Weekend Walking Tours: 9 - 10 June
Sunday, June 10, 10:15 a.m. - 3:00 p.m.
$40 MAS members, $50 MAS members
Since the 1600s, the high ground on the Staten Island side of the Narrows has been militarily important. First Dutch, then English, then American forces have built coastal fortifications there. When it closed in 1994, this was the longest continuously used military site in the country. Here is your chance to experience the great fort as few have, from the rooftop of magnificent Battery Weed (with its restored lighthouse) to inside the counterscarp of Ft. Tompkins, where stones from 1814 fort (complete with Masonic symbols) were incorporated into the Civil War-era replacement. Please note: this tour is for those comfortable climbing stairs without handrails and walking in confined spaces. Leader: Phil Melfi: supervisory park ranger. Co-leader: Jack Eichenbaum, urban geographer, who will provide commentary on the history and development of the harbor from the deck of the Staten Island Ferry. A chartered bus will take tour participants from the St. George Ferry Terminal to Ft. Wadsworth and back. Reservations and pre-payment required: Call 212-935-2075. $40 MAS members, $50 non-members. Box lunch included. Meet promptly at 10:15 a.m. at the top of the escalotors, Staten Island Ferry Terminal (aka Whitehall). (Transit: #1 train to South Ferry, R train to Whitehall, #4, 5 trains to Bowling Green.)
