Every city is unique, but what further distinguishes New York from the rest is the profound presence of world trade – more than any other place on earth, the world trades in New York City. This may be because of natural features so compelling that in the 1790s, when the city’s population totaled only 25,000, George Washington predicted that New York would one day dominate the hemisphere and become, in his phrase, “the seat of empire.” Proving our first President right, New York City has led the nation and the world in the fields of commerce, culture, finance, communications, politics. Join guide Peter Laskowich for a simple walk through downtown Manhattan we read New York as capital of the world as we discuss big ideas of Wall Street, Federal Hall, Ellis Island, the attacks on 9/11 and our city’s (and indeed the nation’s), primary values.