Lower Manhattan Tip, New York

The World Trade Center's twin 110-storey towers once dominated the Manhattan skyline, but were destroyed by suicide-piloted jetliners on September 11, 2001, with tragic loss of life. Where the two towers of the World Trade Center once stood now stand two square reflecting ponds, each one acre in size. Known now as the National September 11 Memorial, the area is a tribute to the almost 3,000 people killed as a result of attacks on September 11, 2001 and also the six people killed in the earlier World Trade Center bombing in February 1993.Surrounded by trees and grass, the ponds are recessed, with water cascading over the sides of the pools. These are now the largest manmade waterfalls in the North America. Around the pools are bronze panels with the names of the all those who were killed in the attacks. The memorial was designed by Architect Michael Arad and landscape architect Peter Walker.Prior to September, 2001, this was a 16-acre complex of offices and a landscaped plaza designed by Minoru Yamasaki and Emery Roth. The towers and concourse portion of the center were completed in 1973 at a cost of $750 million. The two towers were considered a trademark of New York City.

The Smithsonian's National Museum of the American Indian is home to over a million works and documents concerning Native American peoples and their customs. Much of the collection, most of which is in storage at any given time, was acquired by George Gustav Heye. The museum is housed in the neoclassical Alexander Hamilton Customs House. Exhibits change frequently.The National Museum of the American Indian also hosts numerous public programs including music and dance performances, films, and symposia. It works closely with Native Peoples to preserve and protect their cultures traditions and expressions.

Ground Zero Museum Workshop is a good way to learn about the recovery efforts associated with the destruction of the World Trade Center. It can be a good first stop for those who are planning on seeing the former site.The museum features a collection of 9/11 photographs, artifacts from the recovery, items worn by recovery workers, actual tools used for digging, and a 12 minute film. There are many images, some of which are very large and impactful, along with various artifacts and the stories behind them.

Stretching for 8 city blocks from Broadway to South Street is the world famous Wall Street. This street and the surrounding area are home to some of the most important exchanges in the world including the New York Stock Exchange, the NASDAQ, and the New York Mercantile Exchange. Also located nearby are the impressive Trinity Church and the Federal Reserve. Wall Street is a popular tourist attraction and it is common to see a large number of tourists walking around craning their necks looking up at the impressive sky scrapers.

The original Trinity Church was built in 1696-7 and was the first site of King's College (Columbia University). Alexander Hamilton and Robert Fulton are buried in the church. It is one of America's oldest Anglican parishes. The church's design marks the beginning of the best period of Gothic Revival in America. The current building was consecrated in 1846 and is on the National Register of Historical Places. The churchyard is a popular spot for people watching and a pleasant place to escape the hustle and bustle of the big city. In the cemetery many famous people are buried and the oldest grave dates from 1681. The church publishes a pamphlet that guides visitors through the graves and points out historical facts.

The Custom House is one of the city's finest Beaux Arts designs, absorbing the talents of the best sculptors and artists of the early twentieth century. Notable features include the 44 Ionic columns out front, murals by Reginald Marsh decorating the marble rotunda and a portrait of Garbo at the entrance. Today the Custom House contains the Smithsonian's National Museum of the American Indian. The museum takes up the first three floors of the Custom House, while other floors house government agency offices.The building has been featured in numerous movies and television shows.

The Federal Hall stands on the site of the first U.S. Capitol. A bronze statue of George Washington stands on the steps outside. Washington was inaugurated here in 1789. Display rooms off the Rotunda include the Bill of Rights Room and an interactive computer exhibit about the Constitution.The current structure on the site was built as the Customs House in 1834-1842. In 1862, Customs moved to 55 Wall Street and the building became the U. S. Subtreasury. Millions of dollars of gold and silver were kept in the basement vaults until the Federal Reserve Bank replaced the Subtreasury system.

Some of the world's most important financial companies are headquartered in the center's four, skyscraping office towers. The WFC is the site of the world headquarters of the American Express Company, Merrill Lynch, Dow Jones, Deloitte & Touche and CIBC Oppenheimer, accommodating over 39,000 employees from prestigious companies, retail shops and restaurants.Inside the center is the Winter Garden, a vast glass and steel public space flanked by shops and restaurants opening onto a piazza and marina on the Hudson River. Free arts events are held in the Winter Garden including poetry reading and live music.

The Museum of Jewish Heritage celebrates the lives of those killed during the Holocaust. It chronicles the twentieth-century Jewish experience through photos, artifacts and videotaped narratives. The focus is on personal experiences as told by survivors. Their stories, and objects from their lives, help to create a meaningful experience for visitors rather than simply fact based information. There is a permanent collection, special exhibitions, and the Edmond J. Safra Hall which is a theater used for performances, films, and readings.

Most appropriately, the Skyscraper Museum is located in New York City where skyscrapers are a huge part of the city's history. The museum examines the various faces of skyscrapers, as "objects of design, products of technology, sites of construction, investments in real estate, and places of work and residence".Temporary exhibits feature different themes related to skyscrapers that include their history and their future, offering a unique looking at some of the world's most important buildings.

The Fraunces Tavern Museum is New York's only remaining block of eighteenth-century buildings. The museum contains an exact replica of the original Fraunces Tavern, first built in 1719. Here, George Washington said farewell to his officers in 1783.The rooms are well laid out and will be of interest to history buffs. Changing exhibits feature a variety of themes from Colonial America and the Revolutionary War, to more current events such as the attacks of September 11, 2001.

The Museum of American Finance, an affiliate of the Smithsonian Institution, seeks to empower people to better understand risk and reward, thereby making better financial decisions. The Museum, as of January 2008, is located in the 30,000 sq. ft. historic, former headquarters of the Bank of New York at 48 Wall Street featuring permanent, interactive exhibitions on the Financial Markets, Money, Banking, Entrepreneurship and Alexander Hamilton, as well as a gallery for changing exhibits.

The Barclay-Vesey Building was designed by McKenzie, Voorhes & Gmelin to house the New York Telephone Company. The design emphasized the vertical and the modern. The 52,000 square feet building occupies a full, parallelogram-shaped city block. Today, the building is admired for its bold, geometric massing, flattened, non-historical ornamentation and verticality.

Bowling Green is a triangular plot north of Battery Park. It was New York's earliest park and later became a cattle market then a bowling ground, hence its name. A statue of King George III stood here until the signing of the Declaration of Independence when it was hacked to pieces and smelted for ammunition.

The Castle Clinton National Monument was built in 1807 as a defense post and later became a theater, then an immigration center processing 7.5 million newcomers. Now, it is a monument and visitors' center for the National Park Service. The monument is also a point of departure for the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island.

This is one of 12 Federal Reserve banks. It issues U.S. currency, and, five stories below ground, houses gold owned by the nations of the world. Completed in 1924, the bank occupies a full block and is liberally adorned with wrought-iron grillwork and inspired by the palaces of the Italian Renaissance.

The South Street Seaport was New York's port during the 19th century. Today, after restoration and development, the seaport is now brimming with stores, restaurants, historic buildings and museums, the Fulton Fish Market, and views of the Brooklyn Bridge and the East River.Historic ships docked alongside the piers include the second-largest sailing ship in the world, Peking. A nineteenth-century paddlewheeler offers harbor cruises.This National Register Historic District lies between the East River, the Brooklyn Bridge, Fletcher Alley, Pearl, and South Streets

Completed in 1883, The Brooklyn Bridge was the world's first to be constructed of steel. The bridge spans the East River from Manhattan. An American landmark, the bridge has inspired generations of poets, songwriters and painters.Engineer John Roebling conceived of the bridge in 1855 and worked out every detail from its two granite towers to its four suspended steel cables. In June 1869 while determining the Brooklyn tower site, a ferry crushed Roebling's foot. Three weeks later, before ground has been broken, Roebling died of tetanus. Roebling's son, Washington, picked up the reins and executed his Father's grand plans. In 1872, however, Washington developed caisson's disease which robbed him of his seeing, walking and writing facilities.The bridge features two powerful stone towers which are connected at the top with Gothic-shaped arches. They carry four cables that cross the East River.

The Cunard Building has a Renaissance facade and its hall contains murals and frescoes including maps of the world and a decorated ceiling. The main floor served as a ticket office for the Cunard Passenger Ship Line.

ATTRACTION IS CLOSED.The Downtown Athletic Club is an art deco creation from 1926, featuring a front arcade of Moorish-flavored arches and a facade of salt-glazed tiles in burnt orange and brown.

THIS ATTRACTION IS CLOSED PERMANENTLY.New York Unearthed has archaeological exhibits about New York City that piece together 6,000 years of history through dioramas and artifacts. The museum is especially popular with children.