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| OTHER TOURS: | NEW AMSTERDAM TOURS | ZONING ORIGINS: REAL ESTATE DEVELOPMENT IN LOWER MANHATTAN | GREENWICH VILLAGE - URBAN RENEWAL HISTORY | 3 TRIBECA TOURS | JEWS IN NYC | WTC TOUR | GERMAN TOUR |
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FROM NEW AMSTERDAM AND THE LOWER EAST SIDE: 
 This tour will discuss the treatment and contributions of the colonies' and America's earliest Jewish settlers, including both the "documented Jews who arrived in August 1654 and the more famous "undocumented" 23 Sephardic Jews who came from Recife in September 1654. The lives of Asser Levy and the 23 undocumented Jews who came from Recife will be compared. We will try to see the flagpole memorial and plaque (currently behind a construction wall at Peter Minuet Plaza) memorializing the arrival of the "23" Jews and you will hear what life in New Amsterdam was like in general. (See New Amsterdam Tour.) There are also remnants of several cemeteries for the Jews of the Sherith Israel Congregation near Chatham Square, West 11th and West 22nd Streets. We will walk to the one near Chatham Square (if you can walk for that distance). We will also discuss the impact of the civil/religious rights of these Jews as it applies to the Flushing Remonstrance and the future religious rights of all Americans. In addition, we can extend the tour (especially if this is a bus tour) to go to the Lower East Side and see the Tenement Museum as well as several eateries such as Katz's Delicatessen and Russ & Daughters. The length of the tour is based on the capacity and desires of the group. 
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1. The Memorial Flagpole and Plaque for the 23 "undocumented" Jews. Most of the talk can be given down at Battery Park. The Flagpole is in Peter Minuet Plaza which is under construction.
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2. The tour usually ends near Chatham Square at the second cemetery of Sherith Israel. No one knows for sure where the first one was located.
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"NEW AMSTERDAM" TOUR
FOR DETAILED INFORMATION ON YOUR OWN "NEW AMSTERDAM TOUR" CLICK HERE Every year in November is "Dutch Days" in New York City with multiple events and exhibits held throughout the five boroughs. An annual highlight is the tour of “New Amsterdam” put together by Rick Landman, Esq., AICP, a longtime member of the NY Metro Chapter. Landman gave a tour to relate how early Dutch roots had an impact on New York City's physical form as well as its taxation procedures, zoning regulations and religious freedoms. The tour, which not only included the usual stop to the foundations of the old Dutch City Hall but included a walk around the borders of old New Amsterdam, seeing the Dutch memorials (most of which are on land-fill that didn't exist back then) and discussion of Dutch history and its impacts. Landman noted that the narrow tax lots and the subsequent sky-blocking towers were a direct result from our Dutch origins... Tour starts in front of the Customs House at Bowling Green in front of the eastern most statue and winds it way through Battery Park and up to Wall Street.  Please Click Here to Email for Reservations and please place "New Amsterdam Tour" in the Subject Box.
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THE ORIGINS OF ZONING IN AMERICA: This tour focuses on the area near the World Trade Center and includes a walking lecture of how America's Zoning started Lower Manhattan because of the bulk issues created at the Equitable Building in 1916 and winds its way past several of the World's Tallest Buildings up to City Hall Park and ends on the Brooklyn Bridge looking back at the eastside of Manhattan. Once steel construction and elevators turned the real estate market upside down, and each developer tried to build the world's tallest building, New York City was forced to try regulating bulk and use. The Supreme Court upheld NYC's zoning regulations in the 1926 case of Euclid v. Ambler Realty Corp. This tour gives the history while passing the actual locations. It also includes a city park created by the transfer of development rights and discusses several urban renewal projects in the area. Depending on time and interest, we can also include a short discussion of the World Trade Center as we pass by. |
 WORLD TRADE CENTER TOURS View from 7 World Trade Center of Lower Manhattan. Tours can include the area from the Battery up to the World Trade Center, or the Financial District up to Tribeca or the Brooklyn Bridge. |
 I took this photo shortly after 9/11 showing "Ground Zero". Living in Southern Tribeca for 30 years, I was displaced from my apartment for approximately one month, returning home in October. I also have pictures showing how the neighborhood was powered and existed during the era when we were a "gated community". So this tour is given by someone who lived through the experience and rebuilding of the neighborhood.
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GREENWICH VILLAGE- URBAN PLANNING TOUR 
These buildings on MacDougal Street were used as the poster pictures for the demolition of the Village as part of the Urban Renewal Plan in the 1950's. But they were landmarked in the 21st Century as being one of the few federal townhouses still left in Manhattan. The tour will include a walking lecture on Eminent Domain, Condemnation as well as the struggles during the Urban Renewal program in the NYU area.
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 This is the rendering from the 1953 Washington Square South Urban Renewal Plan's concept for Greenwich Village, pursuant to the Slum Clearance Plan under Title 1 of the Housing Act of 1949. Notice the Washington Square Arch (in yellow) in Washington Square Park. The "Tower in the Park" concept (which was also emphasized in the 1961 Zoning Resolution) included highways and apartment complexes to replace what is now the Village and SoHo.
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THERE ARE 3 TRIBECA TOURS:  New York Law School Tours: Each year I present several tours for New York Law School including a tour for the incoming students. It is TOUR #1- TRIBECA AND THE COURT HOUSES - Introduction to all the Legal Resources in the area. It not only shows the buildings, but explains what goes on in each of them. 
and other lectures/tours were created for the honor students or Reunions, such as
TOUR #2- Land Use Issues in Northwestern Tribecaand TOUR #3- Trump Condo-Hotel Litigation a lecture about the land use law issues dealing with the new hotel. |
SOUTH STREET SEAPORT TOUR:
This area was created with the aid of Landmarking and Historic Districts and urban renewal plans, and is now under consideration for a new proposed development. |
GAY TOUR OF THE 1970's:
Visit the long gone haunts of the West Village's and a separate tour of the East Village's gay places from a personal perspective. West Village includes: The Stud, The Anvil, The Mineshaft, The Christopher Street Bookstore, Uncle Charlies, The Piers, etc. The East Village includes: The Saint, The St. Marks and Club Bathhouses, Boy Bar, etc.
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Walking Tours are personalized to meet your special interests, given in a way that only a Native New Yorker can give. A week's notice is appreciated if research is required for the personalized tour. Shorter notice is acceptable for standard walks.
Please Click Here to Email for Reservations or and Questions
