Extra! Extra! Exploring Downtown Manhattan's Newspaper Legacy

It's impossible to tell the story of New York City without including the history of its newspapers, which have been chronicling, and shaping, the rise of Gotham from 1725 — 60 years after New York became a British Colony and 64 years before the First Amendment guaranteed the right to a free press. How did the newspaper industry evolve with the city to quench the thirst for news coverage of the Big Apple and beyond? And who were the reporters and moguls who achieved fame and fortune along the way? It's time to hit the streets of Downtown Manhattan to uncover the epic origins of the American newspaper industry.

Join New York Adventure Club as we explore the history and influence of New York's newspapers from 1725 to the 1963 Newspaper Strike, which was the final death knell for many of the city's longest-standing newspapers.

Led by licensed New York City Tour Guide and former reporter & editor Michael Morgenthal — who first became fascinated with news ever since assembling the Sunday New York Times as a teenager in his uncle's store — our tour of New York's newspaper legacy will include:

• A look at the site of the famous libel trial of early NYC newspaper publisher John Peter Zenger, which served as a precursor to the establishment of the Freedom of the Press decades later in the Bill of Rights
• A discussion of how Harper's Weekly cartoonist Thomas Nast exposed a network of corruption orchestrated by Tammany Hall leader Boss Tweed
• A visit to the gravesite of Alexander Hamilton, founder of the New York Post, to discuss the overt politics and "Fake News" of post-Revolution New York City's newspapers — plus the importance newspapers played in New York's ratification of the U.S. Constitution
• A walk past the former headquarters of the New York Times — now a part of Pace University and the only newspaper building still standing on Newspaper Row — to explore The New York Times' rise from a second-rate rag to the preeminent newspaper in the United States, thanks to Tennessee native Adolph Ochs
• Stories of legendary newspaper figures such as Horace Greeley, Nellie Bly, William Randolph Hearst, and scores of others
• The inside story of the most famous newspaper headlines and articles in New York's history, such as "Ford to City: Drop Dead," "Headless Body in Topless Bar," and the clever campaign to fund the Statue of Liberty

See you there!

*Please bring a water bottle and comfortable pair of shoes as we’ll be doing a lot of walking!

**The tour ends in front of Pace University at One Pace Plaza (Park Row between Spruce and Frankfort)

Disclaimer

Event takes place rain or shine.

By attending a New York Adventure Club experience, you accept our terms of service.

Categories: In-Person, Neighborhood Tours

Host or Publisher New York Adventure Club