The Lower Manhattan Historical Association Announces the Third Annual July 4th Festival in Lower Manhattan

NEW YORK, June 20, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- The Lower Manhattan Historical Association, in conjunction with the Sons of the Revolution The State of New York, The Veteran Corps of Artillery State of New York, The Sons of the American Revolution and Culture Now announces their July 4^th Festival in Lower Manhattan

The celebration starts at 11:00 AM July 2, with the Alexander Hamilton Immigrant Achievement Award Ceremony at Federal Hall, 26 Wall Street. Peter Koo, City Councilman from Flushing, who was born in Hong Kong, Guillermo Linares, head of the New York State Higher Education Student Loan Agency, from Washington Heights who was born in the Dominican Republic, James Neary, the well known restaurateur and saloon keeper on 57^th Street, who was born in Ireland and Chakanaka Watch, a radio personality and Salvation Army pastor, who was born in Zimbabwe, will be honored. All are immigrants and have made outstanding contributions to the City.

Alexander Hamilton was born in Nevis, in the Caribbean, and came to the United States at the age of 15. When he died in 1804, he had been a key aide to George Washington during the American Revolution and was the Nation's first Secretary of the Treasury where he designed the nation's financial system.

After the award ceremony, about 12:30, the festivities continue with an Independence Day March celebrating the Bicentennial of the Erie Canal. The march starts at Federal Hall, where a DeWitt Clinton reenactor will read excerpts from the 1815 New York Memorial that convinced New Yorker to support the construction of the Canal. It will be led by the Veteran Corps of Artillery-State of New York  followed by two marching bands, the Richmond County Fife & Drum Corps and the Crimson Kings of the Chinatown School and will proceed to Bowling Green and then to the South Street Seaport

The march ends at the South Street Seaport, with additional ceremonies and entertainment, with master story-teller and musician Jonathan Kruk and the Ramblers .performing Erie Canal songs.

All events are open to the public and everyone is encouraged to join in the parade.

The LMHA will coordinate a number of historical and celebratory events on July 4 including:

At 11:00AM, The Veteran Corps of Artillery-State of New York will fire a fifty round Salute to The Nation. The 75 MM Pack Howitzers will fire from the sea wall in front of Castle Clinton in Battery Park

From 12:00 to 2:30, he National Park Service will host events at Federal Hall featuring a reading of The Declaration of Independence and musical performances.

At 3:00, at Federal Hall there will be a reading of George Washington's 1790 letter to the Touro Synagogue in Newport Rhode Island. In it, he stated the United States shall "give to bigotry no sanction, to persecution, no assistance" establishing tolerance for Jews and other minorities as the law of the land.

SOURCE Lower Manhattan Historical Society