The Financial District: the island's tip
Wall Street, a colonial alley, the harbour, and the names cut into the memorial pools. This is a Claude-drafted route awaiting the editor's walk.

1. Federal Hall
Start on the steps under the bronze Washington. This is where he was sworn in as the first president, and the columns make a good vantage on the narrow canyon of Wall Street below.

2. Trinity Church
Walk west to where Wall Street runs into Broadway and the church closes the view. The graveyard is open and quiet; Alexander Hamilton is buried in it, off to the right.

3. Stone Street
Double back south to one of the oldest streets in the city, now a pedestrian run of cobbles and outdoor tables. Empty and atmospheric in the morning before the lunch trade arrives.

4. Charging Bull & Fearless Girl
The bull sits at the top of Bowling Green; the girl now stands across from the Stock Exchange. You'll queue behind a tour group for the bull. Worth it once, then keep moving.

5. The Battery
The island runs out here into the harbour. From the water's edge you can see the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island; the Staten Island Ferry terminal is to your left, free and a transit line in its own right.

6. 9/11 Memorial pools
Walk back north to the two pools set in the towers' footprints, the names cut into the bronze parapets and the water falling into the dark below. A place to be quiet, not to photograph.

7. The Oculus
The white ribbed transit hall next to the pools — Calatrava's, finished in 2016. Step inside for the light through the spine, then down to the trains for the way out.

The Financial District: the island's tip