The Jewish Community of Colonial New York

In 1654, fleeing the long arm of the Spanish/Portuguese Inquisition, 23 Sephardic Jews from San Recife, Brazil arrived on these shores. This tour traces the history of their settlement, visiting the sites of the first Jewish institutions in New Amsterdam including: First & Second Spanish/Portuguese Rented Synagogues of Congregation Shearith Israel; First Mill Street Synagogue; Colonial Revival Houses;Stone Street; Sites of the homes of: Asser Levy and Gershom Mendes Seixas. The program concludes with a tour and presentation of the first Jewish cemetery at Chatham Square, in Chinatown.

The tour meets at corner of Pearl and Broad Streets, across from Fraunces Tavern Museum