Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island: Ferry from Battery Park

If you've never been or haven't been to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island since 2004 (when the statue re-opened with new security measures), it is time to go.  You can buy tickets the day of (even in the height of the summer), but you need to plan ahead and purchase tickets weeks/months in advance online at Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island Tours if you want to go up to the torch as the number of visitors is severely restricted for safety/evacuation reasons.  There are several online sites that sell these tickets, but this is the official site and offers the cheapest rates.

When you visit, if you want to have enough time to visit both islands, you will need to get going before 11 and not expect to finish until after 3.  Yes, it is a full day, and a tiring one at that--if the heat doesn't get you, the amount of walking may.  I've gone without getting the audio tour, and was able to get the full experience by reading the plentiful signage, but if you want a less labor-intensive visit, splurge and get the audio tour (it is worth it).

HINT: Definitely enjoy the views of downtown Manhattan (see below) and the Statue of Liberty from the ferry, but when the ferry gets close to each island, get close to the exiting doors so that you can get your audio guide quickly and avoid the crowds/lines.

With the audio tour, we got the statistics of the Statue (e.g., height of Statue is 151 ft., in 50 mph winds, the torch sways up to 6 inches, the copper skin is the thickness of 2 pennies--3/32 of an inch), the history of the statue, and the accompanying bronze sculptures of the internal structure designer (Alexandre Gustave Eiffel), designers (Edouard de Laboulaye and Frederic Auguste Bartholdi), and the writer whose famous poem about the Statue of Liberty, "The New Colossus": "...Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free....") helped make the Statue on icon (Emma Lazarus).  We were lucky enough to also catch the national parks ranger's tour of the Statue of Liberty.  He was really informative, had a conversational style, and got the group involved in the tour. 

The line to get back on the ferry to go to Ellis Island was really long, but it moved quickly (although you felt like cattle being moved from one corral to another).  Once on Ellis Island, we moved through the Ellis Island Immigration Museum following the audio guides through the first and second floors (see Registry Room at right).  Then we went up to the third floor to check out the artifacts (see period clothing display below) and art installations (including a separate wing dedicated to Bob Hope and his work with the USO) that are not part of the audio tour. 

Whether or not you are a descendant of one of the immigrants who came through this port of entry (12 million came through Ellis Island between 1892-1954), what these brave people went through (they gave intelligence and literacy tests, and conducted health examps--using a shoe-hook to check immigrants' eyes!) is awe inspiring.  All in all, it is incredibly moving. 

Castle Clinton: Battery Park

Castle Clinton (named after former NYC mayor and governor DeWitt Clinton) has had many lives.  While it may not be the most glamorous place today, its rich history should not be ignored and it takes just a few minutes to take a contemplative view of the place.

It started as a fort in 1811-1822 as part of a five-fort defensive system for the port of New York around the time of the War of 1812 (see above diorama of the fort, which was connected to Manhattan only by a bridge).  From 1824-1854, it was renamed Castle Garden and was a place where famous artists performed and heads of state and heroes were greeted in the City of New York (see diorama at right of the fort connected to Manhattan by landfill).  Castle Garden was next an immigration center for the next 35 years.  During that period 2 of every 3 immigrants came through Castle Garden.  From 1896 through 1941 it became the New York City Aquarium with sea life first from around the New York area and later from around the world.  After the aquarium was dismantled (with the sea life dispatched to the Bronx Zoo and Coney Island) the fort was saved from the wrecking ball by a citizens group that was able to get it designated as a national monument in 1946. 

Today, Castle Clinton is a historic site where you can learn a little about the history of the fort, but most just use it as a will call for tickets to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island.  People just walk by this little piece of history without much thought, but I would recommend taking an extra few minutes to appreciate the the fort which helped protect this city and allowed it to develop into what it is today.  Look at the cannon (see left), the original rock wall foundations and the dioramas (they're free).

Museum of Jewish Heritage: 36 Battery Place

There are at least two ways to experience the Museum of Jewish Heritage.  You can see the three floors of exhibition space and phenomenal views of the Statue of Liberty and the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge (the last Public Works commission overseen by Robert Moses) in about an hour breezing through and stopping at points that catch your interest (perhaps using a rented audio tour narrated by Meryl Streep and Itzak Perlman).

OR you can take the once-weekly guided tour led by "Sammy" (a Holocaust survivor who was in a labor camp for four years as a toddler) in a little over two hours in which he leads an interactive tour talking about Jews in the past (see photo at right of a 1920s wedding of American Jews), during the Holocaust, and today.

If you have the time and the inclination, I would highly recommend the tour with Sammy.  He not shares his philosophies about forgiveness (for the world that stood by while Nazi Germany killed over 55 million people and for himself for surviving medical experiments during the Holocaust when others didn't), but also stories about his father, mother, great uncle twice removed....  Well, you get the picture.

You will not only get a history lesson about the looting and massacre of kristallnacht, the 10,000 orphans taken in by Britain, the S.S. St. Louis with 937 Jewish refugees rejected by Cuba and the United States, and oh so much more.  No matter what your politics about the State of Israel, this is a great museum to visit.  Plus, they've got a nice cafe with views of Andy Goldsworthy's contemplation garden where trees grow out of seemingly inhospitable boulders (see photo at left), Woody Allen film festivals, and other events (check out their website at Jewish Heritage Info).

St. John the Divine: Amsterdam Ave and 112th Street

St. John the Divine, w/ Partially Completed South Bell Tower

WOW!  All I can say is that everyone should take the time to go up to St. John the Divine for their "Vertical Tour" (purchase tickets at https://www.ovationtix.com/trs/pr/700525).  After visiting St. Patrick's Cathedral earlier in the week, I thought, "Why am I trekking all the way up to St. John the Divine?"  But was I ever glad that I did.  There is no experience quite like it.

First off, the cathedral is the largest cathedral in the world (yes, larger than St. Patrick's, which is only the largest Catholic cathedral in the U.S.), so the Gothic arches are spectacular and the stained glass windows (most from the 1930s) were plentiful and beautiful (see above, left and right photos).  Each of the 14 themed bays with these windows depict predictable religious and very unusual secular images honoring professions like communications (with a TV!), medicine, arts (with Poet's Corner stone plaques honoring the likes of Mark Twain, Edgar Allen Poe, and Gertrude Stein), and sports.

Secondly, the cathedral has some very distinguished art.  The front doors (3 tons each, 18' high and 6' wide) are cast, with scenes from the Old and New Testaments, by the same company, Barbedienne of Paris, that cast the Statue of Liberty.  There are art pieces ranging from the rare Barberini tapestries from the 17th century, the Guastavino roof tiles (similar to the ones in the lower level of Grand Central by the whispering arches--see my post on Grand Central) in the domed roof of the "temporary" crossing, and a white gold triptych by Keith Haring in 1989 (the last work he created before his death in 1990) (see above right). 

Then there is the 40' in diameter Great Rose window (the largest in the U.S.) above the front doors (see left).  My photo doesn't do it justice, but needless to say, it is really breathtaking.  Even the central nave (see right) and the flanking aisles are awe inspiring with their sheer height, appearing to reach toward the heavens with their long thin lines that seem too delicate to support such high domed ceilings.

Oh, but I haven't even gotten to the Vertical Tour--so distracted recalling all the general fabulousness of the cathedral.  You can take one of the many general tours that are offered (both self-guided and guided) (see www.stjohndivine.org), but if you can manage walking up 12 stories worth of narrow spiraling stairs, you should really try to schedule in the Vertical Tour ($15 for adults and $12 for seniors and students).  You will not be disappointed.

View from Outside of Flying Buttress

As you climb up, you take several stops, going out on the flying buttresses (see below left photo taken from the flying buttress), standing on the mid-level passageway, standing on a landing between the domed roof and the steel supported protective outer roof, and the finally standing on the outside of the top roof with fantastic views of Morningside Heights all the way down to the Empire State Building (see above right).  There is really nothing quite like this tour.  You get a chance to see the beautiful stained glass windows at eye level (look back at the photos above), look through hand crafted flower "portals" about 100' above ground level (see below), and really get to appreciate the grandeur of the cathedral's Gothic arches in a way that is not possible from the floor of the cathedral. 

 

Hand Carved Wooden Choir Seats

View of Main Altar in Romanesque Style

I should also spend a little time addressing the older, original eastern part of the cathedral, which was done in the Byzantine-Romanesque style.  This part of the cathedral (which includes the choir area (see below left), the main altar (see below right), and the 7 chapels) was started in 1892 by the architectural firm of Heins and LaFarge and wasn't completed until 1911.  The rest of the cathedral was re-designed in the Gothic style by Ralph Adams but even the central nave wasn't completed until 1941 (one week before the bombing of Pearl Harbor, which again stopped construction).  The south bell tower was started again in the 1970s but was not completed and there are no current plans for the completion of that tower, the north tower, or the transept (the "arms of the cross" part of the cathedral)--you can see the rough hewn nature of the "temporary" stonework in the crossing portion of the cathedral, which is also quite interesting to compare against the finer stonework of the cathedral.

I will let you discover the rest of this magnificent NYC site for yourselves, but will post some additional photos with captions (below) to share the rest of my memorable visit in brief.  I think what this cathedral needs is a great benefactor like Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, or Oprah (or all of them) to complete the remaining 1/3 of the cathedral.  In the meantime, PLEASE visit this cathedral and support the congregation of only about 200 (the cathedral could seat over 4,000).  Enjoy!

North Side Aisle by Central Nave

View of South Side Aisle from Interior Arm of Flying Buttress

Intersection of Bay and Nave from Interior Arm of Flying Buttress

View of Cathedral Close with Peace Fountain

View from Roof of Decorative Spires and Unfinished South Bell Tower

Altar in Main Eastern Most Chapel, St. Saviour

Intricately Carved Altar and Stained Glass in St. James Chapel