28.07.2012 – 28.07.2012  27 °C

Birthday day today!! Yep today I turned 30 something (I’m not going to tell those who don’t already know!! :)) Sadly, I’m getting older and older (as are you!)… Anyway, the day started off great albeit super over cast and foggy… Hmm.. Photos could be difficult today… For breakfast I tried out a NYC institution, Bagels with Lox and Cream Cheese! I’ve become quite partial to the old bagel with cream cheese, but I’ve yet to try one here in NYC and one with Lox (which is smoked salmon for all us lay-men).. Was I impressed? I guess.. It wasn’t that different to the other bagels I’ve had here in the US and the flavour of smoked salmon probably isn’t my choice for brekky.. but I’m glad I’ve tested it out!

Birthday day was down at Liberty Island and Ellis Island. The start of the day saw us subway straight down to Battery Park where we boarded the boat (along with hundreds of others) for Liberty Island. As I said earlier it is very foggy here today, so it was almost impossible to get a great shot of the great lady from the shore. It was similarly impossible to get a sky line shot of Manhattan….

The trip over on the ferry was great! I placed myself up the front of the boat so that I would be able to get some photos of the Statue (even if they would be a bit cloudy). This was a fine plan until we got close to the statue and then everyone else had the same idea.. I almost got swamped from behind as most of the boat decided to get “a shot” too. I felt sorry for a young family who had been standing next to me- the kids suddenly ended up being pushed away from the view.. Some people are just so inconsiderate! The whole process was pretty funny because everyone then got off at Liberty Island, and the photos from the island are really superior to those you can sort of shoot from the boat….

We got off the boat and headed straight to pick up our audio guide. The guide was one of those things that you think.. what can I really hear on this guide that is going to enhance my visit to seeing a statue? And remember, that’s all that is on this island; 1 big green statue, some trees, a bit of grass (that is more dirt than grass), a very mediocre gift shop (and trust me I’m an authority on gift shops) and a crappy café…. So what brings hundreds of people out on a 17 dollar boat ride just to see a green lady?

I honestly think that for the vast majority (yours truly included) they are out here just so they can take a photo of Lady Liberty so that they can tell their friends and family “I’ve been there!”. It’s more a badge of holiday-ing honour, kind of like your Brownie badge for cooking….. So, now that I’ve bared my superficial soul to all who are reading I’ll tell you what I did learn on the audio guide, and what made it worth the effort of lining up for….

Lady Liberty’s name is actually “Liberty Enlightening the World”. She is 150 ft tall, was built by Eiffel and was a gift from the French Nation. She is made of copper the thickness of about 2 pennies (in other words, not very thick). She is adorned with a diadem with the seven points representing the seven continents of Earth. Her right arm holds aloft a torch, symbolising lighting the world for Liberty. Her left arm holds a tablet inscribed with the date that the Declaration of Independence was signed. Finally, at her feet is a broken chain, indicating that America had broken free and become independent.

Probably the most surprising fact that I learnt is that Liberty was almost never erected! The deal between the French and American’s was that France would provide the statue but America had to provide the plinth that she would sit on (and the land for her to reside on). American groups had been fundraising for years but were still too short of money only months before the statue was due to arrive. In order to quickly raise the money, Pulitzer (of Pulitzer prize fame) who was a media magnate, placed an advertisement in his newspaper inviting all American’s to donate to the Liberty project. All of these donators then had their names printed in the newspaper. No matter, how much was donated, from 1 penny to thousands of dollars they had their names type cast in the paper. Immediately money started to flow into the fund and eventually the plinth was built and the statue installed.

We wandered around the statue for a good hour before we decided to stop in the ordinary café to grab a coffee and a piece of cake. On leaving the café I was visited by a friendly bird. He (or she) decided to leave me a present on my head. I’m guessing the bird was psychic and knew that it was my birthday and was just trying to be friendly… I didn’t quite see it the same way… Once I had cleaned up we boarded the ferry for Ellis Island.

Ellis was the island that thousands of immigrants passed thru from 1892 til the mid 1920s. Today the immigration centre is used to house a museum to tell the stories of the thousands who passed thru it’s walls. Most immigrants came to America as third class passengers. These people were herded into the bowels of the big steam ships at a port in Europe (Hamburg, Liverpool etc) and spent the next ten days (in some cases up to three weeks) living in a small cramped bunk. The bunks were 3 to 4 stories high made of wood and canvas. I can’t even imagine crossing the Atlantic in such close quarters.. imagine when 1 person gets sea sick!!! The lucky few, travelled first or second class—think Titanic and you’ve got it pretty accurate! The plebs down in the bowels; the rich and famous in luxurious surroundings.

First and Second class were not processed at Ellis Island. Instead, immigration officials would board the boat at the mouth of the Hudson and process these people before they reached NY. Once they docked in Manhattan the 1^st and 2^nd classes were released and allowed to enter the city and the country. Third class were then herded onto ferries and shuttled over to Ellis Island.

On arrival at the island the potential immigrants were parted from their luggage and moved upstairs for processing. The walk up the stairs was deliberate, as it was used to weed out the infirm or mentally defective. Assuming, an immigrant passed the first test they would then wait for hours (sometimes overnight) to meet with an immigration official. At this stage the officer was most interested in the amount of money a person had, what sort of occupation they would be looking to undertake in the US and which part of the country they were planning to settle. If an immigrant successfully answered the questions (and had enough American $$) they were able to pass thru and become Americans.

Those who failed the “walk up the stairs test” or were seen in the waiting room as needing review or failed the basic questions would then have to go thru more rigorous testing. This included more detailed medical tests, in particular, basic reasoning tests (ex. If you looked like a bit of a space cadet, or couldn’t answer any of the questions then they would assume that you were mentally defective and have you complete some basic cognitive tests- put the star shape in the star shaped hole etc) You certainly didn’t need to be a rocket scientist in the late 19^th C to gain US citizenship!!

80% of all immigrant applicants passed thru Ellis Island within 8hrs (ie passed the basic medical and questionnaire). Of the remaining 20% who needed further testing only 1%  were ever denied entry and sent home to their native country. Those who were sent home, were sent home at the expense of the shipping company so the shipping companies tried to ensure that only those who would be accepted were allowed to board the boats in the first place.

I can’t imagine how hard it must have been for potential applicants. They came from their home countries with no guarantee of acceptance. In many cases, without knowing how to speak English and without a family support network. You have to be a pretty special sort of person to uproot yourself and your family and sail across the ocean for a chance at a better life or you have to come from a pretty awful situation…….

We left Ellis Island in the late afternoon and headed back for Manhattan. By this stage the fog had started to lift and a very light rain was starting to fall. Not bad enough to ruin any chance of photos, but enough to be annoying! On arrival back in Manhattan we decided to grab a bite to eat and then we took a wander up to Wall St.

As I expected, there isn’t much to see on this infamous street…. Plenty of sky scrapers and security guards but no visible signs of the riches that are made and lost here daily. I found it amusing that nearby to the infamous street is a big Bull statue to represent the bullish days that can occur here at the NYSE…. I think a bear maybe more pertinent considering the current climate! The Stock Exchange itself is just a building with a big red neon ticker telling you the current stock prices. It is screened off with security guards, so any thoughts of taking your anger out on the SE may be a little fanciful!!

Whilst we were in the area we had to go and see where the World Trade Centre had once stood. Today there is plenty of construction occurring (apparently they are building a single tower to again stand over the site) and a memorial but you have to have a ticket to enter and we didn’t feel like lining up for ages to get one. You don’t have to pay to see the memorial there are just HEAPS of people who want to! The main thing I can tell you about the site is that you can notice the gap on the Manhattan skyline. Before we had even gotten to the memorial site we knew where it must have been just because there is no sky scrapers in that area…….

Being my birthday today we headed back up to Mid town near to Times Square to find some dinner. I had placed my order as Italian because we hadn’t had a decent pasta in ages so we went a hunting some yummy pasta. We found a likely candidate not far from Broadway on the aptly named, Restaurant Row! The pasta didn’t knock my socks off but it was good enough!

Another year down and another to go… I was in Krakow, Poland last year for my birthday, in NYC this year, wonder where I’ll be next year?

Song of the Day– Frank Sinatra, New York, New York