Lower Manhattan Walk

Mary and I had a full day set aside for touring Manhattan on Sunday during our recent trip.  We set off for lower Manhattan to start, with the goal of viewing the 9-11 Memorial.

While we were down there, we had a look at the new World Trade Center, which was set to open two weeks after our visit.  In an earlier post, I included some of my photographs of that area.

We took the subway, although it would have been just as easy to catch a bus - and we have done that before on previous visits.  We emerged and navigated the streets that are still an obstacle course of construction, although that will likely reduce over the next few months.

We hadn't made any plans to go into the museum, and I doubt that I ever will.  I have my own memories of the day - as I have posted before, and the exhibit I saw at the Newseum a few years back was moving.  However, we did want to check out the memorial itself, so we took a walk through the area, stopping to have a look at the water features, the plaza, and the new forest getting started there.

It is difficult to capture the scale of this construction with a camera from ground level.  I was careful to try and capture a few full names of the people mentioned in the plaques with a view of the water feature in the background.  It was a pleasant fall day, and of course there were hundreds of tourists visiting the memorial.

We continued along, with a plan to visit the battery, and - time permitting - perhaps catching the Staten Island ferry for a round trip across the Hudson.  As it turned out, we didn't have time for that.

The area down at that end of the island was extensively damaged by Hurricane Sandy.  Between the WTC construction and the revitalization efforts after the storm, it has really made a comeback.  There is a new boardwalk and all sorts of pocket parks allowing the new residents to make their way to the waterfront.

I caught a glimpse of the Statue of Liberty out there in the narrows and was moved by it, and the memory of visiting Ellis Island a few years back with Mary, where we checked out the records of so many families that passed through there.  I'll close out with a reminder of what she represents, from the poem, The New Colossus:

"Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries she
With silent lips. "Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"