So after the massive day I had yesterday I kind of backed off the pace with the big things. I decided I would walk the Sky Line. This is 4.8 kilometres of disused railway line that has been turned into a raised public park. I also thought I'd ride the Staten Island Ferry because its free and they tell me it is the cheapskates way to see the Statue of Liberty.
The Sky Line dates back to the 1840's when trains used to run at street level. Due to the massive number of accidents that occurred it became known as Death Avenue. To try and combat this they hired guys on horseback, who became known as the West Side Cowboys, to ride in front of the trains to get people off the tracks. In the 1930's the elevated railway was built. However from the 60's through to the early 80's, as the area became more residential and had less manufacturing, its use diminished and it eventually ceased operating altogether.
You can see that New Yorkers love it. In such a dense city any urban space is appreciated. Many of the parks have little or no greenery, some are locked so no one can enter and the ones that you can enter are often jammed to the brim with people. I saw construction workers taking their lunch there, along with shop girls and office workers. The Sky Line gets almost 5,000,000 visitors a year and it's obviously a little haven that locals have taken to their heart. It starts at 34th Street in the north and meanders its way to Ganservoot St, three blocks below 14th Street, part of the meat packing district, in the south.
From there I decided to check out some of the famous neighbourhoods. I walked through the aforementioned Meat Packing District, East Village, Greenwich Village, touched on East Village and had a good look through NoHo and SoHo (they basically translate to mean north of Houston and south of Houston). By the way unlike the Texas city Houston in New York is pronounced Howston, go figure. There I picked up Broadway again and went back to Wall Street (I am drawn there I know) where I had a great late lunch then jumped the Staten Island Ferry.
Its kind of cool. It has a massive two storey glass and chrome terminal. Ferries run every 20 to 30 minutes in both directions 24 hours a day 365 days a year. The trip takes 25 minutes in each direction. I kind of feel sorry for the locals. They're just trying to get home or to work and they are surrounded by over excited tourists all jostling them to get the best view of the Statue.
The freakiest thing about taking the ferry is threat alert signs and the fact that you are escorted by an armed US Coast Guard vessel for much of the journey. I didn't mention it before but when I went to One World Tower we had to go through security screening. It was the empty all your pockets, take off your watch, take off your belt, then walk through the metal detector while your goods and chattels are scanned. It's got to be a target I assume but there are plenty of signs all over New York that the city is wary of another terrorist attack.
As you can see it is another beautifully clear day here, top temperature 10 degrees. Tomorrow I am going to visit the UN. I think I may actually head out to Ellis Island and Liberty Island. Then I have a ticket to two shows. Wednesday is "The Book of Mormon" and Thursday is "Something Rotten". My plan is to do the Empire State Building after dark on the Wednesday night, it doesn't close until 2.00am. I would have done it sooner, it is literally two blocks from the hotel, but I thought I'd wait until the temperature rises a bit (three days in the 20's Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday). Friday has nothing pencilled in at this stage but I want to go check out Central Park and maybe a museum or two. There is plenty to do and my time is running out.
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