Tips for Taking a Walking Tour of TriBeCa New York

TriBeCa stands for Triangle Below Canal Street and if you look at the map
http://www.citidex.com/map/tribe.html?res=640
you will see that is exactly what it is. When planing your walking tour, try to head for one of the many parks as often as possible so you can take a rest break. There is a lot of walking to do on a tour of TriBeCa. And the more streets you see, the better. There is a variety of historic buildings, brownstones and the iron buildings that New York is famous for. Be prepared to shop and try out some great restaurants. TriBeCa with the scattered parks is the perfect neighborhood to come to for a walking tour. The New York City Parks Department does a great job of maintaining the park system, from the largest to the smallest and you might think about bringing a picnic lunch to enjoy in one of them. You can see much of historic New York and take your time doing it. It is a nice relaxing walk, long but not tedious. Take some time to walk over to the West Side Highway and get a view of the Hudson River. The river breezes will be a refreshing break and you might be lucky and see one of the ocean liners coming into port.

Little Singer Building
http://www.nyc-architecture.com/SOH/SOH001.htm
The Little Singer Building is one you have to have on your walking tour. It is the perfect example of how New York has transformed the use of the older beautiful buildings with our changing the outward appearance. Once an office building for the Singer Sowing Machine Company, it is now a mixed use building, offices and some pretty special one of a kind condo units.

New York City Fire Museum
http://www.nycfiremuseum.org/index.php
The kids will love this one and so will you. It is in a early 20th century fire house and traces the history of the fire department from the time of the horse drawn vehicles up to the present.

Duane Park
http://www.nycgovparks.org/sub_your_park/historical_signs/hs_historical_sign.php?id=11988
Duane Park appears on the map as a little triangle of green just east of TriBeCa Park and that is exactly what it is. It is what is called a pocket park, just a little over a tenth of an acre, but at one time it was part of one of the largest farms in the area, way back when New York City itself was only in the downtown part of what is now the city.

TriBeCa Park
http://www.nycgovparks.org/sub_your_park/lmr/html/tribeca_park.html
TriBeCa Park is one of the smallest in the city, no grass but plenty of flowers and trees and benches to sit and enjoy them.