Little Syria and Lower West Side

Remembering a vital immigrant neighborhood

(Best suited for adults and teenagers that have a strong interest in immigrant history and neighborhood development.)

Duration

2 hours, about 1 mile

Overview

Immigration is the classic New York City story, and when we think of it, we typically think of the Lower East Side. However, there is a lesser-known history of immigrants who arrived between the 1840s up to the 1960s in the “Lower West Side” (LWS) of Manhattan. These immigrants included Germans and Irish, Middle Easterners, and Slavic groups, among many others. In 1917, twenty-seven nationalities among 8,000 inhabitants were reported to have lived here. Today, we know the area as the World Trade Center and the Financial District.

The LWS’s Washington Street in particular was once home to the first Arabic-speaking community in the United States. Once known as the “Syrian Quarter” in the late 19th century, this area became the Mother Colony from which the Arab American diaspora sprung, and is today often recalled as “Little Syria.”

While the immigrant hubs called the “Lower West Side” and “Little Syria” by local preservationists no longer exist, this tour aims to uncover their history to remind us of what once was — and what could still be possible elsewhere. Today, only three buildings from the era remain, but this tour brings the stories of this neighborhood to life once more.

Tour Highlights:

• 3-D map of the original Dutch settlement of New Amsterdam

• The site of the home of the first free Muslim settler to North America

• Fraunces Tavern and its role in diplomacy with the Muslim world

• The neighborhood of writers Kahlil Gibran, Ameen Rihani, and Edgar Allen Poe

• The location slated to be the site of the first memorial to the Arab American community in the United States

• The facade of a landmarked Syrian Catholic church built in 1812

• The Downtown Community House that served the poor since 1925

• The “last tenement” of the Lower West Side

• Based on availability, a meeting with a preservationist who lives in the last tenement of the Lower West Side

Please Note

This tour walks through Lower Manhattan. It starts in front of the Staten Island Ferry Terminal

*Tours take place rain or shine ​— dress for the weather!

Private Group: Please contact us for pricing and availability