Walking Manhattan. Ellen Levitt
This is the original cemetery of the Spanish–Portuguese synagogue Shearith Israel, established in 1654. It is the very first Jewish cemetery in the United States and the second-oldest burial ground in Manhattan—only the northernmost section of the cemetery at Trinity Church is older (see Walk 3). This is just a small portion of the original graveyard, situated on land purchased by the congregation from the Roosevelt family. Shearith Israel has two other small cemeteries in Manhattan (see Walk 9, Central Greenwich Village, and Walk 12, Chelsea and Madison Square Park; also see Walk 21, Central Park West, which includes the synagogue itself). This highly historic site is bedraggled now, but pay it respect.
Walk a couple of blocks down St. James Place, passing James Madison Plaza on your right. Across Pearl Street on your right is a smaller triangular building, Murry Bergtraum High School. I taught here for five years (see Back Story), and it was a very good experience, although the classroom layout took some getting used to.
Backtrack on St. James Place to James Street, and turn right. At the corner stands a triangle-shaped school building, Hall of St. James School, now used by the Transfiguration School upper campus (you passed Church of the Transfiguration a few blocks back, at Mott and Mosco Streets). Above the entrance, note the logo with the interlocking S and J.
Walk south on James Street to see St. James Church, built in 1836. It’s the second-oldest Catholic church building still standing in New York City; however, there is currently no active parish here. At the end of James Street you can see the sort-of-X-shaped apartment buildings of the Smith Houses, a public housing project named for Al Smith, a four-term governor of New York.
Make a left on Madison Street and walk two blocks to Catherine Street. Make another left and admire the neat little brick Chinese United Methodist Church. It has pretty stained-glass windows and a plaque about the Five Points Mission, a Methodist charity established in 1850 (it moved to this site in 1921). As you cross Henry Street, you’ll again see PS 001 on your left.
Walk farther on Catherine and cross Bowery carefully, merging onto Doyers Street, a crooked little thoroughfare with an ugly concrete box of a post office. A bend in the street was known as the “Bloody Angle” decades ago because Chinese gangs (tongs) would fight there. At #13 is the Nom Wah Tea Parlor, which has been serving dim sum since 1920.
Doyers ends at Pell Street; make a right on Pell and walk until you hit Bowery in one block. Across the street is the Confucius Plaza complex. Go left on Bowery, crossing Bayard Street and then walking a lengthier block to Canal Street. To the right you have the Manhattan Bridge, and catty-corner from you is the Mahayana Temple Buddhist Association. It’s big and colorful—and housed in a former adult-movie theater.
Make a left on Canal—which was indeed a canal long ago—and pass a multitude of stores, offices, eateries, sidewalk vendors … a bit dizzying perhaps, but definitely an experience. You can catch the subway where Canal intersects Centre Street or Lafayette Street.
POINTS OF INTEREST
Surrogate’s Court Building nycourts.gov/courts/1jd/surrogates, 31 Chambers St., 646-386-5000
Manhattan Municipal Building manhattanbp.nyc.gov, 1 Centre St., 212-669-8300
City Hall Park and City Hall nycgovparks.org/parks/city-hall-park, Broadway and Park Row at Barclay Street, 212-639-9675
Thurgood Marshall US Courthouse ca2.uscourts.gov, 40 Foley Square, 212-857-8500
New York State Supreme Court nycourts.gov, 60 Centre St., 646-386-3600
African Burial Ground National Monument nps.gov/afbg, 290 Broadway, 212-637-2019
Columbus Park nycgovparks.org/parks/columbus-park-m015, bounded by Mulberry Street, Baxter Street, Worth Street, and Bayard Street
Church of the Most Precious Blood tinyurl.com/mostpreciousblood, 109 Mulberry St., 212-226-6427
The Original Vincent’s tinyurl.com/originalvincents, 119 Mott St., 212-226-8133
House of Vegetarian 68 Mott St., 212-226-6572
The Original Chinatown Ice Cream Factory chinatownicecreamfactory.com, 65 Bayard St., 212-608-4170
Church of the Transfiguration transfigurationnyc.org, 29 Mott St., 212-962-5157
Kimlau Square nycgovparks.org/parks/kimlau-square, bounded by Park Row/Chatham Square/Bowery, Oliver Street, and East Broadway
PS 001 Alfred E. Smith tinyurl.com/ps001alfredesmith, 8 Henry St., 212-267-4133
Chatham Square Cemetery, Congregation Shearith Israel shearithisrael.org/content/chatham-square-cemetery, 55 St. James Place
Murry Bergtraum High School for Business Careers tinyurl.com/bergtraumhs, 411 Pearl St., 212-964-9610
Chinese United Methodist Church cumc-nyc.org, 69 Madison St., 212-267-6464
Nom Wah Tea Parlor nomwah.com, 13 Doyers St., 212-962-6047
Mahayana Temple Buddhist Association mahayana.us, 113 Canal St., 212-925-8787
ROUTE SUMMARY
1 Walk up Broadway from City Hall station.
2 Walk right on Chambers Street to the Manhattan Municipal Building, across Centre Street.
3 Cross Centre Street to explore City Hall Park, then return to the Municipal Building.
4 Walk through the arcade/plaza of the Municipal Building and, where the walkway ends, turn left on St. Andrew’s Plaza.
5 Follow St. Andrew’s Plaza back to Centre Street, and turn right.
6 Go northeast on Centre Street into Foley Square and Thomas Paine Park.
7 From the south end of Foley Square, walk northwest on Duane Street to Elk Street.
8 Double back on Duane Street and make a left on Lafayette Street.
9 Make a right on Worth Street.
10 Go left on Baxter Street with Columbus Park on your right; enter the park in the middle of the block.
11 Go north on Mulberry Street out of the park.
12 Go right on Hester Street.
13 Go right on Mott Street.
14 Where Mott ends, cross Bowery to Kimlau Square, then go south on Oliver Street.
15 Make a left on Henry Street, walk halfway down the block, then go back the way you came to Oliver Street and then St. James Place.
16 Make a left on St. James, then turn around at Pearl Street.
17 Go right on James Street.
18 Go left on Madison Street.
19 Go