New York Day 2

After getting some things sorted out in the morning regarding tickets and whatnot, I managed to get away about 1030 am from the hostel. I bought a cheap bus tour that went around the city in several different loops, and was good for 2 days, covering pretty much everything.

I started off at the World Trade Centre site, bypassing everything else to get there first. It is enormous in size, but the construction is progressing, and the hole that is there doesn't so much look like a hole anymore, there are pillars and cranes that have risen past street level now. I walked around looking for the viewing area that I had been told to go to that allowed Emergency Services members in for an additional look that wasn't open to the public. After talking to a few Transit Authority Cops, I learned that it had been closed as construction progressed. There are many interesting things to see there though, including memorials, and interesting stories, such as a very old church that was next to the WTC that wasn't harmed at all, as it was protected by it's trees that surrounded it. Some trees died, most survived, even after being smashed by giant steel I beams that fell from enormous heights. If you talk to people that work in the area, most were there that day, and have interesting insights and things to say.

After that, I walked around some, as the bus is a hop-on-hop-off deal, making my way through the financial district, down Wall street, and to the Staten Island Ferry location. Went by the Brooklyn Bridge, and spent some time down by the water. All day I spent hopping from bus to bus, and jetting around on the subway, through Harlem, up to Central Park, and pretty much everywhere else you can get to.

If you can name a sight in New york, chances are I saw it on this day. the next day I planned for a Yankee game, and hopefully getting up to the observation deck on the Empire State Building.