August 14, 2008

August 14, 2008

From Florida, NY we leave bright and early for the two-hour drive/commuter rail/subway journey into Manhattan. We arrive at the World Trade Center facing the hole where the Twin Towers once stood. It just looks like a big construction site now; NYC must be starting the replacement building. From the World Trade Center we walk along the Hudson riverfront past monstrous hibiscus flowers to Battery Park at the tip of Manhattan. In the center is Castle Clinton National Monument. Not wanting a repeat of the Revolution when the British easily captured New York, before the War of 1812, our young nation built a series of forts around the harbor. Castle Clinton was one of these. It used to be offshore, but when they dug the Subway, they used the debris to landfill Manhattan’s tip.

Just east of Battery Park is the ferry to Governors Island. We take it to attend a guided tour of this National Monument. The 90-minute walking tour is very interesting. The story starts with the initial founding of New Amsterdam by the Dutch on Governors Island in 1624. The British didn’t want a foreign colony in their midst so in 1674 they sailed in, took control, and renamed it New York. As a result Dutch settlers like the van Rosenvelts changed their name to Roosevelt. Governors Island started with a fort that later became a notorious Civil War POW camp. In the late 20th century Governors Island became the eastern headquarters for the Army and beautiful accommodations in a campus setting were built. They remain today but apparently in limbo. The National Park owns the forts, while the city and state own the barracks and houses. They are all empty yet meticulously maintained. Prime housing minutes away from Wall Street sitting vacant! I am guessing the three governments can’t decide how to share the kickbacks from renting or selling the real estate.

After returning to Manhattan we walk up Broad Street past the heavily guarded New York Stock Exchange to Wall Street and Federal Hall National Monument. This former customs house sits on the site of the Inauguration of our first president, George Washington in 1789. New York was the capital until Washington DC was built.

From Wall Street we walk up Broadway to the African Burial Ground National Monument. In 1992 during excavation for a new Federal office building, a huge slave graveyard was discovered. A film in the Visitor Center highlights the fact that slavery was alive and vibrant in the north before the Revolution.

Our next journey is a walk east to the Brooklyn Bridge. This suspension bridge connecting Manhattan and Brooklyn was a marvel of engineering in 1875. Right down the center is a bike and pedestrian path. We take it to the halfway point getting a great view of the east side and this magnificent bridge.

Our feet are getting tired so we head back to the Trade Center for our long journey back to Florida, NY.