With the work of the conference now done, and a busy week, ahead of me working with humanware in Montréal and the Canadian Institute for the Blind in Toronto, I have the weekend off and head down to New York from Boston for a couple days.
Whilst in New York, I’m keen to catch up with a supplier that I met during the conference.
Like most other days on this trip, it’s an early start, I’m in an Uber at about 5.00am. The Uber takes me to Backbay station where I board the Acele, an express train, to New York City. The trip takes just on 3 1/2 hours and I pull into Moynihan train Hall. Just next door to Penn Station at about 9:30 am. Once I get my bearings, I start walking towards my accommodation to see if I can check my bag. It’s a short walk about six box and I look at the hotel fairly easily. I check my bag, and then just wander around the local district. In a couple of hours I’m meeting friends who live in New York, Bob and Cathy. It’s been 3 1/2 years since we’ve seen them when we last were in New York, which is just before the pandemic.
Bob spot me and I’ll grid meeting point and let me know that Cathie and other plans with family and we can catch up for dinner. We then venture off to find somewhere to sit down. Have some lunch and catch up. It’s fantastic catching up with Bob hearing how he is going, he’s a tour guide with decades of experience in New York City. He sits on numerous committees with the guides Association and also does a number of walking tours. This is in fact where we first met Bob in 2010. It’s really great walking around with him because his knowledge of the city is so deep and interesting that on every Street corner, he has an interesting anecdotal story to tell me.
After a few hours, we part ways as he has a state show to attend, and I venture to Hudson yards. Last time we are here Hudson yards were still largely in development, but today it is mostly finished, and there is a new high-rise exhibit called The Edge. It is a high rise outdoor platform that protrudes from the side of the building and it gives you panoramic views of Manhattan and the Hudson River. I take in the breathtaking views and then find a seat on the elevated staircase and sit and enjoy the moment. It’s quite cold, but I’m sitting in a protected area in full sun so despite the temperature I can feel the warmth of the Sun on my face. There are dozens of people walking around the deck, young couples, taking photos of each other in selfies, families wrangling their children to get in the best spot, so that the Empire State building all the world trade centres in the background and loaners like me, just getting away from it all for an hour or two. It’s eerily quiet at times, and other times the den of the crowd can be heard as people go. Where’s the Chrysler building mum, where is the Empire State building dad, take my photo, uncle. After I’ve taken a few photos and one of the entire area, I depart and catch the elevator down to the shopping centre below. I wander around the shopping centre and window shop for the next hour or so.
I then head back to my hotel and check-in. My room is tiny, my room doesn’t have a shower, my room doesn’t have a toilet, did I really booked this place. It is clean enough, but it looks like I’m sharing a bathroom and toilet with someone else. Thankfully it’s adjacent to my room. I knock on the other room on the other side of the bathroom and there is no answer. Maybe there’s no one in that room and I have the bathroom to myself. I go back to my room and lie down and have a rest for a while, and wait for Bob’s call regarding dinner.
An hour or so later Bob calls, and we agree to meet at a little Japanese place in the seaport area near where Bob lives. I venture out catch the subway, I’m a bit nervous as I really catch the subway, New York on my own as Mardi is always with me. So I hedge my bets and walk to the station I know, 42nd Street and Times Square and I also take my cane with me. Little did I know there is major construction going on in the station and the layout is very different to what I remember I quickly become disorientated and a little bit lost. A gentleman comes over and asks me if I needed any help. I say yes please could you show me where the 2 train downtown goes from. He gleefully grabs my arm and drags me, well intentioned of course, to the steps for the downtown 2 train. 16 minutes later, I get off at Fulton Street and navigate my way to the group meeting spot with Bob. Thankfully Bob spots me and we head off and enjoy some delicious Japanese fair. It’s a great night catching up with Bob and Cathy as we share 3 1/2 years of memories. We then wander around the seaport area looking at hotels and shop windows and eventually Bob takes me back to Fulton Street station and I catch the train back to Times Square and walk to the hotel. It’s been an exhausting day and I’ve walked more than 30,000 steps so I’m ready for bed.
As I wake up on Sunday morning at about 9.00am, and I’ve had a very good night sleep, for a change. Bob and Cathy had given me a couple of ideas for things to see and do on Sunday. First things first though I pack and check out of the hotel and take my bag to the Moynihan train Hall and put it in storage for the day. I’m leaving in about 6.00pm so I have nine hours to explore the city.
My first point of interest is a place known as a little island. It’s an entirely artificial island that has been built on the Hudson River adjacent to 14th Street. So I walk from 31st Street down to 14th and walk along the gangplank to get onto the island. The island offers great views of Jersey City across the river as well as lower Manhattan. Explore the island, there’s a series of walkways and steps, there is an amphitheatre where they hold outdoor concerts. There is also an array of very large pots with very large plants in them. They form an archway above the island that you can walk under and around. It’s quite striking.
Once I’ve finished at the island I make my way down to the financial district. I always enjoy walking around these old buildings, most of them in the shadow of the glistening new blue, One World Trade Centre. As I walk around Wall St, Church St, Broadway and Rector St, I decide to visit the Trinity Church graveyard. on previous visits to New York Mardi and I walked this area but had never gone into the graveyard. But today I walk around the gravestones some of them dating back 400 years. Of course the most famous grave here is that of Alexander Hamilton and his wife, Eliza. For many years, Hamilton’s grave was a simple block of granite, however, sometime after his death, when it was apparent that his influence on the developing countr was much more profound than people first thought, his grave was augmented with elaborate pillars and inscriptions. We all know now, possibly as a result of Lin Manuel-Miranda’s state show, the extent of Hamilton’s influence, mind of the work of his wife, who survived him for some 40 years.
After I finish walking around the financial district, I catch a train uptown to Central Park. One of my favourite spaces in New York. I start at 59th and fifth Avenue and wind my way up and across the park to 86th and ninth Avenue. It’s a peaceful walk, Sunday afternoon, it’s quite cold, but the sun is shining and the park is full of people, families, dogs, had a marathon with participants are being cheered on by excited onlookers. I stop and watch the runners for awhile, summer running crowd with their head high, their shoulders back fit and live in their movement towards the finish line. Others are dragging their feet. The shoulders are down and their eyes look at the meter or so of ground in front of them, perhaps they’re wondering how much farther they have to go or how much farther they can actually go. It’s an eclectic mix of youth, fitness, elderly, and the struggling. Groups having fun, and the serious runners are side-by-side as they all strive for that personal goal is very does the outfits and shoes they wear.As I make my way up to 86th Street, I follow a tradition that Mardi and I have set since 2010, and I is it Still Hunt. Still Hunt is a sculpture of a panther overlooking the roadway poised to jump on passers-by as they unwittingly walk into his gaze and reach. I take a moment to take in the glistening, black sculpture resplendent in the bright afternoon sun. I imagine him dropping off his lair and pouncing onto a person as they walk past, not even noticing his existence. I bid him farewell, promising to visit again, one day with Mardi and make my way up to 86th Street, where I catch the train to midtown. My time in New York is quickly running out so I wander around midtown, Times Square, visit the library, and grab a bite to eat at shake shack on eighth Avenue on 44th Street. When I’m done, I’ll make my way back to Moynihan train Hall have a pair for the ride back to Boston. It’s been a brief but enjoyable couple days in New York. One thing for sure is that I’m still in love with the city, the city i’ve now visited 10 times. We will be back. Ourannual holidays prior to the pandemic were the highlight of our year and we can’t wait to rekindle that relationship and spend some time in the Big Apple again together.
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