Walking Manhattan. Ellen Levitt

       From the subway station, walk west along Chambers Street, named for John Chambers, a colonial-era lawyer who was involved in the 1735 trial of newspaper editor John Peter Zenger; the case is considered an important early test of freedom of the press and civil rights.Look at 160 Chambers. It’s an odd juxtaposition: This onetime firehouse is now … a nail salon? Dating to 1862, the building has served as a police station, hospital, firehouse (hence the ENGINE 29 sign), lumberyard, apartments, and service businesses.

       Cross Greenwich Street and make a left. Here is PS 234, a cheery elementary school with an innovative design, a nautical motif, pretty plantings, and a comical sculpture by Tom Otterness called Frog and Bee. After Murray Street, the sleek glass building on your right, 75 Park Place, is home to a couple of city agencies, including the Office of Management and Budget.

       Walk another block; at Park Place is a big reddish-brown building with the silver letters BMCC and CUNY affixed to it. This is Fiterman Hall, part of the Borough of Manhattan Community College, a well-regarded school in the City University of New York system. (The rest of the campus lies farther up Greenwich Street between Chambers and Harrison Streets; you’ll pass it later on.)

       Walk to Barclay Street to see Silverstein Family Park, a more-or-less triangle that is both somber and frivolous—the inscription THIS PARK IS DEDICATED TO THOSE WHO SURVIVED SEPTEMBER 11, 2001 rings a fountain, in the middle of which is a bulbous red statue by Jeff Koons. The park is in the footprint of the 7 World Trade Center building, destroyed on 9/11; a new 7 WTC was built a block away. Real estate magnate Larry Silverstein is a native son who founded Silverstein Properties, which had acquired the World Trade Center shortly before the terrorist attacks.

       Go right on Barclay to #101, the Bank of New York Mellon Corporation building—glass, glass, and steel for 25 stories. It was closed for several months after 9/11. Then check out the big sign for District Council 37, a city-employee union whose headquarters are located here at 125 Barclay.

       At West Street you have a futuristic and almost shocking sight: the huge, modern skyscrapers of Battery Park City, seemingly piled on top of each other. Don’t cross over yet, but ogle 200 West St., the Goldman Sachs tower that was opened in 2010. On your left, the older skyscraper is 140 West St., long known as the Verizon Building but constructed in 1920 for the New York Telephone Company. This Art Deco structure has some creative details, especially at the main entrance (delicate foliage and a bell for “Ma Bell”). The 9/11 attacks caused major damage, but the structure has been restored. Look to the left, past the Verizon Building, to see the new 1 World Trade Center—from here, the view is dizzying.

       Go left and, at Vesey Street, turn right, crossing West Street carefully. As you walk, you’ll see a few eateries and the Regal movie theater. Vesey ends at North End Avenue, a street solely within the boundaries of Battery Park City. Cross North End to see something drastically different from all the high-rises around here: the Irish Hunger Memorial.Resembling an overgrown ruin, this open-air museum is meant to raise awareness of the Great Irish Famine, which spurred much immigration to the United States and especially to New York City. The remnants of an authentic stone cottage were brought over to be part of the installation; the cottage was donated by the descendants of the family who originally lived in it. Stones bear the names of Irish counties; the landscaping comprises both soil and native plants imported from Ireland. A figure-eight walkway runs among the exhibits, and a walled entranceway