February 19, 2016

February 19, 2016

We are up early today to explore NYC. Our goal this weekend is to visit the National Park sites in the metro area that we missed.  Most require a car so that is our first chore.  After picking up a rental at Avis, we head north from JFK airport across Archie Bunker’s borough of Queens, and then over the East River into Harlem on Manhattan’s north end.  There we find a hilly picturesque neighborhood of classic brownstones. The area is crowded with students heading to classes at the neo-Gothic CCNY, City College of New York. With a little bit of luck and early arrival, we stumble on the last open parking spot on the street.  Sitting in a small park we find Hamilton Grange National Memorial.  This was the summer home of Alexander Hamilton. Hamilton was one of the most important of our country’s Founding Fathers.  Besides fighting in the Revolution, he was our first Secretary of the Treasury, and leader of the Federalist Party that pushed for a strong central government.

We start off with the small museum and movie that gave details of his life; born a bastard on the Caribbean island of Nevis, becoming an orphan at 13, his immigration to New York and quick rise to success, and ending with his early death in a duel against Aaron Burr.  Afterwards we take the lackluster tour of this twice-moved house he lived in only two years. Visitation to this site has increased significantly with the opening of the new Broadway play about his life.  Maybe if America remembers Hamilton well enough he won’t lose his place on the Ten dollar bill.

From Harlem we drive northeast across the Bronx to St Paul’s Church National Historic Site. Shockingly this chapel is an island in an otherwise gritty industrial district. We watch an overly long film, look at some exhibits, and then get a personal guided tour of this Episcopal Church with its distinctive colonial era “box pews”. Aimee and I are both underwhelmed and see little significant history. This national park site is a stretch and seems more like some local’s desire for the Feds to save his church from destruction after the neighborhood community moved away.

From St Paul’s we backtrack through the Bronx and Harlem, and cross the palisade-lined Hudson River into New Jersey. Another ten miles west we arrive at the newly created Paterson Great Falls National Historical Park. As we pull into this old industrial town, we get our first glimpse of the Great Falls of the Passaic River. They are very cool!  Looking like a mini-version of Africa’s Victoria Falls, the water rushes over both sides of a narrow gorge. The ice clinging to the edge adds to the dramatic impact. After walking a bridge for an up close look we learn they are the second largest falls east of the Mississippi.

After a chilly walk around the historic district we stop at the very small Visitor Center and then run through the Paterson Museum.  There we reconnect with Hamilton.  Unlike today’s politicians Hamilton put action to his ideas.  He believed in a capitalist America.  He founded the city of Paterson as a pre-planned industrial center putting the power of the Falls to work.  Paterson went on to become one of our country’s premier manufacturing  centers.  Paterson factories were famous for locomotives, silk textiles, Colt pistols, airplane engines and my favorite childhood comedian Lou Costello.

Like most old industrial towns, Paterson has changed.  This was really evident when we walked into a pizza joint for lunch. It no longer serves pizza, but only Peruvian, Mexican, and American. Apparently Paterson is now known as Little Lima.
Aimee and I were pleased with today’s travels.  The sites were more interesting than we had expected, and the traffic less congested.  If only the weather had gotten out of the thirties and the sun made an appearance.  We are missing Arizona.