On Tuesday we again headed into the city via the express bus. Took a bit longer as traffic in Manhattan was congested.
We got off the bus and walked down the Avenue of America’s and saw the Radio City Music Hall and the NBC and FOX Network buildings. Continuing our trek we walked through a Rockefeller Center and enjoyed the rollover skaters enjoying the beautiful day. They were skating where in winter, they normally ice skate. We grabbed a bite to eat at a street vendor and then headed to St Patrick’s Cathedral.
The “New” St Patrick’s Cathedral was conceived by Archbishop John Hughes has a symbol of religious freedom worthy of the increasing population, increasing intellectual curiosity, and the increasing religious community of New York in 1858. He wanted a worthy architectural monument for the New World. The cathedral was called “Hughes Folly” as he proposed the building of the most beautiful Gothic Cathedral in what he believed would be the heart of the city. At that time 50th Street was considered too far outside the city. Well, Archbishop Hughes was right. The city did grow and 50th Street is now just south of Central Park.
Funds for the cathedral were raised by contributions of the largely immigrant population and by 103 prominent donors, who each gave $1000. The cornerstone was laid in 1858 and the doors to the cathedral opened in 1879. Neither the Civil War nor the resulting lack of manpower or funds could derail Archbishop Hugh’s dream. Note: James Renwick designed the cathedral.
The soaring buttresses and columns that support the roof 110 feet above the nave, the 70 stained glass windows, seven sculpted panels, the Pieta sculpture by William Partridge, and the massive bronze doors make the cathedral a magnificent structure.
After the cathedral, we walked to Central Park and enjoyed landscape architect Olmsted’s creation built in 1858. Central Park was created in an area of swamp by workers moving nearly 5 million cubic yards of soil and stone. They built 36 bridges and arches, 11 overpasses over the existing roads, created lakes, and planted 500,000 trees, shrubs and vines.
We enjoyed the shaded walkways, the lakes, the boat house with rowboats to rent, the granite outcroppings to climb, the street entertainers, the large green lawns where people relaxed on blankets or played games, and watching all the people walking or sitting on benches or walking their dogs and, of course, all those trees that quiet the city noise and provide shade. It was easy to see how this park is a respite to those who live in the city. And we only saw half the park!! Next time will see the other half.
Weary of walking, we headed back to the bus stop and rode back to Great Kills Staten Island where our boat is moored, had dinner, did chores and went to bed early.
Here are some shots we took on our way back to the bus stop. Yes we went in the Lego Store and walked down Madison Av to Broadway.
June 15. On to an anchorage near Statue of Liberty 16.3 Nm Total miles 1646
After a lazy morning we headed out of the mooring basin at Great Kills to head up to Liberty Island. We will meet up with Pivot to buddy photo shoot our boats with the Statue of Liberty. Will anchor here and enjoy the lights of New York City all evening.
Along the way we passed-
The West Bank light
Under the Verrazano Narrows bridge. As we have gone over the bridge each time we went into the city, was a different perspective going through it by water,
Fort Wadsworth, one of the five original forts built in 1818 to protect the New York Harbor. The fort was enlarged and updated for the Spanish American War. Fort Wadsworth has been used by the military in WWI, WWII, and continually used as a base til 1994, where the fort was turned over to the National Park Service.
A staging area with several freighters and the New Brighton wharfs,
The shores of Brooklyn, Staten Island and the Manhattan skyline.
We had to negotiate the tugs, ferries and barge traffic as we got closer to Liberty Island.
We held in position waiting for Pivot to catch us and they took pictures of us and then we took pictures of them. Our pictures won’t compare with the ones they took of us, as they have way better photography equipment than our cell phones.
Some pics we took-
After the photo session, we anchored behind Ellis Island. Twas a bit lumpy with boat wakes til after 6 when the ferries stopped, but we will have front row seats for the New York Cities Light show tonight.
