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Tour of the Manhattan Civic Center

From Arrest to Appeal – A Tour of the Manhattan Civic Center

Few people know the true origins of law and order in New York City. From the creation of the nation’s first Supreme Court to the deliberate starvation of 2,000 Patriots in the Bridewell Prison, crime and punishment in New York has played out in the Civic Center, a square-mile area that houses Manhattan’s courts and prisons.

This tour covers the justice system from the Dutch stocks and pillories of the 1600s, to today’s Metropolitan Correctional Center, home to the likes of Bernie Madoff, John Gotti and Sheik Abu Hamza. We will see why it took “Boss Tweed” 20 years to build the magnificent courthouse that bears his name and discover that the entire area was once a bucolic, 49-acre, 60-foot-deep pond that supplied fresh water to New York before it became a stagnant, polluted wasteland fit only to house the Tombs prison and the Irish immigrants of the Five Points.

We will walk down Chambers Street and see the site of the Almshouse, the scene of New York’s first riot—the Doctor’s Riot of 1788, caused by a backlash against grave-robbing medical students. Further on we will see magnificent examples of Beaux Arts architecture—an attempt at grandeur fostered by the City Beautiful movement. We will cover both the State Supreme Court (popularly known as the “Law and Order” court) and the Federal Court, with emphasis on the notable and the notorious.

What happens when a New Yorker is arrested? You will find out when we stop by Central Booking (read the Yelp reviews) and enter 100 Centre St. to observe Criminal Court arraignments. Open 24/7, the due administration of justice is always a sight to see.

Want to see where Judge Judy got her start? Where a federal judge found public art in front of a courthouse so ugly he ordered its removal? A window taken from a prison where over 500 prisoners were squashed into a single room? Then check your weapons and join tour guide and court insider Linda Fisher for a 2-hour tour of the Manhattan Civic Center.

Meet on the steps of the Tweed Courthouse—52 Chambers St.

Tickets $23.











When: Sat., Jun. 27, 2015 at 1:30 pm - 3:00 pm

From Arrest to Appeal – A Tour of the Manhattan Civic Center

Few people know the true origins of law and order in New York City. From the creation of the nation’s first Supreme Court to the deliberate starvation of 2,000 Patriots in the Bridewell Prison, crime and punishment in New York has played out in the Civic Center, a square-mile area that houses Manhattan’s courts and prisons.

This tour covers the justice system from the Dutch stocks and pillories of the 1600s, to today’s Metropolitan Correctional Center, home to the likes of Bernie Madoff, John Gotti and Sheik Abu Hamza. We will see why it took “Boss Tweed” 20 years to build the magnificent courthouse that bears his name and discover that the entire area was once a bucolic, 49-acre, 60-foot-deep pond that supplied fresh water to New York before it became a stagnant, polluted wasteland fit only to house the Tombs prison and the Irish immigrants of the Five Points.

We will walk down Chambers Street and see the site of the Almshouse, the scene of New York’s first riot—the Doctor’s Riot of 1788, caused by a backlash against grave-robbing medical students. Further on we will see magnificent examples of Beaux Arts architecture—an attempt at grandeur fostered by the City Beautiful movement. We will cover both the State Supreme Court (popularly known as the “Law and Order” court) and the Federal Court, with emphasis on the notable and the notorious.

What happens when a New Yorker is arrested? You will find out when we stop by Central Booking (read the Yelp reviews) and enter 100 Centre St. to observe Criminal Court arraignments. Open 24/7, the due administration of justice is always a sight to see.

Want to see where Judge Judy got her start? Where a federal judge found public art in front of a courthouse so ugly he ordered its removal? A window taken from a prison where over 500 prisoners were squashed into a single room? Then check your weapons and join tour guide and court insider Linda Fisher for a 2-hour tour of the Manhattan Civic Center.

Meet on the steps of the Tweed Courthouse—52 Chambers St.

Tickets $23.

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