WALL ST/STATUE OF LIBERTY/ELLIS ISLAND
You MUST get here early. Aim to arrive at the ticket office at 08.00am. If you leave it later the queue goes around the park and can take over two hours. Get off the A train at Broadway and Nassau Street Station. Walk down Nassau Street passing the Federal Reserve bank, Chase Manhatten bank, The Equitable building, walk west down Wall Street (take photos of road sign) and pass the New York Stock Exchange. Wall Street itself took its name from a small wooden defence wall the Dutch built in 1653 to mark the northern limit of New Amsterdam. Turn left at Broadway and head south towards Battery Park.

The 21-acre Battery Park is named for the cannons built to defend residents after the American Revolution. Walk through Battery Park to Castle Clinton national Monument, where you purchase boat tickets. The Castle was built in 1811 to defend Manhattan from the British. Once an island but now part of lower Manhattan due to a landfill. It has been used for many things over the years, including a concert hall, a processing centre for immigrants and an aquarium. It is now where the ticket office for the Statue of Liberty Ferry tours is located. It just looks like a round brick building. Boats start at 8:30am until 5:00pm Costs: Round Trip ferry tickets cost $10.00 for adults. You can save time by booking the tickets on-line. You go to a pre-booked ticket desk inside the fort. Do not wait at the normal ticket booths. There is no admission fee for Liberty and Ellis Island. The Staten Island Ferry leaves from the pier to the left of the park (when you are looking out to sea)

Ellis Island is a symbol of America's immigrant heritage. More than 70% of immigrants landed in New York, the country's largest port. First and second class passengers were processed on board ship, but third or steerage class were ferried to Ellis Island when they underwent medical and legal examinations in the Main Building. The museum contains three floors of self guided exhibits and audio/visual displays detailing the history of immigration processing station between 1892 and 1954. You can tour the Great Hall where immigrant legal and medical inspections took place. Be sure to view the artefacts on display: baggage, immigrant clothing and costumes, passports, steamer and railroad tickets, ship passenger manifests, etc.

NOTE:
- some of the cheapest New York tourist T shirts and sweat shirts can be found on the stalls in Battery Park. They are the same ones you see in the shops but a lot cheaper.

Directions
Now walk back through the park to Bowling Green Subway Station. Take the 6 train uptown (signed Pelham Bay Park). Get off at Canal St Station. Walk east down canal street six blocks. Turn right down Mott Street. You are now in China town. Walk for three blocks until you hit Worth Street. Turn right. Take the next right called Mulberry Street and keep walking north. As you pass Canal Street again China Town will start to become Little Italy.

CHINA TOWN
New York City’s Chinatown is very disappointing. It is not as attractive as other American city China Towns. Food tip: Step into one of the many Chinese delis and ask for sticky sweet rice cakes. They are white, cut in squares, soft, and gooey. bargains on clothing and leather are plentiful. The Canal Street (J, M, Z, N, R, 6, Q, W) station will get you to the heart of the action. Go down Canal Street, Mott Street, Bowery Street, Mulberry Street. Make sure you bargain just like you would if you were in a Hong Kong market!

LITTLE ITALY
North of Canal Street is Little Italy. There are some good restaurants but the area is very disappointing. To the south is China Town. Mulberry St. is the main strip from Spring Street to Canal Street..

Directions
When you hit the junction with Spring Street turn left and walk 5 blocks. Turn right up Greene Street. You are now in SoHo.

SOHO
Located right next door to Greenwhich Village SoHo, the Manhattan neighborhood SOuth of HOuston St, has the world's largest collection of cast-iron facades. This construction technique not only reduced cost but allowed for ornate features to be prefabricated in foundries from moulds and used as building facades. Have a look at the shops and you will notice that they are very open plan without columns or walls supporting the roof. This is was one of the first places this construction technique was used. SoHo is on the site of the first free black community on the Island. This area was settled in 1664 by former slaves who were granted land for farms. During the 19th century SoHo became an industrial area with many cast-iron commercial and warehouse buildings. Soho was threatened with demolition in the 1960s until the cast-iron buildings were saved by artist who begun to move into these lofts as the rents were low. In the 60s, painters and sculptors were attracted by the lofts or old warehouses with huge spaces The area became very trendy. Rents went up. Exclusive art galleries opened soon, followed by restaurants and shops. Some of the best cast-iron buildings can be found on Greene Street. Also a famous sight in Soho are the fire stairs outside the houses (although you can find them also in other districts). Many of the old buildings have iron and steel frames which allows them to be built with fewer interior beams. This gives many of the interior spaces a more open and spacious feel. As a result, many artists began to buy them up in the sixties and still today some of the coolest lofts in the city are here. Walk into any of the galleries housed within to see the spacious interior lofts. 420 Broadway was where Roy Lichtenstein and Andy Warhol exhibited they paintings in New York in the 1960’s. Harry Houdini worked as a tile cutter nearby until he became famous. Lots of chic bars stores and restaurants followed the galleries. Fashionable places to eat and drink is what SoHo is about.

Directions
In Greene Street at the next junction turn right down Princes Street. Walk 2 blocks and turn left into Broadway. Go down the Broadway Lafayette Street Subway Station. Take the S,V,6, (local, not express) train uptown, Get off at West 4 Street, Washington Square Station

GREENWICH VILLAGE
The ‘Village’ is from Broadway west to the Hudson River, bordered by Houston Street to the south and 14th Street to the north. Serpentine Bleecker Street stretches through most of the neighbourhood. Washington Square and its arch is the heart of the Village. As soon as you get out of the subway station you know you have arrived at a different district of New York. The first thing you notice is that the High-rise office tower blocks have disappeared. You will find quaint side streets and stunning historic brownstone. (St Luke's Place and Morton Street are supposed to be very attractive. They have stunning rows of lovely houses from the 1850's - it's a very charming, romantic scene and probably one of the most beautiful blocks you'll find in the city.)

Directions
Get off the subway at West 4 Street, Washington Square Station. Walk right and visit the Square. Come back towards the Subway station. Walk west along West 4th Street. Cross the big road called Ave of the Americas. Take the next left called Cornella Street. At the T junction turn left and then first right into Leroy Street. Go straight at the next multiple junction. This leads into is one of the pretty roads called St Luke’s Place. Walk west for two blocks and turn right into Greenwich Street (take Photo) Take the next right an walk back on your self up Morton Street again one of the pretty streets. Walk for two blocks and then turn left for four blocks until you hit a T junction with Christopher Street. Turn right. This is the lively gay area. Keep walking for two blocks. Take the subway uptown at Christopher road - Sheridan Square station to 34th Street Penn Station