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Photo: Taken by Jeffrey Bary, uploaded by CPacker, CC BY 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons
From its intersection with Park Row (just east of City Hall) you can walk (takes about 20-30 minutes each way), bike, or drive across the historic and iconic bridge to Brooklyn. The view from the bridge is quite lovely, with excellent views of Lower Manhattan and Downtown Brooklyn and good views of Midtown and the New York Harbor in the distance.
The Brooklyn Bridge is a cable-stayed suspension bridge in New York City, spanning the East River between the boroughs of Manhattan and Brooklyn. Opened on May 24, 1883, the Brooklyn Bridge was the first fixed crossing of the East River. It was also the longest suspension bridge in the world when opened, with a main span of 1,595.5 feet (486.3 m) and a deck 127 ft (38.7 m) above mean high water. The span was originally called the New York and Brooklyn Bridge or the East River Bridge but was officially renamed the Brooklyn Bridge in 1915.
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A museum with exhibits on the historic Seaport area and a collection of ships at the South Street Seaport on the East River open for tours.
A 2011 addition to the Lower Manhattan skyline, this 76-story residential skyscraper by the noted Frank Gehry has a distinctive rippled, "wavy" facade that is quite eye-catching. It is best viewed from City Hall Park and the Brooklyn Bridge.
David N. Dinkins Manhattan Municipal Building
With New York City growing and not enough space in the City Hall building, this 40-story structure was built to meet the space demands of the city government. Completed in 1915, it is a massive and very grand building with the gilded statue of a woman standing atop the building's spire.
On a triangular city block between Broadway, Park Row and Chambers Street sits City Hall, a gorgeous gleaming white building completed in 1812, which still hosts the mayor's office and the New York City Council chambers. The building itself is fenced off and only accessible by tour, but there is a lovely park surrounding the building, with plenty of shady trees and a pleasant fountain just to the south of the building. Just north of City Hall and on the same block is the Tweed Courthouse, a gorgeous government structure and the legacy of Tammany Hall boss William M. Tweed, who used the courthouse project to embezzle large sums of money from the city budget and was convicted in a courtroom in this building.
Suspended indefinitely for the public, tour for school groups available on request.
For most of the 18th century, Africans in New York City were buried in a graveyard outside the city. The graveyard was eventually forgotten and was rediscovered in 1991. This museum and memorial site commemorate the estimated 15,000 Africans that were interred on the site of the memorial. Note that the museum is located inside of a Federal building so airport-style security should be expected.