New York City Historic Bowery Walking Tour

Join us on a journey through over four centuries as we walk down NYC’s oldest street! Originally a Native American footpath and Dutch farm road, site of the first free Black homesteads, it witnessed gang wars, the bloody Astor Place Riot, & Lincoln’s famous anti-slavery speech at Cooper Union. It was the working-class main street for sailors, shopgirls, gangs, gays, and waves of immigrant Irish, Italians, Germans, Jews, and Chinese. NYC’s first entertainment district, it has seminal links to tap dance, vaudeville, Yiddish theater, Houdini, Stephen Foster, Irving Berlin, Mae West, modern tattooing, Abstract Expressionism, Beat literature, improvisational jazz and punk rock. Though it declined in the 1900s, when flop houses and dive bars proliferated, it nonetheless became home to affordable jewelry, lighting, and restaurant supply stores, and a live-work home for artists like Marc Rothko, Maya Lin, William Burroughs, Robert Frank, and Debbie Harry.

Meeting Point

Confucius Plaza

1-9 Bowery, New York, NY 10002, USA

Please meet in front of the Confucius Statue on corner of Bowery and Division Streets

What's included:

• Sightseeing Guide

Not included:

• Gratuity

What to expect:

Duration: 1 hour, 30 minutes

Statue of Confucius

Confucius Plaza, Bowery, New York City, New York

Meeting point is at the Confucius Statue at Confucius Plaza, corner of Bowery and Division Street

5 minutes

Doyers Street

Doyers St, New York, NY, USA

We'll stop at the entrance to Doyers Street, aka Murder Alley and the Bloody Angle during the 19th Century

5 minutes

Manhattan Bridge

New York City, 11201, New York

We'll pass by the Triumphal Arch and Colonnade of the Manhattan Bridge, we'll stop to talk about the Original Diamond District on Bowery and Canal, the old Citizens Bank Building, Confucius Plaza and former sights of the German Winter Garden and Windsor Theatre

5 minutes

The Bowery Ballroom

6 Delancey St, , New York City, 10002-2804, New York

We will stop near the old Bowery Ballroom, one of the last music vestiges of the Bowery, we'll also talk about the old LIncoln Hotel, former site of one of the Germania Bank Buildings and more

5 minutes

New Museum of Contemporary Art

235 Bowery, , New York City, 10002-1218, New York

Stopping near the New Museum of Contemporary Art Building we will talk about the Bowery Mission, Italian Opera Houses, Yiddish Theatre and more

5 minutes

Bowery Poetry Club

308 Bowery, , New York City, 10012-2802, New York

We will stop near the Bowery Poetry Club and talk about the Punk Rock era of Bowery. Right across the street was the location of the famous CBGB's. We are not far from Electric Ladyland and former residence of Deborah Harry (Blondie)

5 minutes

Cooper Union Foundation Building

East 7th Street to Astor Place, Cooper Square, New York City, 10003, New York

As we approach the Cooper Union Foundation Building we will also have a few stops along Cooper Square including the old Village Voice Building, Carl Fischer Music Building, McSorley's Ale House, and more

10 minutes