The tip of Manhattan is where the city started and where it keeps its biggest gestures: the seat of the first government, the church that still closes the end of Wall Street, the harbour that took the immigrants in, and the two pools that mark what was lost.
Start at Federal Hall, on the steps where Washington was sworn in, then walk Wall Street west until Trinity Church stops it dead — the graveyard is open, and Hamilton is in it. Cut south to Stone Street, a cobbled colonial line best caught in the morning before the tables fill. The Charging Bull and Fearless Girl are the obligatory photograph; take it and move on to the Battery, where the island runs out into the water and the Statue of Liberty sits offshore. The Staten Island Ferry leaves from here, free, if you want the harbour properly.
Then north to the 9/11 Memorial — the two pools in the towers' footprints, the names in bronze, the water falling. Be quiet here. The white wings of the Oculus are next door, and the trains out are underneath.
