Columbus Park

SoHo & Chinatown


Mah-jongg meisters, slow-motion tai-chi practitioners and old aunties gossiping over homemade dumplings: it might feel like Shanghai, but this leafy oasis is core to NYC history. In the 19th century, this was part of the infamous Five Points neighborhood, the city’s first tenement slums and the inspiration for Martin Scorsese’s Gangs of New York.

The ‘five points’ were the five streets that used to converge here; now you’ll find the intersection of only Mosco, Worth and Baxter Sts. Aside from serving up an intriguing slice of multicultural life, the park's other perk these days is its public bathroom, making it the perfect place for a pit stop.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby SoHo & Chinatown attractions

1. Church of the Transfiguration

0.05 MILES

It's been serving New York's immigrant communities since 1801, and the Church of the Transfiguration doesn't stop adapting. First it was the Irish, then…

2. Eastern States Buddhist Temple

0.11 MILES

This storefront temple smack in the middle of Chinatown's bustle is a quiet little refuge lined with hundreds of Buddhas. You can buy a souvenir or…

3. Chinatown

0.13 MILES

A walk through Manhattan's most colorful, cramped neighborhood is never the same, no matter how many times you hit the pavement. Peek inside temples and…

4. Artists Space

0.2 MILES

One of the first alternative spaces in New York, Artists Space made its debut in 1972 with a mission to support contemporary artists working in the visual…

5. Mahayana Temple

0.25 MILES

Mahayana is the biggest Buddhist temple in Chinatown and its magnificent 16ft-high Buddha statue – sitting on a lotus and edged with offerings of fresh…

6. Little Italy

0.26 MILES

This once-strong Italian neighborhood (film director Martin Scorsese grew up on Elizabeth St) saw an exodus in the mid-20th century when many of its…

7. Mulberry Street

0.28 MILES

Named for the mulberry farms that once stood here, Mulberry St is now better known as the meat in Little Italy's sauce. It's an animated strip, packed…

8. African Burial Ground National Monument

0.28 MILES

In 1991, construction workers here uncovered more than 400 stacked wooden caskets, just 16ft to 28ft below street level. The boxes contained the remains…