M's day out in the city

Finally! So finally I did some touristy stuff after being in NYC for 7 weeks. I could have done it earlier, but I thought it would be best to wait for my camera to arrive so that I could click pictures. Yes dear readers, yours truly is finally the proud owner of her very own digital camera! And this is after months of browsing for deals and talking to a zillion people for advice. Click here for the specs.

Anyhoo, so I took the downtown train straight to Wall Street. Now we imagine things to be in a certain way before we see them, or we imagine people to be of a certain kind before we actually meet them. I often form a mental perception of things. So I had imagined Wall Street to be a crowded, busy place where I would find investment bankers dressed in Armani suits strutting around. Instead what I saw was a narrow street swarming with tourists. Obviously because I went on a Saturday! So I found myself in the middle of Wall Street, with the Trump building and Tiffany’s on either side.





And with the Trump building on my right and Tiffany’s on my left, I caught a glimpse of Trinity Church:



I walked towards it and at the intersection of Wall Street and Broad Street I saw a huge United States flag looming in front of me. And that my friends is NYSE:



And at the intersection, on the left was the JP Morgan building:





And on the right was the Federal hall with a statue of George Washington in front:



I walked further down Wall Street towards Trinity Church on Broadway and I found myself on the other side of NYSE:



I went across Broadway and inside the Church. At the entrance of Trinity Church:



Here are a few pictures that I clicked inside the church:







And this was the cemetery on the side of the Church:



Here's how Wall Street looks from the entrance of the Church:



Doesn't it look really narrow? Sort of reminds me of Burra bazaar in Kolkata. Ok don't laugh. I couldn't help but notice the similarity! After all, both are business districts! :D

And then I marched towards the charging bull - the moment that I had waited for ever since I set my foot on NYC soil was finally here:



I walked towards the WTC site on the other side of Broadway and I saw this cube outside Brown brothers Harriman:



So I had to do this :D



After demonstrating my strength at the cube, I proceeded to the WTC site. I cannot even begin to imagine the kind of panic that would have set in on 9/11 when the two towers came crashing down in the financial hub. Construction of the new towers is in progress:



For a $5.00 student pass, I browsed through the gallery started as an initiative by WTC survivors and families.



Inside the WTC memorial gallery - two guns, both 357 Magnum revolvers, encrusted in melted concrete, were recovered from Federal evidence lockers at the World Trade Center



Photos and puppet salvaged from the home of a Battery Park City resident



An actual elevator sign board from one of the WTC towers



Names of people who died in the 9/11 attacks



Pictures of people who died in 9/11 attacks



This quilt was prepared by young children and became a means of emotional recovery for them and the firemen who received it post 9/11. It expresses their appreciation of things that are important to them in their daily lives. Pretty moving huh?

Oh I also saw the American Stock Exchange:



and World Financial Center:



Waterfront at Battery Park:





The sphere behind me used to be in the plaza between the WTC towers. It's deformed now.



Eternal flame that was lit on September 11, 2002



Then I proceeded to take the Staten Island ferry. It takes you from Manhattan to Staten Island and back for free! On the way I saw this:



That's a real man! He had painted himself. And was standing in that pose for hours. At least I saw him twice in 2 hours and he was in the same pose. And that's how he earns his daily bread. And we think we have a tough job!



Finally saw the Statue of Liberty, albeit at a distance! Here's a view of Manhattan from the ferry:



And one of Brooklyn bridge (Again, it reminds me of Kolkata's second Howrah Bridge!)



and when I got off the ferry, this man was still there in the same pose!



And thus came an end to M's day out in NYC. Oh I forgot to mention that I snacked on a burrito bowl at Chipotle. So at the end of the day, even though my feet ached for a massage, I was one happy soul! :)