OUR EASY DAY

We planned an easier day today, so took the subway downtown.  As we emerged, I loved the idea of hundreds of thousands of feet wearing the pattern from these pressed metal stairs away.

 We headed to the Staten Island Ferry terminal, to catch the free ferry.

This is me with Juan.  (Hello Kim!). He was with a man with a working dog and I asked what he was sniffing for.  Bombs!  Apparently if the dog sits down, you don't want to own that bag!

We got a great view of the Statue of Liberty as we serenely sailed by.  The city looked quite hazy though.

 We can't sail straight back on the same vessel, so we decided to walk around St. George a while.  To the right of the ferry terminal, we found the Postcards 9/11 Memorial.   It honours all the Staten Island residents who perished that day.  Their names and birth dates are accompanied by each person's profile, which was lovely.  Sad there were so many to be remembered.

We went into the Court House, partly for interest but also because I needed a restroom.  One beautiful court room was the Surrogate's Court, similar to our Magistrate level.  A man showed us in and explained the framed document on the wall.  The first case heard, a probate settled in 1781.  That is seven years before the First Fleet! I asked about 9/11 and he said that day he was driving to another court and had actually seen the flames of the first plane hitting.  He assumed a gas explosion from the restaurant high up the tower.

We were advised to go into the next building, the Borough Office (above) to see the murals there.  There were historical quilts on display too.

We went into the foyer of an old theatre too.  Another tourist told us it is the largest theatre in New York.  It was all dark and dramatic, carvings and chandeliers, very atmospheric!

Heading back to the ferry, we had to scramble in as an employee was pulling the huge doors in the terminal shut for that trip.  I noticed this ferry was called the "John F. Kennedy."

We sat a while in Battery Park, with a lovely view across the water to the Statue.  Sounds idyllic, but the smells of decaying rubbish between the terminal and the park were quite challenging.

We then headed to Wall Street.  There are barricades to prevent traffic and security entrance points for the Stock Exchange.  I was expecting a glass monolith but this is it.

 In the same street is the Tiffany Store and across from that, The Trump Building.  A plaque explains who built it and when Donald acquired the property.

 Next we headed to the 9/11 Memorial.  The footprint of the Twin Towers are parked by the white oak trees around the pools.  Water streams down in thousands of small streams, to form one large body of water, that empties into the abyss.  Names are engraved along the top ledge of the pools.  The sound of the water has a calming effect.

Further in we passed this, the Woolworths building, which was really tall when it was built.  It really has lots of lovely detail on it.

We came across another park and ventured in as it had various art sculptures in it.  But it was the fountain we loved the most.  Robert said, "Now THAT'S a fountain."

We headed to the Court area, as I wanted to see where they head up and down the stairs on Law and Order.  We met a policeman on duty named Mike.  I have his photo but he asked not to be on social media.  He was such an interesting man and probably one of the day's highlights.

Mike told us on 9/11 the soles of his shoes melted, as the ground there was so hot.  He worked there for eight months, picking up all sorts of things.  He explained all the buildings in the area to us, including the CIA building, One Police Plaza and the various court buildings.  But he devastated me when he said only three days ago Law and Order were there filming and last week Tom Selleck for Blue Bloods.

We went in the Supreme Court which has an incredible dome, with a mural and then stained glass even higher.  Amazing but no photos allowed.  Sadly, no court cases on either.  But I deterred, we
headed down to the Criminal Court, where they do arraignments basically round the clock.

In there, we sat in the courtroom of a female judge and watched about ten arraignments.  They are quick affairs.  The accused stands right in front of the bench, with their counsel and sometimes a translator. The Public Prosecutor stands to the right and reads first, giving their recommendation.  The defence then briefly states their position.  The judge sometimes asked questions, gave the Prosecutor a chance to speak again, then made her decision. The prisoner was then either led out a door to the right of the judge, or left via the main court door.


What amazed us was the rest of officials sitting there working, moving around.  Two on computers sat facing us, I think processing each case once decided.  But lawyers moved around there too.  A busy place.

We detoured through an enormous stone arch carriageway, that connected two buildings, to see the legendary One Police Plaza.

Now this was to be an easy day.  But the Brooklyn Bridge is right there.  The pedestrian entrance is virtually next to the Court area.  So we decided ... Why not walk over the Bridge now?  So off we set.
Neither of us are great with heights, the the walking section is set in the middle, above the vehicle traffic which flows either side.

It afforded great views up the East River and back to the city skyline.

We saw the Manhattan Bridge to our left as we crossed to Brooklyn.

Along the way, up ahead on the bridge, we saw a young black couple having a fairly fierce argument. At one point, he grabbed her wig and flung it down onto the roadway, where it lay like a dead animal.

Shortly after that, she hit him, he retaliated, then kicked her.  A guy on a bike stopped to help, but the attacker stormed off.  The young woman shrugged off the help and staggered after him.  The bike rider was left with her umbrella and cap.  He pedalled after her and handed them over.  One woman was phoning the police.  Later we saw them in Brooklyn, still fighting.

We had dinner in a diner near the bridge.  Stopped outside at a traffic light I saw this Corrections van, with the mesh covered window.

We thought about catching the subway back, but our Metro map only covered Manhattan.  The guide book talked about the East River Ferry, but we were not sure exactly where the terminal was.  We decided to walk back over the Brooklyn Bridge.  There was less foot traffic by now plus the air was much cooler.

On the bridge something strange happened.  I saw the SAME YOUNG MAN I had already seen twice today.  He was wearing tan trousers and had a distinctive checked shirt tucked in.  I first saw him with another two people early this morning.  Then I saw him near the Law Courts.  Then we passed by on the Brooklyn Bridge!

Their was a Metro Station just as we left the Bridge, so we only had a few blocks to walk back to the hotel.  So much for an easy day.  My iPhone app recorded we did 29,038 steps today, which is 21.76 kilometres.  And don't my legs know it!