If you've ever wanted access to the financial temples of Wall Street without worrying about the impact on your soul, two downtown lecture series may be able to get you in - for free.
Both the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council's Access Restricted and the Alliance for Downtown New York's Third Thursday series resume this month.
The Access Restricted series promises "free nomadic lecture series that opens rarely visited and often prohibited spaces in Lower Manhattan to the general public." The first location -- the landmarked art deco Bank of New York Building -- is already booked full.
The Third Thursday series opens its reservation on the 8th day of each month for that month's lecture. The first is in Federal Hall on Wall Street and will feature historian Kenneth Jackson, (the editor of "The Encyclopedia of New York City") along with author Russel Shorto, Sam Roberts of the New York Times and Charles T. Gering of the New Netherland Project. Their topic: "Why America Begins in New York : How the Dutch Distinguished the Nation's Greatest City ."
The series will continue through May 21, moving to locations such as the Down Town Association, the oldest private club in Lower Manhattan , and the 45th floor of 7 World Trade Center.
