September 28, 2022
We had our first subway experience today. I was nervous about finding the right train to get us where we wanted to go, but it went well. We walked about 5 blocks from Liberty Harbor RV Park to the very nice PATHS NJ subway system/NYC subway system. It seem newly renovated, and was a very clean station. We set out really early to have a full day using three different walking tours. One for Battery Park, one for the Financial District, and a third for Brooklyn via our Action Tour Guides App. We are loving this app!
It felt strange knowing our subway train goes UNDER the Hudson River as we travel between Jersey City and the World Trade Center stop.
The architecture in New York City is amazing. I tried to capture my favorites throughout the day.
Battery Park Walking Tour
Battery Park was once home to several artillery batteries or canons. It’s prime waterfront location at the apex of two rivers, made it a strategic military outpost.
Battery Park Urban Farm
In the 1600s, the Dutch “bought” Manhattan from the Lenape tribe for a mere $24 (approx $1,580 for today-can’t imagine!). They called this New Amsterdam. The fort they built here was captured by the British a few decades later. The British changed the city’s name from New Amsterdam to New York. A century later, George Washington captured it from the British during the Revolutionary War. Below is the special flagpole/monument for the unbroken friendship between the Dutch and the US.
Italian Monument to Giovanni Verrazzano
Verrazzano was an Italian explorer of North America. He was the first European to sail into New York Harbor. The bridge that ships go under as they enter the harbor is named after him.
Pier A Harbor House. Today this building has a popular oyster bar and cocktail bar, but it was originally the headquarters of the Department of Docks. The entire space of Battery Park used to be a major commercial district with busy docks. In the 1840s the wealthy New Yorkers wanted to establish a green space here. It wasn’t as large as they wanted, but it was a start. Battery Park led to the creation of Central Park.
Clock Tower
The clock tower at the back of pier house is a real ship’s clock and is meant to honor the servicemen who died in WWI. It was installed in 1919, and is considered the United States’s very first WWI memorial.
Korean War Memorial
I loved the uniqueness of this monument. The creative aspect of this memorial drew me to it. More thought and emotion is evoked as you approach this memorial. The positive black space of an obelisk-like monument has the large soldier figure carved out as negative space within it. The Korean War is often called the Forgotten War. When it ended, the American public found it easier to simply forget it had happened. Thus the soldier not being a tangible, touchable figure adds to the non-existent emotions and attitudes exhibited, but each soldier knows he was there serving his country.
Out from the bottom of the monument are wedges in the cement that form a complete circular area around the base. All 22 nations involved in the conflict had one of these sections where they provided the number of their own dead, wounded and missing soldiers.
The American Merchant Mariners’ Memorial
This was another amazingly creative, and very powerful memorial. A person has to spend a few minutes here at the right time of day to get the full “live” aspect of this monument! The memorial displays men at sea on a sinking ship where one man is in the water reaching his hand upward to hopefully be saved by a crew member. They desperately reach for each other’s hand…
The scene of the memorial is based on a real event. The SS Muskogee was carrying fuel to Halifax, Canada when it was struck by a German submarine’s torpedo and began to sink. With no other vessels nearby, all crewmen aboard the Muskogee perished at sea.
Experience the memorial with this video clip.
The US Merchant Marines of World War II suffered mored casualties per capita than any other branch of service. 1 of every 26 merchant mariners who set out did not return. They faced German U-boats, Japanese kamikaze pilots, mines, and treacherous seas.
Castle Clinton
Castle Clinton was built in 1812, and named for the New York mayor, Dewitt Clinton. Originally it was built to ward off the British. It must have worked. The fort never had to use its canon.
About a decade later, the fort became a restaurant, opera house, and theatre. It was also an exhibition space for new inventions. All changed in the 1850s. In 1855, this castle and the surrounding area was converted into the world’s first immigration depot. Nearly 8 million immigrants passed through here prior to the 1890 opening of Ellis Island.
Castle Clinton operates a ticket booth to purchase passenger ferry tickets to go from NYC to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. (We went yesterday from Liberty Park – Jersey City, NJ)
The Immigrants Statue
Dedicated in 1974, this memorial depicts new arrivals from all around the world. A worker, a priest, a freed slave, and more are joined in a shared moment of anxiety and hope. As they wait to enter the US they are full of fear and wonder having left their home for another that is unknown. The sculptor wanted to emphasize the universality of the immigrant experience. They are united in this shared experience and drew strength from one another.
The first mass immigration began in the mid-1800s. When steam power dramatically shortened the journey in the 1880s millions more began pouring in. Of those who arrived, only about 2% were turned away! When WWI broke out xenophobic nationalism swept our country to stop the influx of immigrants. We see it again today, with extreme hate towards all people not appearing to be of white European descent.
East Coast Memorial
The East Coast Memorial is dedicated to the 4,611 service members killed in combat in the Atlantic Ocean during WWII. Their names are on the multiple “walls”.
The massive solid bronze eagle is atop a wave and holds a laurel wreath. This symbolizes mourning at sea.
Now these are serious road blocks! It is pretty cool how they can just come up from under the streets!
XO World Project: As we approached One World Observatory a beautiful reflective globe caught our eye. Next to it was a large jack (as in the game of jacks). Looking closer I saw that the jack is made up of four fists! Crossed fists is the universal sign language for love. These are displayed along the sidewalk by ONE WORLD Observatory. Together they represent the children’s game of jacks with the jack being the “X”, and the globe is the “O” for the XO World Project. This 12ft by 24ft sculpture was unveiled on World Peace Day, September 21, 2021 to ignite a worldwide “Share the Love” movement.
When planning out our trip, Barry spent a lot of time watching YouTube videos trying to decide which of the four different observation towers within NYC was the best one to visit. Each had its pros and cons, but since a ride up is not cheap, we wanted to select the one that fit our desires best. I watched a few to help decide. Neither of us were overly excited about The Edge. It had a small observation deck that protruded out from the building, and was more out of the way to get to, so we eliminated it. The pros for the Empire State Building, Top of the Rock, and One World had us agree that we needed to do all three. We are in NYC now, and who knows when we’ll make it back, so we need to seize the opportunity to do what fits into this trip. No regrets. One World Observatory won our vote for going up in the morning because of its amazing views due to its location and being that is the tallest of all NYC observatory towers. Since we have two nights, it worked out great to plan evening sunset experiences for both the Empire State Building and Top of the Rock.
One World Observatory
One World was built between 2006 and 2012, and is the tallest building in the entire western hemisphere. It serves as a symbol of America’s strength and perseverance following the terrorist attacks on World Trade Center Twin Towers on September 11, 2001.
The following are glimpses of the colorful changing panels that display features and history of NYC as you walk through toward the elevator.
The design of this tower is amazing. It is so cool to see how the exterior appearance of the building changes depending on your vantage point. I love how the tower starts with a square footprint that is identical to that of the collapsed Twin Towers, but the rectangular faces of the building soon transition into eight isosceles triangle faces. Four of the isosceles triangles pointing upward alternate with four isosceles triangles pointing downward which creates a slight twist as it rises to the sky. As you continue up the tower you come to level where a horizontal slice through the tower would show a cut-a-way of a perfect octagon. (Meaning each edge length and angle of the octagon are equivalent.) So cool!
As I entered the building I experienced a little nervous apprehension knowing we were going up in this tower, but so glad we did.
The elevator ride up was so much more than a transport device. The walls became “windows” that gave us a spectacular visual experience of how NYC evolved to what we see today! WOW!
Views from the observatory. (Con: 100% enclosed glass- Have to position camera in a way to eliminate or reduce reflections)
One World’s height from base to the roof is the same height as previous Twin Towers. However, total height to the top of the spire is 1776 ft. That was deliberate to coincide with the 1776 signing of the Declaration of Independence. America is still strong!
For more info: Interesting Engineering
9-11 Memorial
The 9-11 Memorial was a MUST See/Experience for us. Photos CANNOT represent the overwhelming emotional experience the memorial evokes in person. It was very quiet around the two large reflecting pools. I believe the simple design of the two large rectangular pools adds to its impact. Each pool is located where its respective tower stood tall prior to the terrorists flying the two planes into them.
Water flows gently horizontally from each of the four outside edges for a few feet before it falls dramatically down into the larger pool. From there the water continues to flow from all four sides inward toward the dark, square opening in the center where it disappears into the dark abyss. Wow. While quietly taking this all in, I felt more of the tremendous loss of lives that occurred as each tower collapsed into itself and the ground than I did watching the event on TV. The water continues to flow 24 hours a day so that America does not forget the horror of this attack on American soil. Water can create a peaceful, calming effect, and one of hope, especially to those touched directly to ones lost.
Names of those who perished from this horrific terrorist attack fill the outer edges of each memorial pool.
I don’t think many of us remember that Ground Zero burned for 100 days! Rescuers and recovery workers were driven as they worked night and day for nine months. They were exposed to serious toxins while recovering bodies, and removing about two million TONS of debris. We didn’t realize there was a 911 Memorial Museum in addition to the reflection pool memorials till we were here. With only two full days in the actual city, we didn’t have time to include visiting it this trip. I’m sure it must be incredible.
As we moved on from the reflecting pools memorial, we stumbled upon a full wall tribute to the firemen. Seeing this immediately after the 9/11 Memorial Reflecting Pools, and feeling that personal connection with Justin is a California fireman, the tears I had been doing well to hold back seeped out at this point.
“One World, Our Children”
A temporary mural was commissioned to celebrate unity and the collective strength of working together. The mural features nine culturally diverse portraits to raise awareness of the global refugee crisis. We must embrace hope and diversity.
NEW YORK STOCK EXCHANGE – The heart of Wall Street.
This high-energy, high-stakes marketplace began with 24 stockbrokers meeting under a tree where this building now stands. Around $170 billion pass through this exchange every weekday. I cannot comprehend that! But it is essentially one of the key reasons NYC remains one of the wealthiest cities in the world.
Bull of Wall Street
This was on Barry’s must see.
This iconic monument, “Charging Bull”, was sculpted in 1989 by Arturo Di Modica, but it was not a commissioned piece. In fact, Arturo just pulled up to the NY Stock Exchange and unloaded the bull illegally in front of it! Police initially impounded the bull, but the public was infuriated. The charging bull was then placed in its current location as a temporary location, but it remains here with no plans of relocating it.
Arturo arrived in America in 1970 without a penny to his name! He felt he owed the US for welcoming him and helping his artistic career flourish. When the stock market crashed in 1987, he decided to repay that debt. While everyone was in despair, and financial futures were so uncertain he wanted to instill a sense of hope. Be strong and persevere, You can do it by yourself even when things seem to be bad. Thus the Charging Bull.
It seems quite appropriate since we want a Bullish stock market since that means stock values are rising. (A bear market represent falling stocks.)
A NEW Statue Appears
In 2017 a four-foot bronze sculpture of a young girl stands with a “ready to take you on” posture. She is known as “Fearless Girl”. Kristen Visbal was commissioned to create her to celebrate empowering women.
Fearless Girl was originally place facing “Charging Bull”, but Arturo complained that she turned his bull from a symbol of strength to a villain. He asked for her to be moved. The mayor tweeted the following:
“Men who don’t like women taking up space are exactly why we need the Fearless Girl.”
Fearless Girl currently has her place opposite the NY Stock Exchange. Just standing in the street with everyone else. If there are a lot of people Fearless Girl could be missed! She still represents standing up to moneyed, male-dominated corporate establishments that often paid women less for doing the exact same work as male counterparts. There used to be a plaque at her feet that read: “Know the power of women in leadership. SHE makes a difference.” We did not see one. Maybe with the relocation the plaque did not make it.
Alexander Hamilton Custom House
This was originally the U.S. Custom House. The elaborate architecture says a lot. The four large statues across are called the “Four Continents”. They represent Africa, Asia, Europe and America. The ones in the center that flank the stairs into the building are the Europe and American pieces. Their figures are prosperous and “in charge”. The Asia and African statues are “outside”, and are more savage, lethargic and inferior. Interesting bias. The statues near the roof represent the 12 major commercial centers of the world at the time. The one that originally represented Germany was modified by the sculptor after WWI to instead represent Belgium. Today this building is home to the National Museum of the American Indian. We did not go in.
The very small park in front of the museum is Bowling Green which is NYC’s oldest park.
TRINITY CHURCH
This is actually the third building as Trinity Church. The original church over 300 years ago was a very simple, rectangular building without much ornamentation. By the mid-1700s population had doubled making that structure inadequate. In 1776, a fire destroyed the church. The second church succumbed to heavy snowfall. Third time’s a charm. The bishop went all out with the current Gothic Revival church. I never tire of touring magnificent churches and cathedrals. Reminds me of being in Italy for a college interim with Prof. Louis Palmer. We walked through art galleries/museums and churches everyday! The craftsmanship is amazing and the attention to detail for subtle and not-so-subtle ornamentations was always so cool to see. So many people just take in the overall grandness, which is great, but they miss so much by moving on quickly. They miss stunning intricacies within or seeing something the architect/artist added throughout the structure or maybe added to see if anyone would notice.
The church was featured in the movie National Treasure. (Know that there is NO hidden tunnel underneath the building.)
Hundreds of people took shelter here during the collapse of the World Trade Towers on 9-11-2001. They remained safe here even though much debris battered the outside.
Trinity Cemetery
Alexander Hamilton’s grave site is located here. (And his wife’s)
FEDERAL HALL
They deem this the birthplace of American government. George Washington took the oath of office within these walls as he became our first US President. This was also home to our first Congress, Supreme Court, and Executive Branch. The Bill of Rights and the Constitution were both ratified right here! A statue of George Washington is outside. Today it is a museum of our history and a memorial to our first President.
40 Wall Street
In 1995, Trump purchased this building hoping to turn the upper floors into residential space. The plan quickly fell apart, and he tried to sell the building in 2003, but no one wanted it. The inner goings-on within 40 Wall Street have been quit unsavory. Since 1995, 29 people here have been accused of fraud or scams, and nine firms housed here have run seriously afoul of the law. On the 28th floor, there’s even a company run by a man currently being investigated for running a drug-smuggling ring. Respectable businesses are extremely wary of setting up shop here at 40 Wall Street.
Views of NYC City Hall (in Manhattan)
BROOKLYN BRIDGE
The Brooklyn Bridge has the iconic dual arches. It opened on May 24, 1883, but had been in some level of progress for about 80 years! The Brooklyn Bridge connects the boroughs of Manhattan and Brooklyn over the East River.
Proposals for a bridge between Manhattan and Brooklyn were given as early as 1800. Those never went any further due to the difficulties of constructing a high enough fixed-span bridge across the extremely busy East River. At that time a ferry was the only means of travel between the two. In February 1867, the New York State Senate passed a bill allowing the construction of a suspension bridge here. A German immigrant, John Augustus Roebling submitted his design and became the main engineer of the work. Construction didn’t begin though for another thirteen years due to numerous controversies and the novelty of the design.
When John Roebling died in 1869 of a tetanus infection, his son Washington Roebling became the project’s chief engineer. He contributed further design work but became bedridden when he came down with “decompression/caisson disease”. His wife, Emily Warren Roebling served as a liaison and supervisor of construction through communication between her husband and on-site personnel. Emily understood mathematics, calculations of catenary curves, strengths of materials, bridge specifications, and the intricacies of cable construction. She spent the next 11 years helping supervise the bridge’s construction, taking over much of the chief engineer’s duties, including day-to-day supervision and project management. The bridge underwent several reconfigurations as the amount and type of traffic evolved. Main St Park’s plaza along the water by the bridge in Brooklyn is named in honor of Emily Warren Roebling.
An unusual event to put everyone’s mind at ease regarding the strength and stability of the bridge took place on May 17, 1884.
P.T. Barnum’s Jumbo the elephant led a parade of 21 elephants across the Brooklyn Bridge. It also of course promoted Barnum’s circus.
Brooklyn Bridge currently accommodates only passenger vehicles, pedestrians and bicycle traffic. The pedestrian walkway runs in between the two roadways and is about 18 feet above them. It was fun to walk across such an iconic masterpiece and never worry about vehicle traffic! The Brooklyn Bridge has been a popular tourist attraction since its opening.
It was also fun to look at the great artwork a couple people displayed.
MANHATTAN BRIDGE
The iconic Manhattan Bridge was the 3rd bridge to be built over the East River, and therefore, was originally going to simply be named, “Bridge Number 3”. The NY Times highly criticized such a meaningless name which caused the city to change the name to “Manhattan Bridge”. It connects Brooklyn to Manhattan. Over 450,000 commuters cross from one side to the other every single day!
Seeing the Manhattan Bridge arch “pop up” between Brooklyn’s famous brownstone buildings is really cool, but what makes this view a spectacular picture is seeing the Empire State Building peeking through the bottom arch. How cool is that!?! All this while standing on one of Dumbo’s iconic cobblestone street!
Don’t see Dumbo?? Well, it is NOT Dumbo the Elephant. DUMBO is the neighborhood we entered down this street. DUMBO stands for Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass.
Main St Park
This park between the Manhattan Bridge and the Brooklyn Bridge offers striking view of the East river and the Manhattan skyline.
Brooklyn’s Pebble Beach – Once this river would have been full of ships bring goods from all over the world. One industry in particular was centered here in Brooklyn…Coffee! Arbuckle Brothers coffee factory was America’s first national coffee company! More coffee was roasted here in the early 1900s than anywhere else in the world.
Jane and David Walentas, a wealthy NY couple rescued this 100-year old carousel from Youngstown, Ohio where it was in need of repair and was about to be auctioned off horse by horse. Jane spent over 20 years restoring it. Jane’s Carousel lives in a pavilion in the Brooklyn Bridge – Main St park. The pavilion provides protection from the outdoor elements.
Artwork along the way:
Walking Tour of Brooklyn included this neighborhood:
142 Pineapple St is the former home of eccentric author Norman Mailer. Mailer wrote some of his most famous works here. Besides his novels, he is most well known for his wild and often controversial personality. He constructed the interior of this home to look like a ship, with tall curved ceilings, hammocks and gangplanks. He even added a trapeze on the top floor, hoping it wold help him overcome his fear of heights. The whole apartment can be yours for $2.5 million – a steal in this neighborhood!
70 Willow St was Truman Capote’s former home. He wave best know for two novels: Breakfast at Tiffany’s which was turned into the classic movie featuring Audrey Hepburn, and In Cold Blood, which is often cited as the very first true crime novel. Both were written while Capote lived here in the basement apartment of 70 Willow St.
Our walking tour app also took us up to this vantage point for a skyline shot of Manhattan.
Broadway and Times Square – We visited at dusk on our way to the Empire State Building and then afterwards. It is definitely more thrilling after dark. There was a nice police presence. We felt completely safe.
Going up in the Empire State Building is an absolute MUST DO-especially if you’re a fan of “Sleepless in Seattle”, or “An Affair to Remember”! It’s been awesome seeing the Empire State Building earlier today, but tonight we experienced the inside of the Empire State Building and the views from its observation deck from just before sunset till dark.
I stop to have a conversation with a couple workers on break.
This entire floor was as if you were present while the construction was taking place. It was very cool.
Another elevator ride that was fun and unique! This one continued with the building of the tower as though it was currently happening. Barry captured some of it on video.
The observation deck provides full 360 degrees views. It’s nice to know what landmarks you are seeing, so to assist with that, there is a really cool “ceiling compass” inside. It labels multiple buildings/landmarks and the direction to look for them.
The bridge picture below shows both the Brooklyn Bridge (double arch) and the Manhattan Bridge (single arch) as they span the East River to Brooklyn.
We lucked out with a gorgeous sunset!
The following picture is from putting my phone’s camera lens up against the telescope eyepiece on the observation deck. It was pretty cool that I got to capture the Statue of Liberty lit up at night like this!
The Empire State Building experience was the best way to close out our first time in New York City! The sunset was magical. We headed back through Times Square to the subway to get home so we can come back to NYC early tomorrow! Today was awesome! (29,000+ steps on my Fitbit.)
Some things we’d like to see/do on a return trip:
- The 911 Memorial Museum, the Survivor Tree and the Memorial Glade (The Glade honors those who are sick or have died from exposure to toxins in the aftermath of 9/11.)
- A show or two on Broadway (or “Off” Broadway)
- One Vanderbilt Summit Observation Deck (Glass floors and mirrored floors provide a unique experience with great views! Will have to work up courage for that one.)