New York - Day 2

No snow today, but rather chilly: -7 degrees Celsius at 7am!  We took a large load of laundry downstairs to the laundromat, then walked again to the subway to start our adventures.  Headed to Brooklyn and walked back over the Brooklyn Bridge, which was the 1st bridge to be built in the 1800s to cross the Hudson River.

Access to a basement on a sidewalk

View of Manhattan from the Brooklyn Bridge

Small bronze sculpture in one of the subway stations

From there, we made our way to St Paul's Chapel, which is the longest running public venue in NYC.  It originally contained pews such as we saw in the churches in Boston, but they have since removed the pews and have moveable seats so they can change the style of their worship meetings.  George and Martha Washington used to worship there while the larger Trinity Church (in the Financial District) was being rebuilt after the Great Fire.  It became a haven for rescue workers after 9/11, and amazingly only suffered 1 broken window in the event itself, despite being so close to the World Trade Centre.

Then, we went to the African Burial Ground National Monument, and this time Pita and I also did the NPS Junior Park Ranger badge.  Approximately 15,000 free and enslaved Africans are buried in the burial grounds, which are about 6.6 acres.  About 40% of those buried there are under 2 years.  It was rediscovered in 1991, and was designated a National Monument in 2006. A memorial was opened in 2007 and the visitor centre was opened in 2010.  Reading about some of the stories of the African Americans was sad - children having to work, including heavy manual labour from the age of 5 or 6; runaway slaves being advertised in local papers with rewards on their heads; children born to one free African American and one slave were still considered slaves.

After a slice or two of pizza (huge slices, from an 18" pizza, so quite filling), it was back on the subway to the High Line, in the Meatpackers district.  It was an old above-ground railway, which has been turned into a walkway and green belt.  Even in winter, it was lovely to walk along, so I can only imagine how nice and how popular it would be in the warmer months.

Making use of space for parking cars

A spot of colour in a tree in the Chelsea district (not real)

On another subway, then it was up the Rockefeller Centre to Top of the Rock for views over NYC.  We were there for later afternoon and early evening, so got to see the lights coming on.  Amazing!  It didn't seem like we were 70 stories up in the air!!  Last stop before leaving there was the Lego Store - Pita, Marjo, Karl, Robin & I all did a quiz and got to make up and keep a mini figure as a prize!  We saw people on the ice-skating rink, but it really was getting too late for us to join them at that stage.

The top!

Whilst there, Marjo received news that Opa had had a fall and was not well, so that put a bit of a damper on the rest of the evening, which was taken up with us getting back to the apartment for dinner (pasta) and Marjo arranging travel back to NZ as soon as possible.

Another late night.

New York - Day 1

This morning we woke up and there was snow on the ground!  Eric went for a run in the snow, whilst the rest of us started preparing for the day - including staring at the snow!

We headed out and walked to a subway so we could start exploring the city.  First stop was the statue of the Raging Bull and the newer statue of the Fearless Girl in the Financial District, followed by a walk to the NY Stock Exchange and the Federal Hall where George Washington was inaugurated as the 1st President of the USA.

NY Stock Exchange, built 1901-1903

Federal Hall

Even the dogs wear their winter woollies, including booties!

As we left there, we spotted Tiffany's, so popped in there for a wee look around - as you do on a freezing morning!

Robin holding a Tiffany's bear, worth over US$300!!  That's as close to it as he'll get for a while!

Next stop was the Staten Island Ferry for our free cruise past Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty.  Great views of that stately lady, and it didn't cost us a cent.  Once on Staten Island, we found a diner, Gavel Grill, and enjoyed a hot lunch.  It is close to the courts, and was obviously a popular choice of the local police force.  I had a run around in the snow, and we were all excited to have snow falling on us!

Back to Manhatten and we walked through Battery Park to Clinton Castle, a National Monument where the boys were able to gain their 1st National Park Service Junior Ranger Badge for this trip.  Castle Clinton in 1811-1822 was a defensive fort and stood on a small island.  From 1824 until 1854, it became a public venue for cultural events, and hosted such events and dignitaries as opera singer Jenny Lind, presidents visited and Samuel Morse sent a telegraph message from there.  1855-1890 saw what had become known as Castle Garden be used as an immigration centre (at this stage, landfill had been added and it was now joined to the mainland), and from 1896-1941 (after the immigration centre moved to Ellis Island) it was turned into an aquarium.  When it closed, the sea creatures were sent to the Bronx Zoo then to Coney Island.  From 1946, Castle Clinton became a national monument.  (It is named after a former NYC mayor and governor, DeWitt Clinton, not for any present-day Clinton's!).

Flying the 1812 flag

Statue honouring immigrants coming to the USA

Our final stop for the day was the 9/11 Memorial and Museum (free entry on Tuesday evening - good timings for us - we did make donations, however, as it does not receive government funding).  What a place.  Eric and I watched on the TV as the North Tower got hit by the plane, and we saw them both come down, so to be there on the site, and to read about the events on the day, and to see the images and the artifacts, it was truly humbling.  Robin says what happened was horrifying.  Karl says it was daunting being there.

Robin was quite interested in the automated coat racks

We grabbed some soup and heated it up at the apartment for dinner - a late night for all of us after a day filled with views and snow and noise and cars and statues and people.