New York City (Fodor's, 2012) - Fodor's [22]
Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
With its imposing mix of sandstone, limestone, and ironwork, the reserve looks the way a bank ought to: strong and impregnable. The gold ingots in the subterranean vaults here are worth roughly $140 billion—reputedly a third of the world’s gold reserves. Hour-long tours (conducted six times a day and requiring reservations made at least five days in advance) include a visit to the gold vault, the trading desk, and “FedWorks,” a multimedia exhibit center where you can track hypothetical trades. Visitors must show an officially issued photo ID, such as a driver’s license or passport, and pass through scanning equipment to enter the building; the Fed advises showing up 20 minutes before your tour to accommodate security screening. Photography is not permitted. | 33 Liberty St., between William and Nassau Sts., Lower Manhattan | 10045 | 212/720–6130 | www.newyorkfed.org | Free | 1-hr tour by advance reservation, weekdays 9:30–3:30 | Subway: A, C to Broadway-Nassau; J, Z, 2, 3, 4, 5 to Fulton St.
Fraunces Tavern.
In his pre-presidential days as a general, George Washington celebrated the end of the Revolutionary War here in 1783, bidding a farewell to his officers upon the British evacuation of New York. Today the former tavern is a museum covering two floors above a restaurant and bar. It has two fully furnished period rooms—including the Long Room, site of Washington’s address—and other modest displays of 18th- and 19th-century American history. The museum also hosts lectures. After both the bar and restaurant were closed for almost a year, 2011 has seen the reopening of the bar, the Rum House, with the restaurant supposedly following soon. | 54 Pearl St., at Broad St., Lower Manhattan | 10004 | 212/425–1778 | www.frauncestavernmuseum.org | $10 | Mon.–Sat. noon–5 | Subway: R to Whitehall St.; 4, 5 to Bowling Green; 1 to South Ferry; J, Z to Broad St.
St. Paul’s Chapel.
For more than a year after the World Trade Center attacks, the chapel’s fence served as a shrine for visitors seeking solace. People from around the world left tokens of grief and support, or signed one of the large drop cloths that hung from the fence. After having served as a 24-hour refuge where rescue and recovery workers could eat, pray, rest, and receive counseling, the chapel, which amazingly suffered no damage, reopened to the public in fall 2002. The powerful ongoing exhibit, titled Unwavering Spirit: Hope & Healing at Ground Zero, honors the efforts of rescue workers in the months after September 11 with photos, drawings, banners, and other items sent to them or as memorials. Open since 1766, St. Paul’s is the oldest public building in continuous use in Manhattan. | 209 Broadway, at Fulton St., Lower Manhattan | 10007 | 212/233–4164 | www.saintpaulschapel.org | Weekdays 10–6, Sat. 10–4, Sun. 7–3 | Subway: 2, 3, 4, 5, A, C, J, Z to Broadway-Nassau; 4, 5 to Broadway-Nassau; E to Chambers; 6 to Brooklyn Bridge/City Hall.
Trinity Church.
Alexander Hamilton is buried under a white-stone pyramid in the church’s graveyard, not far from a monument commemorating steamboat inventor Robert Fulton (buried in the Livingston family vault with his wife). The church (the third on this site) was designed in 1846 by Richard Upjohn. Its most notable feature is the set of enormous bronze doors designed by Richard Morris Hunt to recall Lorenzo Ghiberti’s doors for the Baptistery in Florence, Italy. Trinity Root, a 12½-foot-high, 3-ton sculpture by Steven Tobin cast from the sycamore tree struck by debris on 9/11 behind St. Paul’s Chapel, was