Dork in New York

Journal from Thursday, June 21st, part two

After seeing the 9/11 memorials, we headed toward South Ferry to ride to Staten Island so I could see the Statue of Liberty. Dad decided to walk, but I was worn out, so Mom and I took the subway. But when we got to the entrance we needed, there wasn’t anywhere to buy tickets. When we finally found a booth, the teller didn’t accept credit cards and the machine would only give a minimum of $10 on the pass card. Dad had our cash with him.

Somehow Mom and I scrounged up the $2.25 each, with only ten cents to spare. Earlier there had been a woman singing in the subway car and I’d given her fifty cents. Later I saw that the other subways stations charged $2.50 a person. Not needing that .50 for Mom’s and my ride seemed like I’d been blessed for my gift to the lady.

But getting the tickets was only the start of our trouble. We had one card between us, so Mom went through and then handed the card back to me through the bars. I swiped it and tried to go through, but the bars wouldn’t budge. I swiped it again and Mom and I tugged on the bars. This time the gate opened and the bars swung around—only I didn’t.

Somehow we’d managed to push the gate around ahead of me. Now our pass card was depleted, leaving Mom stuck inside and me stuck outside.

Sheepishly I went back to the poor teller we’d already bugged twice and told him what had happened. “Well,” he said kindly, “The only thing I can do is let you into my entrance going north. You’ll have to go one stop north and then transfer over at that stop and go back south.” Apparently once you are inside the tunnel, some stations have stairs that will loop you around to the other direction without going out and paying to come back in, but others don’t.

I'm in the middle with the dark shirt.

Meanwhile, Dad had arrived at the ferry and kept phoning me to see where we were, but cell signal comes and goes in the tunnels, so every time he called or Mom called to check where I was, I lost them. Then Mom and I discovered we could see each other across the tracks and had a wave and good laugh. I discovered later that Mom heard an announcement that said there was a problem with the north-bound train, and was worried I was stuck in the middle of it, but I wasn't and didn't hear of it until later.

Me and Dad on the ferry, with the new Twin Towers under
construction in the background.

After all that, I wasn't feeling so well, but finally we made it to the ferry and found Dad, and then got good news at last. As of just a few days ago, the ferry was now free. It was a bit cooler out on the water and a very pretty ride. As we moved out, the skyline got more distinct and the statue drew closer. She is beautiful. As we came back, if the sun had been just a little lower I could have gotten a picture where it would look like her torch lit up the sun.

Dad took this beautiful photo.

The wind on the water felt great on this over-104-degree weather.

Check back on Friday for the most bizarre picture of the trip.

New York Memories

Thursday, June 21^st, 2012

New York skyline. The two towers on the left with the dark tops are the new
twin towers that are in the process of being constructed.

Today our goal was seeing New York. We were daunted by the almost-100-degree weather. We figured out that parking costs and toll bridges were about the same cost as paying for the three of us to take public transportation from New Jersey to New York City, andecided that it would be easier on me physically if I could ride in the car. But then we ended up spending most of the day turned around or stuck in traffic. We passed through even Harlem (and didn’t see another Caucasian for several blocks).

We finally made it to Central Park but by then it was mid-day and we hadn’t eaten yet but we were on the wrong side of the park and I can’t walk far, especially in the heat and an empty stomach. It was 4:00 before we finally found food and then got on the subway to the 9/11 Memorial.

The middle of the floor is covered
with some kind of prayer path.

My favorite was St. Paul’s church where the firemen and rescue workers went to rest between shifts. It’s now a memorial, though it’s used at least a little for services, as well.

There was a huge tree by the church that was hit by debris. It fell over but somehow missed hitting the church and the up-rooted roots did not disturb any graves. It became a symbol of God’s hand of protection in the midst of the chaos.

The roots on the statue to the left were inspired by that tree and the two trunks represent the towers. This was part of the inscription: "these trunks are cupped by the hands of God to symbolize the grace and spirit that the Lord is pouring out on people."

This colorful memorial on the right is made up of patches off everything from firemen outfits to boy scouts badges. Anyone who visits is able to leave one in honor of the volunteers, and I believe ones were sent from all over the country.

The cross on the left was created from pieces of metal in the ruins, and the backdrop is pictures of people who came to help and pray in the aftermath.

This flag was created out of all the
names of those who died.

Banners were hung all round the church that had been sent
from states and groups around the country.

The official 9/11 Memorial didn’t have quite as much there as I thought it would. They are still doing construction all around it, so only one entrance was open and we had to stand in a long line and go through security, though we bypassed one area that could have been filled with hundreds more people in line if it had been busier. I had trouble standing just in our shorter line, so I was thankful it wasn't longer.

The memorial itself was two pools. The big craters the towers left were filled with a waterfall and then surrounded by a stone wall that is carved with names of those who died.

It was powerful to stand there on Ground Zero and see the huge holes and all the buildings towering around, including the two new towers that are being constructed. There were also a couple of places where they left some of the actual remnants of buildings and just covered them with a glass structure. The emotions from seeing the collapse live so many years ago and all the ensuing footage flooded back. Even as I looked around and knew it had been choking dust and suffering and panic, I tried not to dwell too deeply on things, for fear it would be too overwhelming, but did say a few prayers.

Check back on Tuesday for more New York pictures and the funniest story yet!