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Revolutionary leader and first Secretary of the Treasury, Hamilton’s (1755–1804) business-friendly policies were instrumental in New York’s emergence as the financial center of the U.S. He lost his life in a duel with political opponent Aaron Burr and is buried in Trinity Church graveyard.

Philanthropist Andrew Carnegie financed the city’s first great concert hall, built in 1891. Major renovation in 1996 restored the wonderful interior bronze balconies and ornamental plaster, and added a museum. Corridors are lined with memorabilia of the great artists who have performed here (see Carnegie Hall, Carnegie Hall).

The world’s largest cathedral was begun in 1892 and is still a work in progress. The part-Romanesque, part-Gothic building is impressive for its stonework, enormous nave, bay altar windows, and rose window. The seat of New York’s Episcopal archdiocese, the church is the scene of many avant-garde musical and theatrical events (see Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine).

Book covers of Steinbeck, Hemingway, Faulkner, and others who drank here adorn the walls of this prohibition-era speakeasy.

Built in 1802–12, this Georgian building with French Renaissance influences is one of New York’s finest. The interior features a rotunda circled by Corinthian columns, opening to twin spiral marble staircases.

Mayor of the city, governor of the state, and U.S. senator, Clinton (1769–1828) is best remembered for negotiating the construction of the Erie Canal in 1817–25. By connecting the Great Lakes to the Hudson River, he helped to secure New York’s future as a predominant seaport.

“The Donald” (b. 1946), the flamboyant real estate wheeler-dealer, has left an indelible mark on New York. The huge Trump Place development overlooks the Hudson River, while the cheapest condo in the world’s highest residential building, Trump World Tower, costs close to $1 million.

The briefcase of J. Seward Johnson, Jr.’s 1982 seated bronze figure contains a stapler, calculator, and an occasional sandwich provided by a passerby.

Albee wrote The Zoo Story here. He first saw the words “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” written in soap on a saloon mirror nearby.

Considered the city’s best mayor, after his election in 1933 LaGuardia (1882–1947) modernized and centralized a chaotic city government, eliminated waste, unified the transit system, and obtained federal funds to help the city. A man of the people, he is remembered for reading the comics on the radio during a city newspaper strike.