PlaceChase FiDi

Explore the heart of old New Amsterdam and the place where New York’s runaway growth was fueled. Three separate curated walking routes extend southwards from City Hall to the southern tip of Manhattan – colonial era New York of the 1600s and 1700s, the NYC Colossus of the 1800s or the New York of outsiders, some welcomed but many not. You may opt to follow one or more routes in their entirety or pick and choose sites and places from among them – explore as much or a little as you want, when you want, in any order that you want and however you want.  NYC is a city of untold stories, all of them fascinating and so many overlooked. Did you know that infamous outlaw Billy the Kid was christened here in the gritty heart of FiDi? Or that a slave-king got to rule once a year for Pinckster Days? Or that coffee drinkers chased out the slave market? Or that there was a plan afoot to balance Lady Liberty on top of the Washington Monument, or another to place a giant illuminated wrist-watch around her upraised torch-arm? Or how about that the Post Office used to send live cats through pneumatic underground mail tubes to prove their reliability. Perhaps you remember that Jefferson had a phobia about public speaking, but could you imaging it possible that the last veteran of the War of 1812 lived to 1905, his long life due in his words to whisky and cigarettes?  PlaceChase makes New York come alive by exploring both the sights you think you know, and the ones you definitely do not, in ways that surprise and engage. As you walk, we provide an entertaining and fun-filled narrative that you may listen to or read, with links to historical maps, paintings, newspapers and other visual content to illuminate the stories. There’s even a trivia quiz component for the competitive among you, that you can skip if trivia is not your thing! PlaceChase incudes no advertising and no-in-app purchases. We collect no user data, do not require you to kill your battery with your GPS and once downloaded, the app requires no internet connectivity.