WintersTaleTour

This page is for the discussion and creation of a WalkingTour of Manhattan (and areas) for fans of Mark Helprin's book "Winter's Tale".

The book is primarily set in Manhattan at the turn of the 20th century, and then again at the turn of the 21st century.

Locations and areas of interest (both real and fiction)... (currently in order as discovered in the book)

• Williamsburg Bridge
  • This is the bridge Athansor crosses on the first page to come into Manhattan. It links Manhattan and Brooklyn.
• Hell Gate
  • Mentioned several times throughout the book (but never important to the plot?) Hell gate is the last section of the East River between Randalls Island and Queens.
• The Battery
  • Where Peter Lake is almost captures by the Short Tails before meeting Athansor. Battery Park is the very southern tip of Manhattan.
• Bowery
  • Peter rides Athansor along the Bowery to Washington Square Park in the opening pages. The Bowery today is between Little Italy and the Lower East Side. It is perhaps a little too far east to be part of a ride between the Battery and Washington Square Park?
• Washington Square Park
  • Peter rides Athansor through the arch. The park is in Grenwich Village between where 4th and 6th streets would be if they were consistently numbered that low. The southern end of 5th Avenue.
• Madison Square
  • Where Peter steals the policemans hat. On 23rd Street and 5th Ave.

Locations not yet described or sorted:

• Bayonne Marshes (related to Bayonne?)
  • The Bayonne Marshes were where the baymen lived and Peter Lake was raised. Bayonne City is on the same peninsula as Jersey City, and seperates Newark Bay from Upper New York Bay.

• Five Points (formerly real)
• Printing House Square (fictional, but might it be approximated?)
  • Location of the original New York Sun
• Bridges (esp those built before 1900)
  • Williamsburg Bridge
  • Brooklyn Bridge
• Bowery
• Palisades
• Chelsea
• Ellis Island
• Grand Central Station
• Upper West Side (location of the Penn mansion)