Sunday, July 21, 2013

The Wall Street Area, Walks (with Reviews)...Stock Exchange, Federal Hall and Trinity Church

I like this view of Lower Manhattan, it shows you the mix of old and new skyscrapers--including two of the classic old ones ( in the center, looming up, is 20 Exchange Place..now being converted to luxury apartments!)

 And here it is, the NY Stock Exchange, symbol of "The Street" and a great American landmark ( I am going to see if there are still guided tours here --NO, there are not, but there are Yelp reviews of Wall Street walking tours,so that will come at the end of this little grouping of pix..


Trinity Church, of course, with its zillions worth of real estate holdings, is still there...

 Tourists, of course, snapping away like crazy in all directions...

And finally, a convenient map of the area... 

 And now for those Yelp Reviews of Wall Street Walking Tours..


Wall Street Walks

4.5 star rating
14 reviews Rating Details
Category: Tours  [Edit]
55 Wall St
(between William St & Hanover St)
New York, NY 10005
Neighborhood: Financial District
Nearest Transit Station:
Wall St (2, 3)
Broad St (J, Z)
Wall St (4, 5)
Hours:
Mon, Wed, Fri 11 am - 12:30 pm
Mon, Wed, Fri 1 pm - 2:30 pm
Fri 3 pm - 5 pm
2.0 Miles from Wall Street Walks
Minhan S. said: "Their Shark speedboat ride was fun. The ticket was $23, but had a discount on goldstar.com and paid only $15. I expected the ride to be faster, but it was still fun.…" read more »
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14 reviews in English

  • Review from

    • 13 friends
    • 34 reviews
    5.0 star rating
    5/23/2013 1 check-in here
    What can I say it's The N.Y.C., thanks Will S.  Didn't understand why someone wanted to pose with the Bull's balls, but to each their own!
  • Review from

    4.0 star rating
    3/29/2013
    If you are visiting the Financial District in NYC for the first time and/or want to learn more about Wall Street, you should most definitely sign up for one of these tours. Our guide, Steve, apparently worked on Wall Street for more than 30 years, so he always answered questions with a high level of expertise. I definitely walked away satisfied and much more knowledgeable.

    Note that the entire tour consists almost entirely of walking outside, and only stopping when the tour guide has something interesting to say about one of the buildings on the route. Moreover, you don't actually get to go inside the New York Stock Exchange building, but that's due to security restrictions enacted after 9/11.

    The only caveat I have is that they use radios to make it easier for you to hear your tour guide. Essentially, every visitor gets an ear piece, and the tour guide has a radio that he talks into. Think of it as a real-time audio tour.

    In theory, this is a great idea (you can hear the tour guide speaking even if there are a lot of people around), but the radio devices are pretty low in quality, and several people on the tour had trouble. They also seem to have a pretty low range, which means if you don't stay close to the tour guide, you won't hear anything.

    Overall, if you have any interest at all in learning more about Wall Street and its associated institutions, I highly recommend making a reservation!
  • Review from

    5.0 star rating
    1/24/2012
    Being an Upper West Sider, Wall Street tends to be a whole other world to be. Suit after suit heading to the Stock Exchange or the tourists who want to go over to the Trinity Church. The bull statue waiting for the next clown to try and sit on it's head, but there is something very magical about all that. This entire area is beautiful to look at from an architectural standpoint. It's very old New York.

    It's always fun to pretend I'm a tourist for a day and just take mindless photos of everything around here. Hmmm maybe I should be the next clown to try and sit on the bulls head...
    Listed in: Welcome to New York
  • Review from

    4.0 star rating
    4/22/2012 1 photo 1 check-in here
    Money and power - you can smell it in the air. This is the heart of the largest economy on the planet (for the moment). Trillions of dollars flow through here every business day. It's awesome!

    While there is a lot of security to keep stupid people from driving in and doing something stupid and lots of wandering cops and security, it's still surprisingly open and accessible. And that's what makes America great. You can still protest (yes, the #Occupy folks were sitting on the steps of Federal Hall), but you can also be a plain old boring sightseer.

    When I was here last, there was a massive American flag draped over the front of the New York Stock Exchange. This time, it's just a very imposing and very boring building.

    Don't forget to walk down Broadway to the Charging Bull, which is still at least a little accessible for taking pictures like a tourist! It used to be possible to rub his "boy parts" which is supposed to give you good financial luck, but they've blocked that off. *sad face*
  • Review from

    5.0 star rating
    9/4/2011 1 check-in here
    I am a sucker for old-school ornate and art deco grandious style architecture and Wall Street is a wonderfully historic place to view it. You can walk these streets in the financial district and constantly look around, and up, in awe. Gigantic columns, statues, and structures on every building. I feel as if the modern era buildings have very little personality, while the old structures built years ago have a real soul, and most still look amazing.

    Trinity Church is such a beautiful gothic style structure that has the old world brushing up against the modern era all around it. Breathtaking and beautiful. It is also home to Alexander Hamilton's grave site.

    Close by is the Wall Street "Raging Bull" that is a big tourist picture spot right in front of Bowling Green Park. As we walked by there were a large group of people all jockeying for position to pose for pictures.

    This area always seems to have an electricity in the air as it is the center of commerce. Fortunes large and small are being made and lost in minutes. Movies and TV scenes are shot here. Books have been written about it. There is so much history here it is worth taking a tour of the area to check it out.
  • Review from

    • 79 friends
    • 1047 reviews
    5.0 star rating
    7/10/2011
    While touring New York, a visit to Wall Street is a necessity. The banking headquarters of the U.S., one can find sky scrapers for about every financial company they've ever heard of. Be sure to check out the Bank of New York at 1 Wall Street. Inside, the lobby is decorated in beautiful red Rookwood Tile. Security is stationed outside, so you may not get a close up look, but it is visible through the window.

    Also along Wall Street, one can find the infamous Raging Bull statue. Unfortunately, there are a never ending stream of tourists taking photographs with it, so if you want your picture too, you'll just have to jump in on a whim and have some random person on the other side of the bull.

    Be sure to check out Trinity Church as well for it's beautiful architecture and Alexander Hamilton's grave site.

    I also recommend taking this walking tour of Wall Street to learn more about the in-depth history of the Financial District:  http://www.wallstreetwal…

    Viewing Time: 2 hours
  • Review from

    5.0 star rating
    10/6/2012
    I signed myself and my fiancé up for Wall Street Walks' ghost tour to get us in the Halloween Spirit. We live in Brooklyn, so we usually don't bother with local touristy stuff, but I think we're both glad we bothered with this! Our tour guide, Steve, was the real deal; born and bred in New York, he has 20+ years at the New York Stock Exchange under his belt, a charming New York accent, a friendly demeanor, plus a whole lot of knowledge about his city (feel free to check his facts, he's got em' down). Steve introduced us to the dark underbelly of the Financial District with stories of historic betrayals, suicides, and local hauntings. Add in the blustery weather we were having and you've got yourself a ghost tour! Highly recommended for tourists and locals alike. Ask for Steve!
  • Review from

    5.0 star rating
    5/20/2011
    The energy on this street is amazing... not to mention all the good looking men in business suits!! BIG PLUS!!

    We saw Trinity church where Alexander Hamilton was buried and the famous Raging bull but trying to get a picture in front of it would prove to be impossible due to the crazy amount of tourists hovering around it. Either way.... it was a great experience and must see on a trip to NYC.

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