Weekend Trip to New York City, Day 1 on July 23rd, 2016

by admin

As expected, CS department of Cornell University basically left all the weekends in the summer program to our own discretion (expect for the first weekend’s field trip to Niagara Falls, which was nice since normally one don’t easily get from Ithaca to Niagara Falls without a car). Since Ithaca’s so rurally located, the only city that attracted us was the Big Apple.

Bus Layover at Binghamton Bus Terminal

The images in this post are hosted on Imgur. Email me should there be any display problems.

A few things I shall say about transportation between Ithaca and New York (and then the rest of the country). In theory one could fly from Ithaca Regional Airport to Newark Liberty by United Airlines, that is, with enough money in the pocket. But given the runway renovation at Ithaca Airport ~~and of course our limited budget~~, we were basically left with ground transport.
At Ithaca bus station, I saw a sign of Greyhound, but I’m not very sure whether Greyhound actually served Ithaca or not. ~~At least prices on their websites doesn’t look nice.~~ Cornell University should have some regular direct bus services to New York City, to Columbia University Campus if I remembered correctly, but it’s not a daily service. So that basically left us with Shortline, a subsidiary of CoachUSA.
Now one can find the details of such service on Shortline’s website. To sum up, there were the “premium” direct service to NYC, and “standard” Shortline network buses to NYC.
What interested me was that, the “standard” Shortline network seemed to have the only overnight bus to New York City from Ithaca and back, the timetables of which I’m most fond of. I shall say it’s only a 6-hour ride between NYC and Ithaca, and that includes layover at Binghamton, during which rest could potentially be a problem. But since we were only spending the weekend, we were pretty sure things would be fine~~, although that didn’t always turn out to be the case~~.

One thing I shall mention about the Shortline service to New York was that, it’s basically made up of two segments, Ithaca to Binghamton and Binghamton to New York. Yes, if you didn’t purchase their direct premium services, the salesman would give you two tickets for one trip. MegaBus, which is also a subsidiary of CoachUSA, sells tickets online between Binghamton and New York at discount prices, while the prices between Ithaca and Binghamton was sort of fixed at $12.5. In my experiences, the ride between Binghamton and New York City was usually full, while seats were plentiful between Binghamton and Ithaca.

Well, I shall say, one bad thing about overnight buses was that, I had to go to Ithaca Bus Station to purchase tickets in advance to Binghamton, since the Cornell University Student Center was closed during summer, and our bus would arrive at Ithaca Bus Station at midnight (otherwise one could get on the bus first and purchase tickets latter at the bus station). So that’s a lot of jogging ~~and Pokemon hunting~~.

Morning at New Jersey Turnpike

I had to say I didn’t sleep very well during the trip. I was basically wile awake after sunrise, watching suburb New York passing by off the window.
I shall say, I felt quite a surge of emotion as I gazed upon the skyscrapers of New York City over the horizon bathing in the glow of rising sun as we travelled south on I95 across the river.

Coach that Took Us from Ithaca to New York

New York Times Building
It’s just across Port Authority Bus Terminal.

Our plan of the day was to visit Statue of Liberty first. But since the bus dropped us off more than an hour before the first Statue Cruises ferry, our first stop was Times Square.

McDonald’s, Neon Style

People Waiting at the Gate of Champs Sports

Manhattan Streets in the Morning

GMA Studio Blocked by Roadwork

Times Square in the Morning

Well, I have to say, maybe 7 in the morning is way too early for the majority of visitors to New York, as I found an almost empty Times Square. It’s a little bit weird to see more neon screens than people.
Also more than people was the quantity of garbage in my sight. Perhaps it’s just the morning-shift street cleaners not having begun their day job, or perhaps this is New York, where everything is blended together.

Having visited Times Square, we headed for the metro station with Lady Liberty being our next stop.

Paramount Plaza Soaring to the Sky

Unfortunately, I mistakenly entered the uptown platform, which was not where I’m supposed to be. Since I cannot walk across the platform at 50 Street Station, my ingenuity solved the problem by taking the uptown train to the bigger Columbus Circle Station and back, rather than spending two bucks getting in and out again.

The Bright Side of New York Subway Systems
Columbus Circle Subway Station

Now that’s my first impressions about New York subway station. On one hand, I was marveling at such an engineering achievement that had stood the test of time for more than a century, on the other hand, I was waiting in sweltering heat among broken tiles and rusty beams. It’s easy to say I liked London’s metro system better, it’s hard to find a way to clean up and renovate New York’s subway system in an American culture, just looked above ground at its garbage-filled streets.

New York Subway

My friend was complaining about this subway design, while took it for granted that the opposite platform should be easily available. I, on the other hand, realized such a design means they would dig one floors out, instead of two as with most modern subway systems.

Buildings Around Rector Street Subway Exit

We got off the subway at Rocter Street Station. Since there’s still time to kill (first Liberty Island ferry should leave at 0830, if I remember correctly), we roamed around.

Buildings Around Rector Street Subway Exit
This skyscraper was constructed in the last two years.

Broadway, near Wall Street

Cunard Building before Charging Bull
A cruise line company.

Charging Bull
There’s a constant crowd of people at Charging Bull, with no angle for a good shot.

Morning at Beaver Street

New Street, typical Back Alley at Lower Manhattan for Garbage Trucks

Equipment for a Movie Set

A Movie Set

At this point a lady approached us and usher us aside, saying they were shooting a movie. It seemed quite strange to me that she could pick us out from a group of extras. My friend said maybe she could somehow remembered exactly where every extra should be, and of course we weren’t.

Exchange Place

The Setai Wall Street
Where buildings are next to each other.

New York Stock Exchange

Federal Hall

Sadly, Federal Hall wasn’t open by the time we arrived (which was no surprise to us), and we hadn’t visited it henceforth during our visit.

Wall Street
Before Federal Hall, Facing East

Trinity Church Entrance

71 Broadway Apartments with its Beautiful Facade

Then we found this Trinity Church, and it seemed to welcome everyone inside. As I joked with my friend, maybe the bankers from Wall Street need a place to cleanse their guilt after ripping off everybody’s savings.

British Monarch Visit Memorial at the Threshold of Trinity Church

Trinity Church Interior

Organ of Trinity Church

Stained Glasses of Trinity Church

Pews in Trinity Church

I shall say, church was really a place of tranquility and reflection amid all the bustling outside.

111 Broadway

Charging Bull with its Crowds of Visitors

National Museum of the American Indian

MTA Building

Memorial at Battery Park Dedicated to Sailors Lost at Sea

Battery Park Lawn

Castle Clinton Entrance

Originally we planned for the first ferry of the day. But since we spent a little bit longer than expected at Wall Street, we departed Battery Park on the second ferry.

Statue Cruises

New York Harbor from Battery Park

Lower Manhattan

US Flag on Statue Cruises

Statue Cruises Leaving Battery Park

Lower Manhattan

Brooklyn from New York’s Harbor

Verrazano-Narrows Bridge

Manhattan and Brooklyn

Verrazano-Narrows Bridge

Statue of Liberty

Manhattan and Brooklyn Bridge

Statue of Liberty

Cruise Ship Parked in New York Harbor

US Flag on Liberty Island

The Liberty Island tour came with a free audio guide, which was filled with immigrants telling the patriotic story of freedom, and their quest for it. I had to say this wasn’t to my friend’s taste.

So we walked around Lady Liberty taking photos, leaving the audio guide alone. My friend thought its descriptions were too lengthy, I basically knew enough about the Statue that I deemed it unnecessary.

Lower Manhattan, East Jersey City, Ellis Island and Brooklyn from Liberty Island

Liberty Island Pier and Lower Manhattan

Statue of Liberty

Birds on Liberty Island
I hope these duck-like creatures could fly, otherwise they were actually confined by fence to this tiny little lawn.

US Flag on Liberty Island

Statue of Liberty

Unfortunately, by the time we returned our audio guide and headed for the pier, a ferry just left. That meant I had 20 or so minutes for Pokemon hunting.

Gulls Flying by Liberty Island
As usual, shooting birds has become my only entertainment waiting for things.

Arriving Statue Cruises Ferry

Table and Chair where I Spent Time Waiting for Ferry

Coins Tossed on Liberty Island Pier
I hope this is not the sole work of coin-tossing-frenzy Chinese visitors, if so, it won’t take long before this becomes a underwater archaeology site.

Boarding Ferry to Ellis Island

US Flags at Liberty State Park

FDNY Fireboat Shooting Water
For what was apparently a ceremonial escort

Lady Liberty & Lower Manhattan

Statue Cruises Passing Statue of Liberty

Lower Manhattan

FDNY Fireboat Shooting Water
For what was apparently a ceremonial escort

FDNY Fireboat Three Forty Three and Beast Speedboat

Immigration Facilities Left on Ellis Island

Ellis Island and Lady Liberty

Ellis Island Immigration Museum Entrance

One of Many Hurdles Behind Us

Ellis Island Immigration Building Hall

Photos Depicting Hall as Immigration Checkpoint

Ship Manifesto

There were names highlighted in the ship manifesto, the offspring of which we heard in the audio guide, which was very powerful.

Pictures Depicting Medical Check Upon Arrival

Graffiti on the Wall

Courtroom for Immigrants Entering US

Sample Questions Asked of Immigrants
It’s quite shocking to me that not very long ago, immigrants were asked “do you have a job?”, “do you read or write?”. Now, we have a Donald Trump that asked “are you a Muslim?”

Display of Foreign Currency
As there was once a currency exchange office where the arriving immigrants would exchange their money.

Display of Train Tickets of Immigrants Leaving New York

Display of Intelligent Test for Arriving Immigrants

Display of Milk Bottle

Ellis Island Immigration Building Hall

Display of Accommodations for Immigrants

Ellis Island Immigration Building Hall

Statue on Display
This is my favorite statue on display, as the railings provide such a beautiful and powerful visual balance.

Ellis Island Immigration Museum Entrance

Sculpture of Father and Son on Ellis Island

Sculpture of Lone Traveller on Ellis Island

Birds on Ellis Island

Lawn on Ellis Island

Lower Manhattan and East Jersey City from Ellis Island

Lower Manhattan

Sculpture of Lone Traveller on Ellis Island

Liberty Island Viewed from Ellis Island

One thing not so fun was that, there were so many people waiting for ferries to leave Ellis Island at that time, that the cutoff for our previous ferry was right before us, so we waited for like 20 minutes, in not-so-pleasant sunshine.

Statue Cruises Flag before Ellis Island Immigration Museum

Statue Cruises Ship to New Jersey

Ellis Island Immigration Museum

East Jersey City

New York Water Taxi before Lower Manhattan

Sailboat in New York Harbor

Lower Manhattan

Waves Splashed by Our Ship

Lower Manhattan

Statue Cruises Flag before Lower Manhattan

Plane Carrying Banners Flying By
The message reads “keep hookers off the pier”.

A Statue Cruises Ship Parked
Due to the extensive amount of visitors, it took that ship quite a long time for unloading and loading. With limited space at the dock, our ship was kept waiting.

It seemed that the density of Liberty Island Ferries (20-minute interval if I remembered correctly) were actually bottlenecked by the ship’s disembarkation and embarkation speed.

Staten Island Ferry

Kids Playing by Fountain in Battery Park

National Museum of the American Indian Entrance

Then we planned to take the subway green line to Metropolitan Museum of Art. But since Bowling Green Subway Station was closed for renovation, we walked a few blocks back to Rector Street Station.

American Express Company Office
This must be their old offices, as they set up a magnificent buildings near World Trade Center, just by the Hudson River.

Passing Trinity Church

Flowers, Trinity Church and Skyscrapers

New York Subway Rector Street Station

New York Subway Rector Street Station Ventilation Shaft

I was quite shocked to find that New York Subway System was using such a primitive ventilation system (on a second thought, since it was built more than a century ago, this should be less surprising). The only thing that prevented rainwater or street garbage from falling into the subway station (presumably on someone’s head) was, a misaligned shaft?

New York Subway Third-Rail Structure

Lunch at Shake Shack East 86 Street
That chicken burger tasted a lot better than the one in McDonald’s. Although I could fairly argue that McDonald’s don’t treat chicken burger seriously.

We finished lunch at a nearby Shake Shack before heading for the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The burger tasted nice, the only problem was that, since that stored had very limited amount of seats, we had to finish it in a tiny public park outside the store (I shall mention it’s not a very decent way of using that public park, since the park was basically filled with Shake Shack patrons but there were signs stating it’s public area and no purchase is required to sit there, which was kind of ironic.). And trust me, the wooden seats and ion trays were unbearably hot in the sun.

Buildings on Madison Avenue

The Metropolitan Museum of Art Fountain

Buildings on Fifth Avenue, outside METs

Then it’s the METs. One thing I’m not so fond of was that, the METs was essentially a donation-based pay-as-you-like institution, as I shall compare it to the British Museum. But under the influence of New York’s lust for money, it set up ticket checkpoints before everyone could enter. So you either pay the whole recommended 25 dollar, or wait in the miserable line as everyone else. By comparison, the British Museum simply admits everyone in, while setting quite noticeable donation booths. One could argue donation booths would attract much less donation than ticket salesmen, but I just don’t think lines were a good match of the museum’s missions.

Well, apart from the lines, the exhibits were extraordinary.

Egyptian Pottery Works
I liked its transparency.

Egyptian Pottery Works
Again, it’s its transparency (or at least the feeling of it) that attracted me.

Heads of Egyptian Sculptures
It feels ironic that, to me, this is a display of both America’s determination for history preservation and its brutality at artifact despoiling.

Display of Upper American Household

Well, for the METs, I know it’s so large that I couldn’t finish all the exhibits in one day. So, I choose to view some of the exhibits more thoroughly, than skimming everything all at once. We stayed at the METs for roughly three hours, that is, before my friend got bored at the absence of “modern” art.

For the following selection of photos I uploaded here, some of their descriptions were from the METs website.

The Falling Gladiator
The tension between the raised arm and the dramatic, collapsing posture enhances the work’s emotional intensity and reflects Rimmer’s fascination with figures that rise and fall simultaneously.

Diana
Saint-Gaudens eschewed the traditional full-bodied interpretation of Diana, the Roman goddess of the moon and the hunt, focusing instead on simple, elegant lines and a strong silhouette.

Bohemian Bear Tamer
The bears are not aware of their potential brute power; thus, the underlying theme is man’s superiority as the thinking species.

The Angel of Death and the Sculptor from the Milmore Memorial
The memorial represents the moment when the Angel of Death interrupts the sculptor’s work, staying the chisel in his left hand. She also holds a bunch of poppies, symbolizing eternal sleep.

California
Powers intended the symbolism to reflect good (the divining rod) versus evil (the thorns), with the additional moral message that all that glitters is not gold. “California” was the first sculpture by an American artist to enter the Metropolitan’s collection.

Nydia, the Blind Flower Girl of Pompeii
Her closed eyes and staff allude to her blindness, while the hand raised to her ear refers to her acute sense of hearing. The destruction of Pompeii is symbolized by the broken Corinthian capital beside her right foot.

All Angels’ Church Pulpit and Choir Rail
This pulpit and choir rail were originally from New York’s All Angels’ Church (demolished 1978).

Details of Handgun

Decorated Sword Hilt
The Virgin Mary, surmounted by a crown of lilies, forms the grip and pommel. The guard has a dynamic composition composed of the Archangel Michael, symbol of Christianity and leader of the armies of heaven, vanquishing Satan, here a writhing dragon with a human face. The sword’s evocative sacred imagery is almost without parallel in the context of late nineteenth-century weapons.

Swords

Helmet Display

Sword Hilt Display

Sword and Scabbard of Captain Richard French
This innovative sword incorporates a three-dimensional figure as its grip, a feature inspired by French sword designs of the 1840s. Here, the armored female figure holds a shield with the American arms and a wreath of victory, imagery referring both to Athena as goddess of war and Columbia, personification of the United States. This is a second casting of a hilt designed by the Ames Manufacturing Company for a sword presented to Mexican War hero General Franklin Pierce by the State of New Hampshire in 1849. The recipient of the Metropolitan’s sword was Richard French, captain of the New York militia company known as the LaFayette Fusiliers. The sword was presented to him by the men of his company on June 21, 1850.

Field Armor of King Henry VIII of England (reigned 1509-47)
This impressive armor was made for Henry VIII (reigned 1509-47) toward the end of his life, when he was overweight and crippled with gout. Constructed for use both on horse and on foot, it was probably worn by the king during his last military campaign, the siege of Boulogne in 1544, which he commanded personally in spite of his infirmities.

Colt Third Model Dragoon Percussion Revolver, Serial Number 12406
Samuel Colt (1814-1862) was one of the most famous and successful American inventors and entrepreneurs of the early industrial age. By patenting the first mass-produced multishot revolving firearms, Colt achieved worldwide fame and a vast personal fortune. The Museum’s revolver is considered one of Colt’s finest. Apparently, it was created as part of a set of three pairs of gold-inlaid revolvers that Colt took with him to Europe in 1854.

Armor
Did they attempt to scare enemy away by carving the eyes like a ghost?

Saber on Display

Swords

Japanese Helmet

Helmet Display
I think this helmet would be too funny for battlegrounds, except when enemies were distracted by it.

Knight Procession Display

Helmet

Processional Cross
This cross conveys the luxury found within churches that dotted the Christian kingdoms of northern Spain during the Middle Ages.

The Last Supper
This scene of the Last Supper clearly shows each disciple, including Judas, who is seen at the lower right clutching his bag of money, a reference to his future betrayal. The elaborate and detailed carving indicates that the sculpture came from an important ecclesiastical setting, such as a sacrament house that contained the elements for celebrating mass.
What interested me was that, I never saw The Last Supper carved on a stone before.

Saint Sebastian
I liked the way angles were placed above the saint.

Wedding Dress on Display

Perseus with the Head of Medusa

Ugolino and His Sons
The subject of this intensely Romantic work is derived from canto XXXIII of Dante’s Inferno, which describes how the Pisan traitor Count Ugolino della Gherardesca, his sons, and his grandsons were imprisoned in 1288 and died of starvation.

The Burghers of Calais
odin closely followed the account of the French chronicler Jean Froissart (1333 or 1337-after 1400) stating that six of the principal citizens of Calais were ordered to come out of the besieged city with heads and feet bare, ropes around their necks, and the keys of the town and the castle in their hands. They were brought before the English king Edward III (1312-1377), who ordered their beheading.

Andromeda and the Sea Monster
In Greek mythology, Andromeda is the daughter of the Aethiopian king Cepheus and his wife Cassiopeia. When Cassiopeia’s hubris leads her to boast that Andromeda is more beautiful than the Nereids, Poseidon sends a sea monster, Cetus, to ravage Aethiopia as divine punishment.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art Fountain

Next stop of the day was Top of the Rock observatory. In theory there was a bus to take us there from METs, however, at that time I found my MetroCard purchased earlier in the day was mysteriously missing, so we had to head back to the subway station and purchase another one.

Chase Bank on Madison Avenue and East 79 Street

Buildings on East 79 Street

St Bartholomew’s Church and Buildings on Park Avenue

Back end of St. Patrick’s Cathedral

Side Door of St. Patrick’s Cathedral

Olympic Tower Facade

As for the Olympic Tower, I couldn’t think of a reason why there was Greek flag hanging, except that the word “Olympic” originated in Greece. (This didn’t seemed to be a building owned or affiliated to any Greek organization.)

Then we passed by St. Patrick’s Cathedral. Since it’s open, we decided to pay it a visit, with its spacious interior and solemn presence.

St. Patrick’s Cathedral Interior

Congregation and Altar of St. Patrick’s Cathedral

Organ at St. Patrick’s Cathedral

Altar at St. Patrick’s Cathedral

Stained Glasses at St. Patrick’s Cathedral

Candles at Altar at St. Patrick’s Cathedral

Altar at St. Patrick’s Cathedral

Columns at St. Patrick’s Cathedral

Minor Altars at the side of St. Patrick’s Cathedral

Rockefeller Center Atlas

Rockefeller Center Buildings

St. Patrick’s Cathedral and Olympic Tower

St. Patrick’s Cathedral Entrance

Rockefeller Center Prometheus Sculpture and Fountain

Rockefeller Center

NBC Studio at Rockefeller Center

American Flags at Rockefeller Center

Nintendo Store at Rockefeller Center

Since we were kind of hungry by that time, we decided to had our dinner first before dealing with Top of the Rock experience, which turned out to be a mistake as I shall explain later.

My friend located a fast food restaurant called the Five Guys, which featured open kitchen and oily food. While waiting for our food, we watched the symphonious performance of five staff members running all the things across the counter, as I thought that’s how the restaurant got its name. That is, until at one moment (presumably due to high workload), a sixth guy sprung up from back kitchen and join the five.

Dinner at Five Guys
I’m not a fan of the store’s practice of getting everything oily, including food bags.

Fries at Five Guys
I picked a medium size fries, which I fathom was a cup (small) plus an equal amount of fries that’s not packaged.

Burgers at Five Guys
It tasted real good. The problem was that, that little tin foil didn’t seem enough to contain all the oil.

My Friend’s Fries
Oh, another problem of the fries there was that, it seemed overcooked and over-salted.

NBC Observation Deck

Top of the Rock Visitor Center Chandelier
Quite a modern Chandelier, to say.

Now for tickets, we chose New York Explorer Pass with Top of the Rock, Empire State and Circle Line Landmark Cruise, because it offered the best rates for these three attractions alone.

However, when we tried to redeem Top of the Rock tickets after dinner, that is, after some waiting in line at their visitor center, we were given a pair of tickets and were told to come back during the time slots written on the ticket, which was an hour later.

So, basically, we could have gotten our tickets first and had dinner later. Now that we got this all wrong, I guess my Airbnb host would be more than displeased for me knocking on the doors at past midnight.

Pool Statue before Rockefeller Center

Rockefeller Tower

So for the next hour or so I wandered around Rockefeller Center.

Shops near Rockefeller Center

St. Patrick’s Cathedral at Night

Traffic before St. Patrick’s Cathedral

Rockefeller Center Prometheus Sculpture and Fountain

Sunken Square at Rockefeller Center

Trees with Lightings
If trees were so well-illuminated in July, it must be wonderland in Christmas time.

People at Rockefeller Garden

Wisdom Sculpture at Rockefeller Center Entrance

Tip of St. Patrick’s Cathedral Spire among Rockefeller Center Flags

Rockefeller Center at Night

Radio City Sign

Buildings on 6th Street

Tonight Show Studio Entrance

Sunken Square with Ion Sculpture

Empire State Building behind Skyscrapers

Traffic on West 49 Street

Office Building Entrance

Simon & Schuster Building

Traffic on 6th Avenue

NBC Studios Observation Deck

Building Entrance at Night

NBC Today Studio
This doesn’t seem like an operation television studio at all. I guess it took several hours of preparation to get this studio to be broadcast ready. It’s hard to convince myself they are doing this every day.

Rockefeller Center at Night

For me, there’s a personal note of Rockefeller Tower, the headquarter of NBC News, as I watched it appearing in glittering gold night after night in the opening scenes of NBC Nightly News, which is the most accessible US news program to me for more than three years. To me, if the Statue of Liberty is a monument to the idea of freedom, than 30th Rockefeller Plaza shall be that idea incarnated in the form of accessible information. I shall say I don’t think NBC Nightly News represent the best of its broadcast peers, amid the repercussions of Brain Williams’s, but under the dome of a central government that censors and expurgates, the largest private building in modern history speaks volume of a land of equal opportunities for all.

That night, I guess as with other nights, the Rockefeller Tower was illuminated in purple blue. I tried to process the picture to the splendor of NBC Nightly News’s opening scenes.
But at the end of 2016, NBC changed its Nightly News opening to full CG’s of New York’s night.

NBC Today Studio

Dinner Tables in Sunken Square of Rockefeller Center

People at Rockefeller Center
Guess they are catching Pokemon?

Rockefeller Center at Night

We arrived at Top of the Rock visitor center again at 10pm, only to find there’s more waiting in line before our elevator ride up to the top.

Top of the Rock Elevator Ride
It’s a glass-top elevator, so they can use project things onto it.

Night of New York

Empire State Building at Night

View from Top of the Rock

Top of the Rock Elevator Ride
It’s a glass-top elevator, so they can use project things onto it.

It was very late at night when we left Rockefeller Center, and I believe I was more than drowsy that my brain barely functioned. To characterize the next two hours in a few words: took the wrong subway (express rather than local), got off at the wrong station, took the wrong subway, found out the destination in my head isn’t where I was supposed to be. Finally, a taxi ride solved the problem, as the taxi driver joined my friend at marveling, if not teasing at how wrong I could be with New York’s subway.