New York City Civic Center

New York City’s center of government is located immediately north of its financial district. Courthouses, municipal buildings, and federal buildings revolve around City Hall. Sights are listed roughly from south to north. ( S 2, 3 to Park Pl.; R, W to City Hall; 4, 5, 6 to Brooklyn Bridge/City Hall; J, M, Z to Chambers St./Centre St.)

Saint Paul’S Chapel. Inspired by the design of London’s St. Martin-in-the-Fields, this modest chapel was completed in 1766; its clock tower and spire were added in 1794. It is Manhattan’s oldest church—George Washington prayed here regularly—and its structure has been altered little since Revolutionary times. In 2001-2002, the gates surrounding the “Little Church that Stood” served as a de facto September 11th memorial. Mourners left mementos and messages of grief and hope. The many cards, photographs, and other items left at the chapel have been stored for display in a museum that is to be built near the former site of the World Trade Center. Today, the Unwavering Spirit exhibit chronicles the Chapel’s year-long ministry to WTC recovery workers. Pictures of Ground Zero, messages to those who died in the collapse, and tributes to the hundreds of men and women who risked their lives to rescue others can be seen in the sanctuary. (Broadway, between Fulton and Vesey St. ☎212-233-4164; www.saintpaulschapel.org. Chapel open M-F 9am-3pm, Su 7am-3pm. Su Eucharist 8 and 10am. Unwavering Spirit exhibit open M-Sa 10am-6pm, Su 9am-4pm. Free.)

Woolworth Building. F.W. Woolworth supposedly paid $15.5 million to house the headquarters of his five-and-dime store empire in this elegant 1913 skyscraper, once known as the “Cathedral of Commerce.” The skyscraper’s fast-paced construction added an average of one and a half stories per week. Once finished, the 792 ft. building was the tallest in the world. In 1913, nearby 40 Wall St. surpassed it in height. The Woolworth Building’s lobby, unfortunately closed to the public, has Gothic arches, glittering mosaics, gold painted mailboxes, imported marble designs, and carved caricatures. (233 Broadway, between Barclay St. and Park Pl. Interior closed to public.)

City Hall. The offices of New York City’s mayor are in this elegant Neoclassical building, erected between 1803 and 1811. Press conferences and demonstrations are often held on its steps. In 1865, thousands of mourners paid their respects to the body of Abraham Lincoln under the hall’s vaulted rotunda. Winding stairs lead to the Governor’s Room, where portraits of American political heroes adorn the walls. The building sits in City Hall Park, which once held a jail, a public execution ground, and barracks for British soldiers. The park, a popular lunchtime spot, offers the best view of City Hall. The area along Park Row, now graced with a statue of journalist Horace Greeley, was once known as “Newspaper Row.” Most of New York’s papers were originally published here near the one place in which they were guaranteed to find scandal. (Broadway at Murray St., off Park Row. ☎212-788-6879. Closed to the public. Park open daily until dusk.)

Tweed Courthouse. Named after the infamous Boss Tweed of the Tammany Hall corruption scandals , this courthouse took 10 years and $14 million—the equivalent of $166 million today—to build. Rumor has it that $10 million went to Tweed himself, setting off a public outcry that marked the beginning of the end for Tweed and his embezzling ways. In 2002, Mayor Michael Bloomberg moved the city’s new Department of Education into this building. (Chambers St., between Centre St. and Broadway, north of City Hall. Closed to the public.)

Surrogate’S Court. Two sculpture groups— New York in Its Infancy and New York in Revolutionary Times —grace the Beaux Arts exterior of this overwhelming former Hall of Records (1907). In front of the building’s Mansard roof stand statues of notable New Yorkers—you may want to cross the street to get a better view. (31 Chambers St., near Centre St. ☎212-374-8244. Closed to the public.)

African Burial Ground. In 1991, archaeologists discovered the remains of over 20,000 slaves buried 20 ft. underground as they were testing the terrain for the construction of an office building. The site is today the largest excavated African cemetery in the world, encompassing five city blocks. The bodies, more than 40% of them children, were stacked on top of each other in unmarked graves until 1794; the site is evidence of New York’s often unacknowledged participation in the slave trade. Congress has declared it a national landmark. An “Ancestral Libation Chamber” has been constructed on the site to commemorate the African people buried here. (Corner of Duane and Elk St. Learn more at the Office of Public Education and Interpretation, 290 Broadway at Duane St. Open M-F 9am-4pm.)

South Street Seaport. The shipping industry thrived on this site for most of the 19th century, when New York was the most important port city in the US. In the 20th century, the industry gradually moved elsewhere and seedy bars, brothels, and crime took over. In the mid-1980s, the South Street Seaport Museum teamed up with the Rouse Corporation, which built Boston’s Quincy Market, to create a 12-block “museum without walls.” Unfortunately, the “museum” offers a great deal of unimaginative consumerism. Pier 17 houses a three-story mall with the usual array of chain stores.

Still, kids and nautical history buffs may enjoy a visit to the seaport’s piers. Nine historical ships are berthed here, and galleries showcase model ships, nautical designs, and paintings. The Seaport Museum Visitors Center provides detailed maps and sells passes to the galleries and ships. The Peking, built in 1911 by a Hamburg-based company, is the second-largest sailing ship ever launched. She spent most of her career on the “nitrate run” to Chile, which passes through one of the world’s most dangerous stretches of water. She also served as a floating boy’s school in England for nearly 40 years. The ship was towed to its current location in 1975. In addition to the Peking , there are seven other ships open to the public. Some are stationary, like the 325 ft. iron-hulled, full-rigged Wavertree and the Ambrose , a floating lighthouse built in 1908 to mark the entrance to New York Harbor. Others actually take to the open seas. The Pioneer (1885) offers 2hr. and 3hr. rides.

Back on land, the museum occupies a number of the area’s early 19th-century buildings. Bowne & Co., 211 Water St., is a re-creation of a printing shop. It offers demonstrations of letterpress printing. On Fulton St., between South and Front St., is Schermerhorn Row. Constructed between 1811 and 1812, these Georgian-Federal buildings once housed shops that served the throngs exiting the Fulton Ferry. They now offer gallery space to rotating exhibits run by the museum, free with admission. (Between FDR Dr. and Water St., and between Beekman and John St. S 2, 3, 4, 5, A, C, J, M, Z to Fulton St./Broadway/Nassau St. www.southstreetseaportmuseum.com. VISITORS CENTER: 12 Fulton St. ☎212-748-8600. Open Apr.-Oct. Tu-Su 10am-6pm, Nov.-Mar. M and F-Su 10am-5pm. Ships and galleries $8, students and seniors $6, children under 12 free. M $3 off.)

South Street Seaport. Unless you have a hankering for suburban-style chain stores, the South Street Seaport will likely disappoint. Luckily, the scene changes entirely just a few blocks away. Wander the cobblestone streets just south of the Brooklyn Bridge for a more authentic seaport feel and some excellent dining options.