towards Zuccotti Park where the famous Occupy Wall Street protests happened. We passed John D. Rockefeller's headquarters and Trinity Church where Alexander Hamilton and many famous people are buried. Our last stop was the 9/11 Memorial and Museum, where we learned in great depth about the tragic terrorist attack. Together we walked through the historical part of the museum and cried together, a moment we'll never forget.
Lower East Side
Students met at the Doughnut Plant, a place that featured people that Mr. Sandler would lovingly call "yuppies". While waiting for all the students arrived, we were shown Beth Hamedrash Hagodol; a synagogue that is landmarked but is in disuse. The next stops were the Forward Building and the Jarmulowsky Bank Building. We learned about Kleindeutschland and the stories of the families that lived in the same building at different points in time. We had a brief tour of the Eldridge Street Synagogue and went to Katz Delicatessen for lunch. Mr. Sandler then showed us SoHo's castiron district.
City Hall and Historic DUMBO
Leaving from Stuyvesant, we first walked around TriBeCa to see a historical hospital, egg exchange markets, the Al Smith housing projects, and more. We walked down to the Tweed Courthouse now used for the DOE, and then City Hall. We then took the most exciting tour of the course- the old City Hall subway station! Students got to take a tour with courtesy to the MTA, and saw the old beautiful station abandoned since1945, with it's beautiful tiling and old styled arches. After this we took a look at Newspaper Row and started making our way across the Brooklyn Bridge. After discussing the history of the bridge while we walked across, we narrowly escaped the treacherous bike lane and made our way to DUMBO. Here we learned some history about the neighborhood Directly Under Manhattan Bridge Overpass and got on another carousel!
Greenwood Cemetery
We traveled to Greenwood Cemetery in the middle of the day. After talking a student out of buying a gallon of milk, we got onto the trolley. A tour guide took us into the cemetery and showed us their Civil War veterans, Leonard Bernstein and Charles Higgins, whose plot had a statue of Minerva, supposedly waving at the Statue of Liberty. She pointed out the recurring themes of objects around the tombstones like circles (everlasting life) and angels. Notable people include Boss Tweed, The Roosevelts, and The Steinways.
Queens (Flushing and Jackson Heights)
We met at St. George's Episcopal Church and started off our tour in Flushing given by the Borough Historian of Queens. We walked down to the Bowne House and on the way there we passed the Quaker Church, and the site where the Flushing Remonstrance was signed. We visited the New World Mall, the largest Asian mall in New York. After that we took the 7 train down to 82nd- Jackson Heights to tour the neighboorhood. We first walked down Roosevelt Avenue and then stopped to observe the City Garden Apartments on 85th Street and then walked down to Diversity Plaza to look at the surrounding east Asian culture. Then we took the 7 train back to Flushing Meadows- Corona Park built by our favorite Robert Moses. Then we walked through the park to the Queens Museum of Art for tacos and art appreciation.
Downtown Financial District and 9/11 Museum
