New York, Day 8...Back to Roosevelt Island

 Day 8

Sunday, January 15, 2023

     Today was always going to be a fairly light day.  I was meeting my sister Mary for brunch at a place that was an easy thirty minute walk.  

       We met at our first choice.  The door was open, but the lights were down and there wasn't a soul in sight.  Strange.  Instead, we walked a few blocks to the Murray Hill Diner instead.  No complaints by me.  We lingered over brunch and walked twenty or so blocks north.  Mary went home and I caught the subway to Roosevelt Island.  

    Near the diner, we saw this old billboard up high on a building.   Robert Bestien Handbags and Accessories was located in this building fro 1978-1987.  

    

     I've been out to Roosevelt Island multiple times, just walking up and down and taking it all in.  I think I finally figured out why I'm drawn here.  So much of New York City is loud and busy.  It's quiet here.  If I'm walking, I don't have to look for traffic every block.  Whatever it is, I'll keep coming back.

     

     On the southern end of the island is where you'll find Franklin Roosevelt Four Freedoms State Park.  This is a reference to his 1941 State of the Union Address.  In his speech, he listed four freedoms everyone in the world should be enjoying; Freedom of Speech, Freedom of Worship, Freedom From Want and Freedom From Fear.

       The park was completed in 2012.  Construction of a nearby building kept me going all the way south on a previous visit.  The far end is closed on Tuesdays, thus another denial. But, not today.

     Roosevelt Island runs about two miles point to point.  Sure it was really cold and windy.  It still felt like a good days to be out walking.  So, I walked up the eastern side of the island.

    Ferry service was added to the the island in 2017.  This line connects Astoria, Roosevelt Highway, Long Island City, the Brooklyn Navy Yards and Wall Street.  Definitely something to look into for the next time.  

     That buildng is the Riverwalk Apartments.  The two apartments currently available ate over $5K a month.

      On the northern tip of the island sits the Roosevelt Island Light.  It was still Blackwells Island when the light was built in 1872.  

    In the small park by the lighthouse, is a public art project by Amanda Matthews.  She calls it "The Girl Puzzle."  It's a tribute to journalist Elizabeth Cochrane, who went by the pen name Nellie Bly.

     In 1887, while reporting for the New York World, she had herself committed to the asylum on Blackwell's Island by feigning insanity.  Her expose, "Ten Days in a Madhouse" exposed conditions in the asylum and forced major changes.

      

  From the walk south, on the western side of the island.

        Two years after Britain took control of New York from the Dutch, John Manning acquired the island.  His son in law Robert Blackwell took control of the island twenty years later.  It was still in control of the Blackwell family in 1796 when they constructed this home.  

      With the pink colors fading, it was time to go.  The subway from Roosevelt Island brought me to the 42nd Street station.   It's certainly changed since the last time I changed trains here.

    Walking through the station, I passed this musician playing a flute.  

     Suddenly I had a flashback.  When I started with CNN in 1988, we had a two minute ad that ran on a regular basis.  It was selling a double album from Zamfir, Master of the Pan Flute.   You'd walk around the building and periodically hear the music.  

     In the Penn Station subway station was this guy, laying down some righteous blues.  I'd see him the next night with a bass guitar and playing some serious funk.  

     I was following the signs for 34th Street and found myself in the new Moynihan Train Hall.   This takes over the space of the old Post Office.  Senator Patrick Moynihan pushed for the project as well as funding.  It's the new boarding area for the Long Island Railroad and Amtrack.

New York, Day 7...Walking in Staten

 Day 7

Saturday, January 14, 2023

    Today was all about Staten Island.  The original plan was to try and time the ferry out for sunrise.  When I went to bed the night before, we were expecting sunny and cold.  When I woke up that had changed to gray and possible snow.  So, no need to get up quite so early.

     But why Staten Island?  Simple. I only remember going there once and it was a brief visit.  What other reason did I need.

     In the subway and headed south on the 1 Line to South Ferry...

     By the time the train got to the end of the line, I had it to myself...

     The Staten Island Ferry is a free service back and forth.  Even better.

     From the ferry terminal, you can catch the Staten Island Railroad.  I took it south-west as far as the Old Town station.

     Old Town is where the Dutch first settled on the island in 1661, when New York was still New Amsterdam.  There's no real historic district.  But, it seemed a good place to begin.  After a quick stop for breakfast started walking east towards the coastline.   After walking in Manhattan, the suburban vibe felt a little quiet.

   For some reason, this made me laugh.

    Finally, off in the distance, the Verrazzano Narrows Bridge.  The first talk of a bridge connnecting Staten Island and Brooklyn was in 1927.  Plans were scraped with the idea of a tunnel.  That fell apart.   The bridge was completed in 1969.  With a span of 4,260 feet, it was the longest suspension bridge of it's time, only surpassed in 1984.  Unfortunately, you can't walk the bridge.

     This shot is actually taken from the grounds of Fort Wadsworth.  The first fortifications here were built by the British to protect their forces occupying New York City during the American Revolution.  After the war, fortifications were built up and the guns modernized.  This would happened multiple times over the years.

     By the Civil War, the brick fort was rapidly becoming obsolete as weapons technology increased.  By the time of the Spanish American War, even more guns had been added, including a few batteried designed to be invisible from the water.  The fort was still in use during WWII, acting primarily as an anti-aircraft defense.  

     Afterwards, it was turned over to the National Park Service.   Some sections are still fenced off and overgrown.  

   

 

    After leaving the fort, Bay Street was the straightest way north and back towards the ferry.  Periodically, there would be a park offering a glimpse of the he city skyline.

     I ducked into a place called Bella Beans to get out of the cold and wind.  It was obviously a locals place with everyone knowing everyone else.  I was just getting a kick out of the accents.

     Zigzagging my way back to Bay Street from the waterfront, I passed Maker Park, a small art part with an even smaller outdoor stage.

     The identifying sign on this sculpture is worn, but it looks like Nancy Ojin is the artist.  Though I can't find anything on line about an artist by that name.  

       Cutting across on Thompson Street...

     
      When I left the fort and started up Bay Street, I was seeing signs for "Manhattan Ferry."  Closer to the actual terminal, the signs shifted to "Staten Island Ferry."  It makes sense, but still humorous.

   

        The second of two goals for the day was the National Lighthouse Museum.   

Yup, just a bit windy...

      They're currently in the process of expanding from their small space, to the much larger space next door.  

     In 1862, this site became the central supply depot for the country's lighthouses.  In the central courtyard stood a smaller lighthouse whose sole purpose was to test the lenses coming in from Europe.  All construction, repairs and payroll was controlled out of their offices.  It's a small museum, but well worth the stop.

     The museum offers boat tours of New York's lighthouses, just not in January.

     There are two breweries near the ferry that serve food.  The first was closed for a private event.  The second was a place called the Killsboro Brewing Company, and it turned out to be my kind of place.  

     The menu had the usual food you'd expect to find.  The beer menu intriguing.  In places like this, I usually do what they call a flight, four five ounce pours.  This way you get a nice variety without getting loaded.

     One of the regulars was sitting two stool down and told the server, "come on, you've got to give him the Longest Line, too."  That's their house specialty, a West Coast IPA.  He agreed.  

    The owner comes in, realizes I'm not a regular and asks what I thought about the selections.  To kill the keg of the house Pilsner, he gave everyone a half pint on the house.  He replaced it with a blueberry pale ale and again gave everyone a sample.  The blueberry was subtle and the ale surprisingly good.  

      There was no hope of a sunrise from the ferry as I had hoped, but I was still hoping for perhaps some colors for sunset.  So, it was back to the ferry.