28 January

Today the telephone woke me with a wakeup call at 5:45. This was interesting as I hadn’t asked for it, nor programmed the telephone to do it. It was annoying as I had planned to sleep in until 7:30 and now barely dozed until then. Memo – deprogram telephone tonight.
At 7:30 I arose, went through normal procedure and went out of the hotel at 8. Entering the subway at East 51st and Lexington (I’m getting the hang of this addressing) I go my daily pass. At $7 for unlimited rides until 3 a.m. the next morning, it’s good value and reduces the time wasted when boarding a subway train. I got out near the World Trade Centre and walked down to the site. Rebuilding works are underway and I saw the overall plan – to incorporate two waterfalls into a plaza as well as some natural land, but to include centres of economic activity as well (to revitalise the economy in that area). Then I took the subway back uptown a little, found a place to have breakfast (McDonalds in the US does NOT have the same level of service as it does at home – disappointing considering all the commands come from here, but seem to be ignored here) and then walked up to the Empire State Building. In my walking I passed Broadway (but not where the theatres are). At the Empire State Building (almost inconspicuous from street level because of building works), at was straight in and up – one level, then it was the ubiquitous security check. Well used to it by now, it was jacket off, jacket, camera and coins into the tray and straight through. Then I passed through what could have been taken as the world’s largest game of snakes and ladders, but in reality it was the ropes for the queues to get to the ticket window to buy a ticket and a map (I got the ticket, but the map came later). Then it was through many more queue ropes (but still straight through) and into the lift up to the 80th floor. Then out, through more queue ropes and I got my map (surrendering a ticket). Around the corner, then up another lift and I was at the observation deck. Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks were not there, but the surprising familiarity with a place I had never been to was. Inside the view was good and it was warm. Outside the view was better, and it varied from warm (in the sun and out of the wind) to cool (in the sun and the wind) and cold (out of the sun and in the wind). From up there, New York was impressive, more than anything from the way it just went on and on. At street level, the appearance really is of street canyons, as buildings are right on the sidewalk (I mean footpath, but when in New York …) and none are set back. The sheer size in not apparent, because not too many are visible at one time. Central Park showed up as a huge area, and the diversity of design of buildings was obvious. I tried to capture it on photographs, but with the sun and, at times, my trembling hands (freezing, not from the height), not all came out as I wanted. After a good look I headed down. NO QUEUES!
At this stage I went back to the World Trades Centre and visited the Tribute WTC Visitor Centre. Although it had an entrance fee, the proceeds go to those still affected by it, so I was more than willing to pay.
I had some inside views into the tragedy as I was on an Apple Discussion Site when it happened and saw the comments made by some who were watching it out of their windows at home or had been going to work near or at there and had returned home. Within a few hours they were posting additional comments and many photographs taken from there. We all shared the pain.
I didn’t know how it would affect me, but it did – the mementos there, ordinary objects, loaned by family members to show others what the effects were, were extremely moving. The others there read, watched the videos, listened to comments through headphones or generally in some way paid homage to those who died. Seeing the building work outside somehow seemed to be right after that, while before it seemed irreverent.
I walked down Broadway to the Battery. On the sidewalk were plaques every few metres listing the tickertape parades which had been held. I think I must have been the only one reading them, for other tourists and the locals just walked around me and wondered if I had gone mad, stopping so often. At the Battery, things seemed familiar but Popeye Doyle (AKA Gene Hackman) wasn’t there. They seemed smaller though, as was repeated a number of times when viewing things through the movie-maker’s lens has made many things far larger than they are in real life.
Here I purchased my ticket for the Liberty Island / Ellis Island / Battery trip. Here, however, security was tighter. My belt, passport carrier, watch, pocket contents; all had to go out. At this stage I met up with Spencer, from Boston. He had been in New York on business, but had a little spare time, so was going to see these landmarks. We rued the need for such security, then set off on the ferry. On the river (or is it more properly New York Bay?) the view of the city was spectacular – and matched once we were on Liberty Island. But then we had to go through more security. This time any laptops weren’t permitted through (even though they had passed screening before), so they had to be stored in lockers. The lockers were fingerprint coded – you paid the rent, pressed your finger on a reader, then had it confirmed by another press, then got your locker allocated (don’t know what happened if you forgot). Then in the search area, we had to divest as before, but also got “blown” over; and after a minute or so, were cleared. Even with all this, we could only go to the base of the statue. Again the size seemed smaller than expected, but looking up from outside, and seeing moulds inside the base, its size was quickly realised. We caught the ferry to Ellis Island and parted, as Spencer had to meet friends soon, while I was going to take a long look around. There was a free tour by the National Parks Service, and I have already found these are very informative and extremely worthwhile. The guide who went through everything had his grandfather pass through Ellis Island. Afterward I found out that of the four children, who were orphaned soon after arriving, both the youngest brother and the sister died as children, while the older brother took the guide’s grandfather out of the orphanage as soon as he was 16 and had a job to support them both.
Then it was back on the 5:15 ferry to the Battery and onto the subway. The train I caught, I found out, was express past my station, so I got off at East 59th and Lexington and walked my way back ot the hotel. On the way I spied an “Outback Steakhouse” and decided to eat there, for the novelty value, to have a full meal for a change and to experience it so I could comment on the authenticity for people I meet.
The steak was good – well, well done and good size. The vegetables were normal. The beer, Fosters, tasted quite different – perhaps more malt than I am used to. The price was considerably higher than in the local RSL at home (but $2.15 would be very cheap for an “imported” beer here). The meal cost was about the same as at a middle-class restaurant – higher than a club or pub, but lower than a South Yarra restaurant. Liberties were taken with names on the menu, and the reply from the staff was. “You’re welcome” when I longed to hear, “She’s right” or just, “OK”.
Walking to there, a woman in front dropped her glove. I picked it up and returned it, and she said, “Thank you”. I said, “She’s right” and then said, “I guess you can pick I’m not from the States because of my reply.” She said, “You can tell I’m not from New York because I said thank you.” I guess New Yorkers must have a reputation for brusqueness, though from my experience it is not warranted.
Back at the hotel I couldn’t deprogram the wake-up call, then found that the facility has to be set manually. Hopefully I can sleep in a little tomorrow, on my last day in New York.