New York – The City – Tim & Martha's trip around the Great Loop

**Verrazzano Narrows bridge between Staten Island and Brooklyn, marks the entrance into New York Harbor**

**Ferrys, they are everywhere. They are moving fast, up to 4 times faster than we cruise at**. **The helicopters are always buzzing overhead, doing tours of the Statue of Liberty**

Great Kills Yacht Club–Our 5 hrs cruise to Staten Island or great Kills Yacht Club was uneventful. The waters were calm most of the way except as we went around Sandy Hook. There the current was against us and the waters were “confused”. We increased our RPM and soon were in better water. Great Kills Yacht Club caters to loopers and gives us a great price for dockage ($2/ft). It’s a steal and we all appreciate their hospitality. Just being in New York is a huge milestone on this Loop cruise, but we made it.

**We saw many “They don’t build them like that anymore”buildings**

We spent 4 nights at GKYC. In that time we spend 2 full days in New York City. We had the pleasure of using public transportation into the city (45 minute ride-$6.75/person). We took advantage of a 2-day pass on the hop-on hop-off tour bus Saturday and Sunday. It was a great way to get an overview of the city and all the things we wanted to see. The city bus dropped us off right next to Central Park. We did so much those two days so I’m just going to list them.

**911 Memorial. One bottomless hole at the site of each tower.**

911 memorial, battery park, Central Park (bike ride), Washington park/monument, Time’s Square, Dinner in Chinatown, saw Radio Music Hall, saw Jimmy Fallon/ Tonight Show marque, Naked Cowboy, various acts in Time’s Square and more.

**On the grounds of St. Paul’s Chapel, directly across the street from WTC.** **Used as an aid staton and feeding station for 911 rescue personal.**

Sunday, Father’s Day, seem to be extra busy with locals & tourists on Broadway Ave centered around Time’s Square. We took several breaks at the McDonald’s which seem to be on every other block. (You had to buy something if you wanted to use their facilities). We rented bikes on Father’s Day and biked around Central Park. The park was full of people enjoying the day with friends and families.

New York is the town that never sleeps and I can believe it!!!! It is mind boggling the amount of people who travel into NY via subway, bus, car and ferry each day. And the city is planning a new development that should employ another 55,000 people. I didn’t notice the need for more workers in NY, unlike some of the smaller towns we had visited.

**Night views from the New Jersey side of the river**

Monday was a day of rest with a walk into the town of Great Kills. Tuesday we headed to Hudson Point Marina in New Jersey, but directly across the Hudson River from Manhattan. The dividing line between NJ & NY is down the Hudson (mostly). It gets confusing not knowing what state you are really in (remembering what day it is is hard too). On our way to our marina, we passed Lady Liberty and had our buddy boat take the special picture of “Margin” in front the Statue of Liberty,.

Wednesday we toured Ellis Island and the museum and learned how immigrants were processed there. We did a special tour of the hospital that was on Ellis Island, used to treat “sick” immigrants before allowing them to enter the US. The Statue of Liberty was next. I tried to imagine what it must have felt like coming to the US and seeing the statue for the first time and knowing that their lives would be forever changed.

Fun Fact: Statue of Liberty is in New York State. Ellis Island: the original section of island is in NY State. The man made section (hospital) is considered in NJ State.