Driving through New York City requires a steady hand and some edge and attitude. But you'll be rewarded by an indescribable symphony of sights, sounds, and people.

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  Fordham University

  441 East Fordham Road, Bronx, NY, 10458
  Phone: (718) 817-1000

  Fordham University is an independent university in the Jesuit tradition. It was established in 1841 as St. John’s College by the Right Rev. John Hughes, Coadjutor-Bishop (later Archbishop) of New York, on old Rose Hill Manor in the village of Fordham, then part of Westchester County. The name Fordham is derived from the Anglo-Saxon words “ford” and “ham,” meaning a wading place or ford by a settlement.
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  Jay Heritage Center/Jay House

  210 Boston Post Road, Rye, NY, 10580
  Phone: (914) 698-9275

  The Jay Property in Rye is the boyhood home of New York State’s only native Founding Father, John Jay (1745-1829). Located next to a marshlands preserve with public trails, this sylvan and historic 23 acre park is all that remains of the original 400 acre Jay family estate where America’s first Chief Justice of the Supreme Court and author of The Jay Treaty grew up, and where he chose a final resting place for himself and all his descendants. Located just 35 minutes from Manhattan, the Property has an 10,000 year old scenic vista of Long Island Sound over a meadow bordered by sunken stone ha-ha walls, a European garden design feature added by Jay’s eldest son circa 1822. It is also located on the historic Boston Post Road where mile marker “24” out of 230, designated in 1763 by Jay’s colleague, Benjamin Franklin, is set into the perimeter wall. The centerpiece of this National Historic Landmark (NHL)is an 1838 Greek Revival mansion with soaring Corinthian columns built by Peter Augustus Jay atop the footprint of his father and grandfather’s original home “The Locusts” reusing original timbers and nails from the same house. Out of more than 80,000 places on the National Register, only about 2,430 are NHLs. Visitors can literally see the layers of history being uncovered here. The PA Jay House has been called an "architectural masterpiece" and is being carefully restored and managed by the not-for-profit organization, the Jay Heritage Center (JHC) for use as an educational facility hosting Programs in American History, Social Justice, Landscape Conservation and Environmental Stewardship. The house is an official project of the Save America’s Treasures Program and at 171 years old, it is the oldest National Historic Landmark structure in New York State to be using an energy efficient geothermal heating and cooling system. The Jay site is also listed on Westchester County’s African American Heritage Trail. John Jay is well known for advocating emancipation, serving as President of the Manumission Society and establishing the first African Free School. A second building being restored by the JHC, is the 1907 Van Norden Carriage House, a Classical Revival masterpiece in its own right; it serves as the JHC Visitor Center and houses the permanent exhibit “The Design of Providence” that explores the cultural imprints that mankind leaves on the landscape and how that very same landscape shapes human character and behavior.
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  Saint Paul's Church National Historic Site

  897 S. Columbus Avenue, Mount Vernon, NY, 10550
  Phone: (914) 667-4116

  The parish that founded Saint Paul's Church was established in 1665. The first church at the site was a small, square, wooden structure built in 1695 and was known as the Church of Eastchester. The present day church was built in 1764 but the name was not changed to Saint Paul's Church until 1795. On October 18, 1776, the Revolutionary War Battle of Pell's Point was fought less than a mile from the church, and the church served as a hospital for the British Army following the battle. The church's tower contains a bell that was cast in 1758 at the same foundry as the Liberty Bell. As the fighting began to move closer to the church, George Washington ordered the parishioners to bury the bell to prevent the British from melting it down and using it for ammunition. The bell still hangs in the tower today. During the early part of the 20th century, the parish began to decline and the last Sunday service held at Saint Paul's took place in May 1977. It was designated as a National Historic Site on July 5, 1943 although not formally authorized until November 10, 1978. Today, visitors can visit the church and the 225-year-old church tower on ranger-guided tours. A carriage house next to the church now serves as a museum and visitor center. The site was opened to the public in 1984 and is now operated by the National Park Service under a cooperative agreement with the Society of the National Shrine of the Bill of Rights at Saint Paul's Church, Eastchester.