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This walking tour traces the history of Black neighborhoods in Lower Manhattan from the 1600s to today, exploring how Black New Yorkers built community, claimed space, and were repeatedly pushed out. Beginning near Bowling Green, the walk moves through sites connected to early Dutch settlement, the 1712 revolt, the Land of the Blacks, the African Burial Ground, Five Points, and into the Lower East Side.

Along the way, we examine how land ownership, housing policy, and urban development shaped where Black New Yorkers could live and thrive, while contrasting these conditions with the growth of white communities. Using maps and archival images, we bring lost neighborhoods to life and connect past displacement to present-day housing struggles, ending near First Houses and Essex Market.