This week our summer interns had the opportunity to go on a walking history and food tour of Lower Manhattan. Starting at the African Burial Ground National Monument, we then walked through Foley Square to get to Chinatown, where we stopped for our first food stop, fried dumplings.

Starting the tour in front of the African Burial Ground

Crossing over Canal Street, we walked through Little Italy, and after a sit down pizza break, we continued the tour toward the Bowery and the Lower East Side, where we tasted knishes from a Jewish bakery that’s over 100 years old. In each neighborhood we learned about the lives of African, Irish, Chinese, Italian and Jewish immigrants in NYC, their trials and triumphs moving to a new home and how they in turn shaped the city and the country.

Walking through Chinatown on our way to Little Italy

Finishing off our tour at a German beer garden, we hope the interns got a chance to see and appreciate some of the many iconic neighborhoods New York has to offer. At the very least they certainly got plenty to eat!