About a month ago, I spent a long week-end in New York City. I realised that I had not been there in over ten years, even though I would drop in regularly when I was living in Connecticut. I arrived on Friday noon and stayed in the Millennium Hilton, just across from the construction site of “Ground Zero”. Downtown is the area that I knew the least, so I decided to stay there.
I spent the afternoon roaming the area, going to Wall Street, visiting Trinity Church and resting around South Street Sea Port. I am always fascinated by the Brooklyn Bridge.
It is an engineer’s dream and to consider that it was built in 1883, more than 120 years ago before computers, calculators and many other machines that make today’s life “easier” (???).
There are several sailboats moored as South Street Sea Port. This is one of the smaller ones but which I found attractive.
The main exhibit is the Peking, a clipper ship from the golden age of sail which has been reconstructed in parts to give an idea of what sailing on it was like. I am lucky to discover that, on Friday, admission is free so I go and spend an hour on board. Later on, I discover that you can sign up for a sunset cruise on a sailboat around the Statue of Liberty. I cannot resist and sign on. This is the boat arriving to pick up the passengers for this journey.
It is a recently renovated 1900 schooner, with the original design of mast and sails and no modern conveniences such as electric winches or anything like that. Only ‘modenisation’ is a diesel engine for maneuvering.
We left soon after 7PM and the crew (us) had to help to raise the sails. It is hard work, but with 10 of us on the Main Sail, we had it up in no time. We glided away with the Manhattan skyline disappearing in the distance.
There is a crowd on board, probably more than 50 people, but the deck is spacious enough that it does not feel crowded. The crew is very friendly and I end up talking with one member who was actually part of the restoration crew. He is a woodworking artisan and is responsible for a lot of the woodwork on the ship. He also loves to sail and agreed to stay on the boat for a year, to finish some of the work and train the future crew.
With the main and mizzen sails up and one jib, we are now sailing without any engine power. We go around Roosevelt Island and then head for the Statue of Liberty as the sun slowly comes down. There is the usual activity in the harbour, with the StatenIsland Ferries going back and forth and several other tourist boats taking advantage of a perfect evening. Lady Liberty is still there, majestic, welcoming foreigners to friendlier shores – knowing what it was like to cross the Atlantic on emigrant ships, I am glad that I get to do it on a 747, or even a 757!
We continue to approach, slowly because we are under sail, but also quietly and relaxed. The atmosphere on a sail boat, when she is not racing, is always relaxing, especially after a long week of work. We sail directly towards Liberty Island, something that offers interesting photo opportunities…
When I lived in Connecticut, I had a friend who was a pilot and once in a while he would rent a four-seater plane and fly with friends from Westchester down the Hudson River to Manhattan and the Statue of Liberty right around sunset. We had beautiful views of the statue and the city behind it. However, from an old sailboat, right at wave level, this is probably better.
At least we have a lot more time to admire the view. On the return towards Manhattan, we passed in front of Ellis Island. I was really hoping to visit there on this trip, but when I arrived for the ferry the next day, early, there was already a one hour wait, and this meant literally waiting in a long line in the hot sun slowly moving forwards towards the boarding area – I decided that I had better things to do with my time and I can always go there on the next trip.
As we were heading back, the lights were heading on in the buildings of lower Manhattan. The Staten Island Ferris continued on their round-trip journeys, but now fully lit as well. As I have said before, throughout this sail, I have had the feeling of missing something, missing the two tall towers that would have uniquely identified this view less than 10 years ago.
On Saturday morning, I tried Ellis Island and gave up so I decided to go to MOMA instead. In the statue Garden, as I was taking a refreshing beer, I saw the upside-down obelisk which immediately reminded me of another place far far away. It took me a few minutes to realise that there is the same statue in the middle of a pond in front of the Rothko Chapel in Houston – my mother always told me I should ge there and I finally did in 1994. The Metropolitain sign in front is just a deception to make you believe you are in Paris!
After the morning walk, I took a short break in the hotel and took this panorama of the construction site. the two large empty squares in the middle of the site are the original foundations of the twin towers and will become the center pieces of the memorial garden with water cascading down the walls. I think it will look quite nice in the end, but there is still a lot of work to do.
In late afternoon, I took the subway to Union square and than walked back towards Downtown. I stopped at Washington Square, in the heart of the New York University Campus. It was full of life as always, with musicians, street artists, tourists and locals all mixed up.
From Washington Square I walked to Greenwich Village where I had a beer on a sidewalk cafe, than visited a few galleries in SOHO and meandered my way to Little Italy for dinner. I did not know where to stop, so I went to what looked like a reasonable restaurant on Mulberry Street. After dinner, Chinatown and then I just happened on the approach to the Brooklyn Bridge, so I decided to make a detour and walked to the middle of the bridge.
It was a lot busier than I expected, with mostly tourists doing the same thing I was doing. I did not see many people who were clearly walking across. Of course I had to take the classic shots of the many different cables that support the span of the bridge. It is almost a combination of a cable stayed bridge and a true suspension bridge when you look at the total pattern.
The sun was again setting, so I got a few more pictures of the city with the soft purple glow of the waning light.
On Sunday, I relaxed until I needed to take the train back to New Jersey for another week of work. I cannot remember the last time I had spent a whole week-end in New York and I do not know when I will have such an opportunity again. I really enjoyed this one.
(934 Page Views)
