So, you’re planning to visit New York? Central hotels will mean that you’re ideally positioned to see the major and world famous tourist spots. Now, nobody is going to dispute for one second that places such as the Empire State Building and Times Square are anything other than well-worth seeing. Yet if you’d like to learn a bit more of the city’s unusual history, the following list might interest you – and your New York central hotels will make it easy for you to find these locations and place yourself in the historical context.

The ‘Rocking Chair Riots’ – hard as it may be to believe, in the early years of the 20th century, serious riots broke out in an area of Central Park when a local entrepreneur was given permission by the city to place rocking chairs in strategic locations and charge people five cents for the privilege. This caused ill-feeling which culminated in a full-blown 1000+ person riot after someone was forcibly tipped out of a chair by a warden after refusing to pay and another was slapped for arguing.

Ancient Wall Street – when you’re walking along taking in the sights of the US financial centre, you might be interested to know that you’re also strolling along one of its first streets. Its history goes back to the early 1600s and the Dutch colonial period, when New York was still called New Amsterdam. There are various explanations of the origin of the name but one that is widely accepted is that “Wall” is simply the Dutch “Waal” – a real physical wall designed to keep out local inhabitants and the ever-bigger nuisance of the competing English settlers.

The Friends Meeting House in Flushing – this building dates back to the 17th century. What makes it interesting is that it formed part of the “Underground Railway” – a 19th century movement that secretly aided escaped slaves to achieve their freedom.

Brooklyn – As you walk about the area around your New York central hotels, it’s an odd thought that the one-month-old USA almost came to a untimely end here. During the war of independence, George Washington had the embryonic US army deployed in defensive positions to hold New York, but the British launched a sneaky two-pronged attack that defeated the US forces and New York was abandoned to them. More importantly, Washington and the army came perilously close to being totally encircled and captured – they barely escaped to continue the fight.

While staying in New York central hotels may incline you to focus on the great world-famous attractions that are right on your doorstep, don’t forget about some of the lesser known history.