Hike #321; Manhattan

 Hike #321 12/16/7

12/16/7 Manhattan loop with Joe Tag, Eric Pace, "Amish Paul" and Wyatt Hassler, Iannis Garafolo, and Christine "Tall One" Roach

In Grand Central Station!

 My next hike would be another trip to Manhattan, New York City. The weather forecast was looking rather drab, and I thought for sure the hike was bound to fail. Only Eric Pace contacted me first thing in the morning indicating that he wanted to go. I had just about decided to bag it when "Amish Paul" and Wyatt Hassler called me up and asked if I was on my way, as they were almost in the city already. Surprised, I called Eric up to meet me and we'd be on our way.

NYC

A warehouse-turn-high end mall

Retail in an old warehouse, Manhattan

WTC site

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WTC site from World Financial Center

WTC site from WFC

Inside World Financial Center

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Inside World Financial Center

Inside World Financial Center

Looking across the Battery

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Along the WTC site

The church across from the WTC site

Wold Financial Center across from the church

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Nicely done architecture, Manhattan

Manhattan near City Hall

Manhattan near City Hall

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Brooklyn Bridge

On the Brooklyn Bridge

View of the Manhattan Bridge from Brooklyn Bridge

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City Hall, Manhattan

Hamburger steak

Wish bones hanging in McSorely's Tavern, NY

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McSorely's Tavern NY

Grand Central, NY

Grand Central Station NY

In Grand Central

To my surprise, Joe Tag called me up and asked where I was as well! I was going to run over a hour late for the meeting point, which was supposed to be Summit NJ to take the train into the city. Eric and I met him there late, and he was kind enough to drive us into the city. It seemed like some miracle that we ended up able to park directly in front of the post office on West 31st Street I think it was. At first we did'nt think it would be a very good spot, but we were reassured by a worker at the post office that parking was legal there on Sundays, so we briefly rejoiced and began walking toward Penn Station where Amish Paul and Wyatt would meet us. They had spent a great deal of time waiting for us at Border's Bookstore. We wandered through the place looking for a Borders (not realizing that it was probably the one outside of Penn Station) and finally had Amish Paul and Wyatt meet us in front of the big Christmas Tree in the middle of the mall part of the station. It did'nt take them long and we were on our way, but had to stop at the restrooms first. We began walking south, changing blocks a couple times, but I think for the most part we were on 8th Avenue. Joe pointed out the High Line, an abandoned railroad through NYC that was proposed to become a rail trail, but had'nt been yet. We also walked through some revitalized buildings, the first of which was an old warehouse that was converted into high end stores. All of the old brick work and worn wooden floors from years of driving jacks over them were still in place, but the warehouse archways and such were left intact with new glass doorways and store displays in them. The contrast between the old and the new made for an interesting experiance walking through. We had some free samples of some sort of italian ice cream which was rather good, and made our way out the back of the building. We continued south from here and Joe showed us one of two Manhattan banks he once worked in, which was now converted to a meat market! Where the tellers once stood were now clerks serving deli meats, again quite a contrast between what it was and what it is. From here we continued south to what I think was Greenwich Street, where we stopped at a Corner Deli that boasted the best burgers in NYC. We of course had to go in for one. We stopped here for our lunch break and sat down. The burgers were quite good as was the beer. After eating we made our way south toward the World Trade Center site. We were able to see some of the high line railroad along the way, and I was surprised to see that it actually went through some buildings and such, and I am excited at the prospect of one day being able to hike it. When we reached the World Trade Center site, like my previous visit we were not yet able to really look into the construction area. We wandered around it from the subway entrance area to the connector bridge that used to access the twin towers, and walked through them like we did the previous visit, into the World Financial center. The views from here were great, as expected, but there were security people warning everyone not to take pictures in there. Still, I managed to get quite a few when they were not looking. We walked through these buildings and then came to the large marble room in the second building where there was a small choir singing on the steps. In order to get to the next section of the building we had to walk to the west side and around a corner, and there was a great view over the Hudson toward Jersey City including the Jersey Central railroad terminal at Liberty State Park. We walked around the corner into the mall section of the financial center and used the restrooms, and then took a break. I had been in contact with Christine "The Tall One" Roach and Iannis Garafalo about them joining us for the rest of the hike, and were waiting to hear back from them. I figured taking a long break, or a series of breaks, would give them some time to catch up with us. We continued on through the building and through some cross street pedestrian bridges that offered some good views of the trade center site, then made our way along the west side of the site on a pedestrian only street. Once on the north side again, we went east to St Paul's Chapel, an historic church where George Washington once prayed. It was very nice, a beautiful revolution era cemetary, a spot of green and trees in the middle of a metropolis. We wandered through the cemetary and then went into the Church, which was beautiful. George Washington reportedly prayed in this church during the revolution. There was a container of holy water in the front of the church, and Amish Paul and Wyatt joked that they did not burn up when they touched the water (they are Atheists). I drank my red wine in the church as well, which they thought was funny. We continued out of the church heading east, and took in the sight. There was a place called "People with AIDS Plaza" which we thought was rather funny; the disease itself is of course not funny, but the fact that a place would be named something so blatant and odd rather than something sounding supportive. We continued to the Brooklyn Bridge and proceeded to walk across. Despite the somewhat rainy weather, it was still an interesting walk. When we reached the Brooklyn side, there was a wedding party crossing. Apparently, a couple was getting married on the Brooklyn Bridge, which was kind of neat. The entire entourage wearing tuxedos and nice dresses jogged onto the bridge to have the ceremony. We did'nt stay as witnesses, but saw some of it. On the way back across, we met the Tall One, and shortly thereafter on the Manhattan side we met up with Iannis, who was wearing a Court Jester hat. We continued walking from here, and headed north through Chinatown and Little Italy. We wandered through and saw some of the sights, and stopped at a little pizza place so some of the crew could eat. The guy running the place sold us some beer, which the Tall One and I split between us. I gave one of my beers to Iannis. We soon continued on and walked through parts of town, stopping at one of the oldest bars in NYC, called McSoreley's. It was a great little bar with good beer. Joe Tag bought me one, and I enjoyed it quite a lot. This bar had all sorts of little knick knacks, all of some sort of historical significance. I was told this was the last bar, I think in the United States, to disclude women. Interesting fact. We continued on heading north, led by Joe and Iannis. They took us to the Rockafeller Center where we saw the famous Christmas Tree and the ice skating rink. We walked through some of the hotels and checked out the upscale lobbies, and took the time to sit in some of the comfy seats and couches. We continued on past Radio City Music Hall, then headed southbound. Along the way, Iannis pointed out the Freedon Tower, the buildng that was proposed to be built at the WTC site. I had not known it, but apparently the building was not to be built, and instead the architecture was utilized further up town, at a smaller scale. The tower was very recognizeable as the one shown all over TV as part of the WTC plan, and it was surprising to see it actually standing, infrastructure almost complete. We continued south passing the Macy's. The Christmas decor was much better than the previous year, with a giant tree shape of lights hanging from the front. The displays were rather trippy though, with lots of eerie looking elves, and some really freaky looking Jack Frost and outer space scenes. The Christmas in outer space one was particularly weird, with a santa sleigh orbiting the earth with robots in space ships and Martians wearing santa hats. We discussed what kind of drugs those who created it were taking. We continued walking south until we got back to Penn Station and said our goodbyes before leaving. Amish Paul's GPS read that we had covered a surprising 21 miles; not bad I thought, and it did'nt seem like it could have been so much time.

In McSorley's Tavern!

PICTURES I TOOK!

1.) This is the Manhattan Post Office2.) This is inside an old warehouse that was revitalized into up scale stores3.) Inside the upscale store warehouse4.) World Trade Center site from a connector bridge5.) Amish Paul and Wyatt in the bridge to the World Financial Center6-7.) World Trade Center site from the World Financial Center8.) Singers in the World Financial Center with the holiday decor9.) WTC site from the building10-11.) The singers in the World Financial Center with the marble stair cases12.) Looking across the Hudson from the World Financial Center toward the Central Railroad of NJ train station in Jersey City13.) WTC site14.) Pedestrian road around the WTC site15.) St Paul's Chapel near the WTC site16.) View of the World Financial Center from St Paul's Chapel17.) Inside of St Paul's Chapel18.) Interestingly colored blocks on this building...19.) Park near city hall20.) there's Eric..21.) Wyatt at the People with AIDS Plaza22.) Crossing the Brooklyn Bridge23.) Me on the Brooklyn Bridge24.) Wyatt on the Brooklyn Bridge with a view of the Manhattan Bridge25.) On the Brooklyn Bridge26-27.) I believe this is city hall28.) At McSoreley's Tavern, these wishbones were supposedly left by soldiers on their way to the Vietnam War in the sixties, and those who came home picked up their wish bones.29.) Interesting Knick Knacks on the walls of McSoreley's30.) Tall One, Iannis, me, Wyatt, and Joe in McSoreley's31.) Grand Central Station32.) Inside Grand Central33.) The group going nuts in Grand Central!34.) This is in some upscale hotel lobby in Manhattan35.) Amish Paul made use of the comfortable lobby furniture36.) Christmas lights on the buildings at the famous Rockafeller Center37.) The tree at Rockafeller Center38.) The front of Macy's39.) Movie of Iannis and Wyatt pretending to trip on the weird display at Macy's40.) Macy's display41.) Empire State Building

Hallway in WFC

WTC site from WFC

WTC site

Inside the church. Was it St. Paul's Cathedral?

Near City Hall

Brooklyn Bridge

Displays at McSorely's Tavern NY