The Viele Map
"No other city is so spitefully incoherent"
--James BaldwinWelcome to Manhattan Unlocked Walking Tours
Discover the hidden-in-plain-sight history and have fun decoding the architectural assortments of New York's most iconic (and architecturally complex) neighborhoods.
About Us
Manhattan Unlocked began as a blog over a decade ago to explore and explain the complex and captivating histories behind New York's constellation of neighborhoods that stretch nearly five miles from the Battery to Central Park--what most people consider New York City. It was a journey to test the waters for a book project, and the results were promising enough to dive into discovering the single story history behind the architectural creation of New York City. Our method of research and exploration involved creating immersive walking tours for key New York neighborhoods that together tell a unifying story of the city.
Our Walking Tours
Join us on a journey through time and space and re-discover long lost geographies and bygone transit systems. Manhattan Unlocked walking tours cover neighborhoods with their own unique stories to tell, but that were all part of the "city's" move uptown from City Hall to Central Park.
What Makes Our Tours Special?
The Book: Build: The History of New York City on the Island of Manhattan
While our walking tours provide a taste of Manhattan's history, we're also hard at work on a book that will dive deep into the city's past and explain the logic behind the "conveyer belt" of neighborhoods running up Broadway and Fifth Avenue, along a path of modern-day "ruins" of forgotten "cities."
Join Us on a Walking Tour
We are relaunching our walking tours over the Fall 2023 after the challenges of covid. We hope to see you on a tour of the history behind the world's most inspiring streetscapes.
Re-launch dates:Sept 18: Midtown Manhattan Art and Architecture Walking Tour
Midtown westSept 27: Holdouts! Based on the Alpern & Durst Book
Midtown east
Oct 10: Recreate the Most Requested Walking Tour of 1840s New York
NoHo & SoHo to City Hall
TBD: Explore the Ruins of a Forgotten City in the Middle of Manhattan
Astor Place to Madison Square
TBD: A Disastrous History of Housing the Poor
Chinatown and The Lower East Side
In the meantime, the old blog for "testing the waters" remains below.