New York, New York

Wednesday, June 7

Amtrak Station,
New London, CT

谢谢 We took our first Uber ride this morning. Pick up at 7:15am. The driver is Asian (and the vehicle smells vaguely of smoke). We exchange greetings, he pops our suitcase in the trunk, settles himself in and cues up the address on his phone. As we leave the parking lot, we hear the first instruction – in Chinese! I assume his English is somewhat limited, but I also marvel that today’s technology not only generates directions on command but can deliver them in a reasonably realistic human voice speaking your language of choice. Ten minutes later we’re at the New London train station. Because it’s our first Uber trip, we get a $10 discount, so the ride has only cost $3.13. I manage a polite Xièxiè and the driver smiles. The train ride itself is very relaxing, which is good b/c I’ve been pretty stressed over this little side trip. Seattle is a puddle compared to NY, and I’m really not the city type. 😃

First view!

We arrive at Penn Station, and the immediate task is to buy 7-day unlimited transit passes. Greg has researched these online, but apparently we can’t purchase them here. We do at least get the senior half-price rate, but Greg is frustrated. A short ride on the E train brings us to Midtown. With only one wrong turn we walk the last few blocks to our (timeshare) studio, check our bag and head across the street to the Comfort Diner (15% discount w/ Wyndham passcard). Then a couple block walk to Grand Central, where the B train takes us way south to the transit office, which happens to be just 2 blocks from the Staten Island ferry terminal. And only a couple more blocks from the 9/11 Memorial. Looks like we’re going to be tourists very soon.

Lower Manhattan skyline from Staten Island Ferry

Lady Liberty

One World Trade Center (w/ spire)

The Staten Island ferry is FREE and runs every half hour. Perfect. We’re at the back of the boarding pack and end up on the Governor’s Island (not Statue of Liberty) viewing side, but that’s OK – we’re going to re-board and come right back. After the ferry, we’re off to the 9/11 Memorial. (More on that in a bit.)  The pics below are other iconic sites we stumbled on by accident.

New York Stock Exchange
(more meaningful b/c I'm currently
reading Bonfire of the Vanities)

Trinity Church 

Federal Hall
(Washington inaugurated here.)

Main Concourse, Grand Central Station
(look at legs - everyone's in a hurry)

Of course the Sept 11 Memorial Museum was the most significant stop of the day (of the 3 days, for that matter). We probably should have come on a morning, when we had more energy, and I definitely intend to visit it again. 

One of 2 reflecting pools inscribed w/ names of those who died in the 1993 bombing and the 2001 attack. 
Roses are added on the individual's birthday.

Both these pics show how structural remains have been incorporated into the memorial. There are many other examples.

“Trying To Remember the Color of the Sky on That September Morning” is a monumental work made up of 2,983 individual squares of Fabriano Italian paper — one square for every person killed in the Sept. 11 attacks and in the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center — each hand-painted a different shade of blue by artist Spencer Finch. He said he likes to think of them as drawings, and he has arranged them in a wide grid that towers almost 40 feet high, covering most of a central wall at bedrock level, behind which lies the repository, closed to the public, for unidentified remains of those who died at the World Trade Center.

From a distance, Mr. Finch’s work looks as if it could be a decorative stone mosaic. But as the viewer approaches, it becomes clear that the color is simply watercolor paint on unframed paper, hung on a wire armature like children’s artwork at a school fair or, more so, like the missing person notices that papered the city after Sept. 11. It also brings to mind the reams of office paper that floated over the city on the day of the attacks, some of it drifting as far as Mr. Finch’s studio near the Gowanus Canal in Brooklyn. (www.nytimes.com/2014/05/15/arts/design/spencer-finch)

The workday is over, so it’s standing room only on the subway. And that’s “standing room w/ no personal space.” Finally back in our room, we literally collapse on the massive bed. Our feet hurt. Our leg muscles ache. We are tired. And in just an hour we’re meeting a grand niece for dinner. Who made these plans???  

We recover. Dinner is pricey but worth the money. The bruschette (pl) are outstanding – goat cheese with a generous dollop of caramelized onions, and fig-topped prosciutto on ricotta. It’s fun to catch up w/ Madeline’s life as a young professional in Manhattan. She’s been here 2 years and is about to change jobs for the second time, but each move has been upward. Walking home we pass one of the many tiny grocery/eateries and pick up yogurt and a muffin for breakfast. By 9:15 we’re home. I check my FitBit: 6.8 miles.

I feel compelled to add another pic of Grand Central. The tracks below are
as creepy  as any other station, but the building is  beautiful. The terminal
has great history and ranks as one of the most popular tourist stops in
the world (almost 22 million visitors in 2013).
Trivia: one track is used only for disposal of city garbage.