New York City, Day 2

Monday, January 27, 2020

    The morning view from my suite...

    From the window, there appeared to be a terrace one floor down.   I asked about it.  Apparently the floor below mine has the high end rooms.  They're the only ones with access.

 
    Since it really was just two blocks west of the hotel, my first stop of the day was a structure simply known as The Vessel.

    The structure opened to the public last spring.  It stands one hundred and fifty feet tall with over a hundred flights of stairs and eighty landings.  Best of all, it's free to the public, though access at any given time is limited.  Considering it's all stairs with only one access points, it makes sense.  You can book a ticket in advance, or follow the directions on the kiosk.  They'll email you an entrance ticket.
     Looking up from the entrance line..

 
    From inside, and the view...

      As I explored the structure, it became perfectly clear, it was colder than I thought and I needed at least one more layer.  So, it was a quick dash back to the room.  After last year's trip to the city, I came across a site dedicated to tours within the city that are off the beaten path.  In the few minutes I was in the hotel, one popped up for a catacomb tour of the old Saint Patrick's Cathedral downtown.  So, I signed up for an afternoon tour, and hit the streets.
      High Line Park runs 1.45 miles over the city.  From 1934 to 1980 it was a rail line carrying freight over the city.  The line sat abandoned and under threat of demolition until the city turned it into a park.  The first stretch opened in 2009.  I had walked the park before, just never the newest and final stretch over Hudson Yards, beginning on 34th Street.
   

        Knowing I had a deadline, I left the High Line around 14th Street, planning to head inland.  That's when I saw this curiosity...

    This is a new city park, named the "Little Island."  The elevated park will cover a little over two and a half acres and contain a seven hundred seat amphitheater.  The cost is estimated to run $130 million, with private foundations covering all but $17 million.  You can read more about it and see some of the conceptual art here.
     Adjacent to the new park sits a rusting archway.  This pier was owned by the Cunard Cruise Line.  In 1934, they merged with White Star Lines.  The two companies were fierce competitors.  In April, 1912, Cunard's Carpathia was the first ship on the scene to rescue the passengers of White Star's Titanic.   If you get close enough, you can still make out the lettering on the sign.

     It was time to head deeper into Lower Manhattan.  Seen on the walk towards St. Patrick's Cathedral...

     The tour begins in the basement of the old convent and school, directly across from the church.

     The first Catholic church in New York was St. Peter's, built in 1785.  At the time there was enough anti-Catholic sentiment that the decision was made to build it just outside the current city limits, adjacent to the future World Trade Center.
     By the turn of the century, it was clear another, larger facility was necessary.  Since the Diocese of New York had been established in 1808, and a bishop assigned, it would have to be a proper cathedral.  The plot of land currently sitting on the corner of Prince and Mott Streets was being used as a graveyard for St. Peter's.  The decision was made to use it for the new cathedral.
     One year later, the cornerstone for St. Patrick's Cathedral was laid.  At the time, the area was still farmland.  As the slums and tenements took over, the neighborhood became dangerous.  That's when the wall was added.
     The tour begins by he front door of the cathedral.  When it was built, this was the entrance to the catacombs below.  A metal door had to be lifted to gain access.

 

     
     The graves underneath the church were moved before construction.  The vaults for ashes started being added in the late '70s.

     Ryan, our tour guide, took us into the church and up to the choir loft.
   

 

                              

In the back of the loft sit the massive organ pipes.  The organ was built for St. Patrick's in 1868

by Henry Erbin, one of the best known organ makers of the day.  His factory was right in the city, but 

shipped organs around the world.  Ryan took us through the very tight passageway behind the pipes   

and pointed out an iron wheel with a handle.  When the organ was first installed, someone would       

have to crank the wheel throughout the church service to supply air for the organ.                               

  Eventually, we would make our way down to the catacombs.  Below the church are the burial vaults.

As you'd expect, the cost of a burial chamber below the cathedral came with a steep cost, so they were filled with the rich and elite of the day.  Most of the vaults held three or six metal caskets.  If you needed more space, you were welcome to dig below the floor.  Lit only by small, electric candles and red exit signs, it made photography a bit of a challenge.                                                                  

                      

The original entrance...                                                                                                   

The last stop of the tour is the vault of  Thomas Eckert.  He bought a vault with room for eight.  Instead of being sealed in, he left instructions for a steel door and that it be left unlocked so visitors could pay their respect.  Only four places are filled.  In the back is Thomas.  Along the side are his  second wife and her parents.                                                                                                                           

                                                                                                 

    Upon his death, Eckert left his fortune to his wife and two sons.  To the oldest, he left a lump sum.  He used it to build his own fortune.  His younger son received a comparable amount, but in a trust fund, to be slowly given out over time.  He took exception to this and wanted nothing else to do with his father.  So, the vault remains as is.  If someone is a descendant of  the Eckerts, they can still be interred here.  They just have to produce proof of ancestry and the original documents of ownership There is still one vault left below the cathedral.  It's a family sized vault, suitable for twelve. 

With the tour finished, it was back on the street in search of a late lunch.  On the back of the tour ticket, there's a coupon for 10% off at Lombardi's.  They claim to be the oldest pizza restaurant in America.  They opened in 1905.  How could I pass it up.  Two things to remember if you find yourself there for lunch.  They take ONLY cash, and yes there's an ATM inside.  All their pies are fourteen inch.  There was a time I wouldn't think twice about it.  I had a calzone instead.  And yes, it was amazing.                                                                                                                                    

                                                                                                                                   

Seen walking through Chinatown...                                                                                        

      I stopped to listen to this guy play while his wife sang.  Yes, I did leave some money in his case.  Inside there seemed to be equal number of bills in American and Chinese currency.

Considering it was by now late afternoon, the Brooklyn Bridge was mobbed with people.  I did cross to the park on the Brooklyn side, hoping for some sort of sunset.  While I didn't get much, it was still worth it.                                                                                                                                                   .

  Cold and tired from walking all day, it was time to head back towards the hotel.  This time I walked back across the Manhattan Bridge, simply for the view...                                                                             

It did feel a little strange to have the bridge mostly to myself.  Well, myself and all those commuters taking the subway home to Brooklyn.                                                                                                            

 Once back in Manhattan, I knew I was done.  It was time to relax and take the train home.  

The end of the line for the 7 train is the new Hudson Yard station.  Opened in September, 2015, it's the city's newest station.  It's even got that new station feel to it.                                                             

Best of all, it really is just two blocks from the hotel, an easy walk.                                   

New York City, Day 1

Greetings One and All,

     Before heading into the city, I spend a full day back home in Jersey.  When you travel mid-winter, you roll the dice with the weather.  My two days in the city were cold, but dry.  My day back home, cold with a steady rain.  Thus, no photos.
     Kudos to the folks at Prestige Diner. Jeff and I met for lunch and lingered over coffee for two hours.  As always, it was catching up on life, sharing news of friends and telling stories.  I met Ann for dinner at a new place in town, Harlee's Tap and Grill.  It's in the old space that once housed, Burger Express, Burger King and eventually Chen's.  It seems a typical bar and grill.  Once again, we lingered for a long time catching up.


Sunday, January 26, 2020

     One of the benefits of the New Providence Best Western, is it's proximity to the train station.  The NJ Transit website showed trains twenty minutes past the hour, all day.  What the website failed to mention, is that trains on this line don't run on Sundays.  Fortunately, someone at the station mentioned it to me just before the bus showed up.
      The original rail line was built in 1865 for the Passaic Valley and Peapack Railroad.  The station was built in 1890 when the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad took over the line.

     The bus dropped us off at the Summit station, one town over.  It's where the Gladstone and Hackettestown lines converge, en route to New York.  I was chatting with someone about my age while we were waiting for the train.  The Summit station used to be a bit of a dump.  The walkway over the tracks was wooden.  It creaked and groaned as people walked across it.
     For those of you who've stood here, you might have noticed a structure on the west side of the tracks, just above and beyond the north end of the platform.  It looks like a large wooden bay window that was boarded up and forgotten years ago.
    That used to be the central monitoring office for these two lines.  They would keep track of all the rail traffic, passenger and freight.  It was closed and the monitoring for all the lines was moved to a more central location.  Now, New Jersey Transit is finishing the process of something called Positive Train Control.  Using trackside monitors, trains can automatically be slowed or stopped by remote. 

     It's an easy ride into New York's Penn Station.  Just across the intersection sits the New Yorker Hotel, my home for the next tree nights.

      I've stayed here three years running.  Last year they upgraded my room to a slightly larger one.  This time, they upgraded me to a suite on the thirty-ninth floor.  It wasn't a big suite, but I appreciated the extra room.  And the view wasn't too shabby, either.  That building in the center of the frame comes back in the narrative a little later.

     I was meeting my sister for dinner and had some time, so I did what anyone else would do, take a walk and explore a bit.  Since I was on the west side, it seemed a no brainer to head towards the Hudson River and then north along the water.
     On the way, I encountered this guy, possibly the loudest piccolo player...ever.

      I also came across a place called Alice's Garden.

      Alice Parsekian lived across the street from this unused Port Authority property.  So, she turned it into a neighborhood garden and maintained it for twenty years until her death in 2010.  The garden was revitalized a year later as a joint venture with various community boards and neighborhood groups.  The Port Authority rents the land for the garden for $1 a year.  The gate is locked, but the sign gives you instructions to gain entrance.  The one time fee is $2.
     While reading up on Alice's Garden, I came across a youtube video made by a guy who has taken responsibility for Plot #9 within the park.  You can see his brief tour here.
     One block up is the new Hudson Yards subway station, opened in 2015.  More on the station later.  In the back of the shot is a structure simply known as "The Vessel."  I'll visit both, just not today.

       Randomly zigzagging my way towards the river, I passed a now familiar site, and one I hadn't seen before.  In a small playground sits a creative looking slide.  Tom Otterness has sculptures scattered around the city.  There was no plaque, but the design was unmistakable.

     Note the hand...

    Eventually, I did make it out to the Hudson River.  There are biking, running and walking trails.  I wasn't meeting Mary for a while, so I started walking north and looking for a convenient pace to wait for sunset.

    Along 12th Avenue...  All politics aside, this made me laugh.

    Just off 70th Street, I strolled out on a pier to settle in for sunset.

    With a half hour to go before I was meeting my sister, and convinced the restaurant was only four blocks away, I settled into a coffee shop to warm up.  Only then did I reread the text.   Serafina restaurant was on 55th, not 66th Street.  Fortunately, the crossing lights were with me and I managed to make it on time, with seconds to spare.  Being a quiet Sunday night, we were able to linger over dinner and coffee before calling it a night.

     Just for kicks, I walked through Times Square on the way back to the hotel.  There were less people in costume than usual, including a pretty bad Spiderman.

     There were even the usual guys trying to sell CDs to tourists.  Always one to support musicians, I spent $5 on one by DJ Tank Q.  Sometimes you get lucky.  Sometimes it's just not your thing.
     As for Times Square, sadly, it smelled like pot.

     To each their own, but the smell gets old quickly.  So, I kept walking down Broadway.  There's an interactive art exhibit that has the block between 37th and 38th Street closed to traffic.  The exhibit is called "Impulse" and features giant, light up seesaws.

  The view from the room