About This Tour
Chinatown has been a destination for New Yorkers and visitors since the late 19th century — a neighborhood famous for its food, its energy, and its identity as one of the most vibrant immigrant communities in the city. But almost nobody who walks those streets knows what they're actually walking on.
This tour goes back further. Way further. The area that became Chinatown is one of the oldest built environments in New York City. Underneath the altered facades and layered streetscape are the bones of 18th and early 19th century structures — including New York's oldest tenement. The streets themselves were laid out in the 1750s and earlier, in what was then the city's Sixth Ward.
Along the way we reach the literal Five Points — the notorious intersection that gave its name to one of the most infamous neighborhoods in American history — and uncover its surprising relationship to modern Chinatown. We trace the area's Dutch roots and Colonial beginnings, and look at over a dozen early-to-mid 19th-century buildings hiding in plain sight among the later streetscape. Most visitors walk right past them. Not on this tour.
Stick around after and ask me for my personal picks on where to eat. The dumplings alone are worth the trip downtown.
What You'll See
- Stand at the literal Five Points and learn about the notorious neighborhood's surprising relationship to modern Chinatown
- See more than a dozen early to mid-19th-century buildings hidden among the later streetscape — hiding in plain sight
- Hear about the Dutch roots and Colonial beginnings of the old "Sixth Ward" and walk on streets first laid out in the 1750s and earlier
- Discover how, underneath the altered facades of numerous Chinatown buildings, lie the hidden bones of 18th and early 19th century structures — including New York's oldest tenement
- Learn what few visitors ever know: the rich pre-Chinatown history of one of New York's most visited and least understood neighborhoods
Your Guide
