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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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These buildings 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. |
 1. Starting at the Arch in Washington Square Park we will have a brief discussion of the Urban Renewal program and Landmark Preservation movement. If you scroll up and look at the top pictures you will see the rendering of the Urban Renewal Plan, which was created to remove the "blight" from the neighborhood. How did local politics come into play?
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 2. This was the Philip Johnson Master plan which was proposed before Bobst was constructed. Bobst was to be the prototypical building of 150 feet high and made of red sandstone. Do you know what happened to the sandstone quarry?
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 3. This was the vacant lot after the former structures were demolished where Bobst now sits. Can you see why the community was a bit perturbed about Bobst's lack of open space?
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 4. We will then carefully cross the street to walk on the recreated bluestone sidewalk, which came into existence out of a Landmarks Preservation controversy. Can you tell which flags are new and which are original?
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 5. Walking around the corner we will go through the privately owned street called Washington Mews and discuss its history.
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 6. When we approach Fifth Avenue we will discuss the creation of the address 1/2 Fifth Avenue and will view the Kimmel Building from the north. Do you know why the address of 1/2 was chosen?
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 7. Why is this house different from all of the other rowhouses? Why is this door painted green?
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 8. Why is the balustrade beige and the cornice black? Why isn't it the same colors as Goddard Hall, namely beige and red?
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 9. HISTORICAL NOTE: On March 25, 1911 the Asche Building had the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire.
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 10. HISTORICAL NOTE: On March 25, 1990 the Happyland Fire in the Bronx occurred. How did both fires affect NYU's real estate portfolio?
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 11. This is a view of the Arch when Loeb Student Center was still standing, when the trees covered Loeb and when the camera is not tilted.
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  12. This is the view after the Kimmel Center was completed. As you can see, it depends on how you tilt your camera to show if Kimmel is in the view or not. If you scroll up to picture No. 1, you can see the view before Loeb was even built; and the warehouse behind Loeb was still visible.
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 13. We will continue west on Washington Square North and then south on Washington Square West.Which plaque received a Landmarks Preservation Violation for not being filed when it was installed by a civic group?
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 14. We will leave the Greenwich Village Historic District and walk on MacDougal Street and pass the former Provincetown Playhouse site.
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 15. Continuing our walk, we will pass the 3 houses which were once the "poster child" of the Urban Renewal plan, depicting the blight.
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 16. The same 3 houses are currently protected by the Landmarks Preservation Commission.
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 17. Do you know why Bobst sticks out so far to the west on LaGuardia Place? Do you know why it is now called LaGuardia Place and not West Broadway or Lower Fifth Avenue?
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 18. Do you know where the open space and FAR went to for this garden space? What is underneath the street?
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 19. Walking eastward on West Third Street we will discuss the former Elevated Subway line. Do you know where the Poe House actually was situated before it's facade was incorporated into Furman Hall?
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 20. We go south on La Guardia Place discussing the whole issue of Robert Moses and Mayor LaGuardia. We will then walk through the residential portion of the Urban Renewal plan, staying on the former street grid.
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 21. The retail area of the Urban Renewal Plan (with a commercial overlay) once housed the Martin Luther King Center African-American Student Center.
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 22. The interior open space of Washington Square Village is not open to the public or even to NYU affiliates. Do you know who is permitted to use the elevated park?
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 23. We then cross Bleecker Street and walk through the I. M. Pei superblock and discuss the lawsuit by Edward I. Koch and the creation of the third tower for community residents. Do you think that Picasso was the artist of the large Sylvette sculpture or could it be some Norwegian named Carl?
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 24. The tour ends up on Houston Street walking back to the Puck Building. We will pass another lawsuit dealing with who owns public artwork that is installed on the side of a commercial condo within a Historic District. Do you know who owns the public artwork that is affixed to buildings? Is it the condo, the artist or the city?
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 25. Is this obscene? How does the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution affect land use law when it comes to public advertising signs and the regulations that control them? The First Amendment also comes into play with religious land use issues, such as Crosses on public lands, and steeple heights, etc.
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Useful Information: Click Here to see the NYC Zoning Map for the area around NYU. Click Here to see the Landmarks Preservation Designation Report for the NYU block of Silver Towers (Block 524). Most of the area is in the R7-2 Zoning District, which permits residential and community facility (university) uses as-of-right, with a maximum residential FAR of 3.44 and a Community Facility (or mixed building) FAR of 6.5. Part of the area is covered with special Urban Renewal restrictions and covenants. |
ABOUT THE TOUR GUIDE
Please Click Here to Email for Reservations or and Questions. You must get a written confirmation before the tour is final.
 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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"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. |
TRIBECA TOURS:  Walk through the past 30 years of changes in what is now called Tribeca. NOSTALGIC TRIBECA WEST TRIBECA WEST New York Law School Tours: Each year I present several tours for New York Law School including a tour of TRIBECA AND THE COURT HOUSES - Introduction to all the Legal Resources in the area. 
and a tour for the Reunion for the Alumni
and a lectures/tours for the honor students, such as Land Use Issues in Tribeca West and Trump Condo-Hotel Litigation
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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. |
THE JEWS OF NEW AMSTERDAM/LOWER EAST SIDE:
 Focusing on the early Jewish roots of New Amsterdam and New York City, including several Jewish cemeteries. The tour will discuss the treatment and contributions of the colonies' and America's earliest Jewish settlers, including both Ashkenazi and Sephardic Jews who came to the "New World" in the 1600's. The life of Asser Levy and the 23 Jews who came from Recife will be discussed. Lower Manhattan contains several memorials and actual locations (buildings now long gone) and remnants of several cemeteries at Chatham Square, West 11th and West 22nd Streets. 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. 
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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.
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CLICK HERE TO BOOK A TOUR OR FOR QUESTIONS. YOU MUST GET A WRITTEN CONFIRMATION BEFORE THE TOUR IS RESERVED. |
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