Aaron Around The World    >>    North America    >>    United States of America    >>    New York, New York

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Tuesday, 16 June 2015 - 9/11 Memorial Museum

  
 
On the tenth anniversary of the September 11 attacks, the 9/11 Memorial here opened with further plans to create a memorial museum. Well, that museum has since opened in May last year (the small building to the right in both of these shots - the guts of the museum itself is deep underground), and I figured I should go see it before leaving New York.
  
The first thing that caught my eye upon entering the museum was this photo of the Twin Towers as seen from the Manhattan Bridge (I took a similar night shot here). This was taken at around 8:30am on the morning of 9/11, about 15 minutes before the first plane struck the north tower at 8:46am (the one with the antenna on the right).

 
 
 
If you're a numbers person (like I am), then here are few to ponder: Approximately 50,000 people worked in the World Trade Center complex. Each of the Twin Towers stood over a quarter-mile (400m) tall, and had 110 floors. There were 198 elevators in the Twin Towers, with 15 miles (24km) of elevator shafts. There were 43,600 windows in the Twin Towers, and it took two months to wash them all (after which I guess you start again). At 1,377 feet, the South Tower's outdoor observation deck was the highest in the world, and from its opening in December 1975 through to close of business on the night of September 10th, approximately 46 million people had visited it.

Anyway, one of the more distinctive elements of the towers' architecture were these so-called tridents, where the exterior steel columns that provided structural support split into three prongs a few storeys above ground-level. Many of the individual tridents survived the towers' collapse, and the museum has retained two of them (I have no idea where the rest ended up). Those steel columns are known as box columns for their rectangular shape and hollow center (filled with concrete). The box columns were anchored into each tower's bedrock foundation, some 70 feet (20m) below ground level. At the end of the recovery period following the attacks, the columns were cut to a level elevation, leaving the remnants in the shot on the right. Each tower's footprint is therefore clearly visible throughout the museum.

 
 
The museum contains an enormous number of artifacts and exhibits related to the 9/11 attacks, but the one that probably blew me away the most was this - a piece of the fuselage of the first plane. There is only one known video recording of the first plane hitting the North Tower which I've seen countless times, and here it is (well, part of it) in the flesh.
  
Photos of the 2,977 victims. This was just one wall of four.
  
And this just happens to be a brick from Osama bin Laden's house in Pakistan hehe. It was taken by journalist as a souvenir before the complex was completely demolished by local authorities following bin Laden being killed by American forces in 2011.

 
 
These two sections of steel were part of the North Tower's northern facade. As per the photos on the right, they were located at the point of impact where the first plane hit and pierced the building at the 93rd through 99th floors. As you can see, the force of the plane hitting was so great that it left steel columns twisted and shredded as if they were cardboard.

 
 
This column once stood in the core of the South Tower. During the tower's collapse, this multi-ton piece of steel simply folded over onto itself, with three of the four welds that held the column together splitting open.
  
FDNY Ladder 3 was one of the first to respond to the World Trade Center that morning, and this is what's left of it after it was pulled from the rubble.

 
 
The proximity of the Hudson River presented a significant challenge to the planners of the World Trade Center complex. Before excavation and construction could begin in 1966, it was necessary to find a way to prevent river water from seeping into or flooding the site. The innovative solution was to build a concrete retaining wall, known as a slurry wall, which was subsequently reinforced with steel cables anchored into bedrock. Despite fears it might be breached on 9/11, thereby worsening the impact of the attacks, the wall held. This here is a portion of the original slurry wall.
  
In front of the slurry wall is the Last Column. As the recovery and cleanup of the World Trade Center site neared completion, one piece of steel was chosen to mark the occasion symbolically. It was removed from the site in a solemn ceremony on May 30, 2002, before which recovery workers, first responders, and victims' relatives signed the column and affixed to it memorial messages, photos, and other tributes. The column was originally one of 47 that supported the inner core of the South Tower. When the tower collapsed, this remnant remained anchored in bedrock, and buried beneath the wreckage.

 
 
The Twin Towers really were an awesome sight to behold in the Lower Manhattan skyline, and I really wish I could have seen them for myself.
  
Their demise was apparently witnessed, either in real time or delayed footage, by two billion of the world's then-population of six billion people (according to the audio guide I was half-listening to).
  
Fast forward a decade or so and now we have this: a beautiful memorial site, overlooked by the new One World Trade Center building, which itself it quite a sight to behold.

Thursday, 18 June 2015 - Three years in the apple!

  
Three years ago today, this was my view as I flew over Midtown Manhattan and landed in New York City to start a new life here, with Kristina soon to follow. 'Twas exciting stuff! :) At the time we expected to stick around for at least two years, probably three, and sure enough in just 12 days we'll be leaving again and moving on to the next adventure. 'Tis exciting stuff! ;)
  

Monday, 22 June 2015 - 10,000

  
 
After almost three years to the day since I arrived in New York, the odometer on my speedo (which I reset to zero when I got here) ticked over to 10,000kms (6,200 miles) today :)
  
98% of those 10,000 were spent zooming around New York City, and most of those were spent in Manhattan. I have a thing about cycling in busy city traffic - I absolutely bloody love it! So naturally, Manhattan is my favourite part of the city and rush-hour is my favourite time of day to be on the bike hehe. With that in mind, one of my utmost favourite rides which is probably responsible for at least a couple thousand kilometres on my odometer is a 20km-route starting at the bottom of Central Park near where I work, heading down to the southern tip of Manhattan, and ending back at Central Park again. After a hard day at the office, it was always a great way to let off some steam! Anyway, to celebrate the occasion, I thought I'd document it :) Here's a map of the route if you want to follow along.

The action starts in Midtown Manhattan at the intersection of Fifth Avenue and 59th Street on the left (also known as Grand Army Plaza), and straight away it's traffic chaos hehe! Fifth Avenue has five lanes at this point but who's counting - pretty much anywhere you can fit your vehicle constitutes a lane hahaha! Everybody is honking and cutting each other up, cross-street traffic and pedestrians are blocking intersections and getting in the way - it's utter madness, and then there's me manoeuvering through it all. I'm just one of many cyclists doing the same, though I tend to be the fastest and am probably enjoying it the most ;)

 
 
Traffic aside, there are several sights along the way also. Here we have the New York Public Library. With nearly 53 million items, it is the second largest public library in the US and the fourth largest in the world.
 
This of course is the massive Empire State Building. At 102 storeys and at 1,454 feet (443m) high, it was the world's tallest building for nearly 40 years from its completion in 1931 until the topping out of the original World Trade Center's North Tower in late 1970.
  
And then we come to the intersection of Fifth Avenue and Broadway, with Madison Square Park on the left there, and the infamous Flatiron Building towards the right.

 
 
The triangular Flatiron Building was completed in 1902 and has since become a New York City icon. It is currently an office building but there are apparently plans to turn it into a world-class luxury hotel in the near future.
  
Anyway, I switch on to Broadway at this point and follow it the rest of the way to the bottom of the island.
  
Interrupting Broadway for a few blocks is Union Square. Even as far back as the 1800s, Union Square has always been the starting point of choice for public protests and marches, and indeed each of the marches I've witnessed in the last three years all kicked off from here, such as this one for example.

 
Back on Broadway in Lower Manhattan the fun continues, especially during the two-lane section of it on the right here which is full of cars ignoring the bus-only lane, and pedestrians jaywalking everywhere. In fact, as is generally the case everywhere in the world I've been, wayward pedestrians are a much greater hazard to me than anything else on the road! Vehicular traffic exists within a system of rules that makes it at least somewhat predictable; pedestrians on the other hand are a law unto themselves and seem to pay little or no attention to what might be barrelling down on them.
 
 
Down in the Financial District now, City Hall is buried in the trees of City Hall Park on the left...
  
...and just past Wall Street is the Wall Street Bull, a bronze sculpture of a charging bull - the symbol of aggressive financial optimism and prosperity and a symbol of Wall Street and the Financial District. As you can see, the bull is (yet another) popular tourist destination, and every time I'm down here it's being swarmed upon hehe.

 
 
Here's a shot I stole of it minus the swarm. Show me the money!
  
And if you happen to be wondering what's round the back, well, it's the bull's balls, and the ladies love them hahaha!
  
And with that, I reach the half-way point of my route where Broadway ends at Battery Park here on Manhattan's southern tip, and I take a break to wipe the sweat from my brow (and the wipe the pieces of pedestrian off my bike ;)

 
 
Shortly after starting the trip back north again I pass the new One World Trade Center building, and the World Trade Center site formerly known as "Ground Zero" where the September 11 attacks took place in 2001. There's quite an amazing aerial photo of the site here taken 12 days after the attacks (click on it to view at full resolution).
  
And then it's into SoHo, which refers to the area being "South of Houston Street". The coining of the name SoHo began a naming convention that became a model for the names of emerging and re-purposed neighbourhoods in New York City, such as NoHo for "North of Houston Street", TriBeCa for "Triangle beneath Canal Street" (which I'd just passed through between the World Trade Center and SoHo), DUMBO for "Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass", among many others I'm sure I've mentioned at least once over the last three years :) As for SoHo, it's noted for its variety of shops ranging from trendy upscale boutiques to national and international chain store outlets. It's also intersected by Broome Street on the right here which is constantly grid-locked. A few blocks ahead is one of three entrances to the Holland Tunnel, one of two tunnels that run beneath the Hudson River connecting New York and New Jersey.

 
My route then takes a slight break from the mayhem of rush-hour traffic as I approach and circle around Washington Square Park. Occasionally I venture in for a nosey seeing as there is often some sort of impromptu entertainment going on. Today for example it was this jazz band on the right hehe. Failing that, it's usually homeless folk bathing in the fountain there hahaha!

 
 
Then it's straight back into the bedlam as I turn onto Sixth Avenue for the remainder of the trip north to Central Park. The centre shot is looking back towards One World Trade Center, and on the right is the rather interesting looking Jefferson Market Library, a branch of the New York Public Library. Prior to that back in the 1870s it was a courthouse, and prior to that it was the site of a market place named after the late President Thomas Jefferson, and hence the name. So there you go.

 
Looking north along Sixth Avenue. Let the fun recommence ;)
  
Getting back into the heart of Midtown Manhattan now, this is Herald Square, where Broadway (centre of shot in the distance) intersects with Sixth Avenue (right) and 34th Street (left), with Macy's on the corner there. At the height of rush hour, the traffic here is nuts, and the pedestrian traffic is worse! If you're interested in old photos, check out this one of Herald Square in 1907, back when Sixth Avenue had an elevated railway running along its length.
 
 
A little further along Sixth Avenue, and equally manic with pedestrians, is the gorgeous Bryant Park, plonked behind the New York Public Library. This is a great mid-city spot to escape the hustle and bustle, sit your ass on the lawn, eat your lunch, and/or get drunk at the adjacent bar.
  
Nearing the end now, I go flying back through my neck of the woods where I spend 40'ish hours a week. My office building is on the end of the row of towering buildings on the left, and my floor is right up the top :)

 
 
On the other side of the street is entertainment venue Radio City Music Hall, part of the Rockefeller Center complex, where we twice went to see the The Rockettes perform their annual Christmas Spectacular (once because we wanted to, and once because Kristina scored free tickets, so why not).
  
And that's it for Sixth Avenue, ending back at Central Park a block from where I began about an hour earlier. Good times! :) Occasionally, when I'm in the mood, I rejoin Broadway from here (which becomes a two-way road at this point) and venture a little further north, and/or head back south along Seventh Avenue and through Times Square. Or, I don't bother, and instead head back to our apartment through Central Park. Nice.
  
Looking back down Sixth Avenue at all the fun I just had ;)

My machine on two wheels. Since buying it six years ago in July 2009 back in London, we've covered a total of almost 18,000kms (11,000 miles) together, which is about the distance between London and New Zealand or close to half the circumference of Earth. Much of what ends up on this website is the result of a ride I've done somewhere. However, I've now decided the time is right to sell it rather than ship it down to Texas. Needless to say, its maintenance schedule is getting costly, and it's in dire need of an overhaul and several replacement parts right now. The cost of all that plus the cost to ship it (again) will be more than it's currently worth, so I'm better off using the move from New York as an excuse to sell it and buy something else when we get to Texas, hopefully for several more thousand kilometres of international (or at least national) fun!

Update: I advertised the bike for sale online, and the guy who bought it said it was for his cousin in Argentina. Apparently they have high import taxes or something down there which makes it very expensive to buy such things. So from London to Paris, to Texas, to New York, and now Argentina - that bike has had an interesting life :)

Tuesday, 23 June 2015 - Icons

  
I met up with a friend who's in town this week for some drinkies tonight, beneath the Empire State Building here and a typical post-storm New York sky. I'll certainly miss these sights!
  

Friday, 26 June 2015 - Last day of work (for now)

  
 
I still vividly remember the first day I walked through the door almost three years ago to the day and saw my view from the 37th floor, and today I walked out of it again for the last time. Yup, no more work for this guy, at least not for the next four months or so :) As it turns out however, I may end up working for the same company (UBS) in Texas after the road trip, but as a permanent employee rather than an external contractor. They approached me a few weeks ago to see if I would be interested, and since they don't have an office in Texas they would set me up as a home worker. If nothing else it would be nice to know I have a job at the other end which is a big load off the mind, but we'll see how it all works out. For now however, I'm an unemployed bum, again ;)

Monday, 29 June 2015 - Ready to rock!

  
 
Our bags for the road trip are packed, our boxes of crap that isn't coming with us are ready for shipping to Texas, and our apartment of almost two years is almost ready for the next person to cram themselves into. Although we've been perfectly happy living here, I am looking forward to the prospect of having an actual bedroom, and not using the kitchen area as my personal walk-in closet hehe.

Tuesday, 30 June 2015 - Goodbye New York

Well, here I am again, at the end of another big chapter, and on the verge of another big adventure followed by another new start.

Kristina and I arrived in New York three years ago now, and what a phenomenal three years it's been, slowly but surely eating away at the Big Apple and discovering everything this crazy place has to offer! New York is a truly special place, one of the world's great cities, and we're very lucky to have had the opportunity to call it home. Magnificent skyscrapers and skyline interspersed with beautiful and plentiful parkland (including my most absolute favourite of them all - Central Park on the right), a cornucopia of endless (and sometimes very odd) activities and entertainment, an amazing food and bar scene (especially those of the rooftop variety), vibrant and diverse neighbourhoods (and neighbours), a shopper's paradise, and a chaos-lover's dream. In a manner of speaking, this city really does never sleep.

New York is not without its trials and tribulations however, many of which we've simply grown accustomed to and accepting of, and take completely for granted until someone visiting us from elsewhere comments on them. For starters, New York is expensive; fucking expensive! Everything costs considerably more here (plus our income is taxed both at the city and state level), and what you get for your money compared to elsewhere is frankly depressing. Take accommodation for example - we've been paying $1,800 per month to rent our tiny studio apartment, and, as many locals have informed us, that's actually a great deal! Granted it is the Upper East Side of Manhattan, and there are better deals to be had if you're willing to compromise a little, but knowing what $1,800 per month (or even half of that) can get you elsewhere does induce some disbelief. The next biggest complaint would have to be the traffic, both vehicular and human (keeping in mind New York is the most populated, and the most densely populated, city in the whole country). For me, the vehicular traffic is actually one of my most favourite things about the place, given my love of cycling in it hahaha! The human traffic however is just a pain in the ass. The Subway, though vital, is overcrowded and underfunded, and attracts an element that even lifelong locals can find intimidating. It feels like every street corner has a resident homeless person, personal safety and wellbeing is always a concern, the dating scene is a nightmare (or so I've heard, a lot), and the winters are positively brutal and seem to go on forever.

All that aside, here are a few articles I've happened upon during our time here that give a good sense of just how unique New York really is:

I don't concur with everything in that last article but it's clear that for some folk, New York is synonymous with stress and, ironically, even loneliness, while for others it is literally the centre of the universe. Suffice it to say, it really does take a certain type of personality to embrace a city like New York and to flourish here. Through all of it, Kristina and I have loved every minute and we're both going to really miss the city and our time here, but we always knew New York was temporary - even we couldn't live here forever. So with that being the case, and the fact we have no intention of starting a family here which is becoming more of a talking point, the time is right to move on and find that perfect spot.

Tomorrow we start our big four-month road trip that I've been banging on about for ages, eventually finishing up in in Kristina's home state of Texas to begin the next chapter.

  

Midtown Manhattan, as seen from Hamilton Park in Weehawken, New Jersey across the Hudson River, shot by yours truly last summer.

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