first settlers, first visits

Ellis Island from the ferry

Millions upon millions of economic migrants and refugees have poured into the United States during its 200 years of existence. The first settlers were religious refugees, fleeing from the wars of religion in France, England and elsewhere, later economic migrants and ex-criminals, looking for a new life to make. Then Irishmen, Scots, Poles, and so on. The gateway for many of these groups was Ellis Island, a humble fortress standing strong against the crosswinds of the Hudson River and the Bay. The interiors were a swirling storm of settlers, huddled masses yearning to be free and live their long dreams in the open, empty lands of the New World (well, not quite open and empty, but that’s a footnote in history). 

It seemed reasonable then that this should be my wife’s introduction to the United States. As special as she is to me, I wanted something extra special for her. Though my home lies deep in the wintry highlands of the Rocky Mountains, it was something she was used to, being from a mountainous homeland herself. So it would be New York, with its hundreds of skyscrapers and millions of people pushing and shouting and generally sick and tired of the bullshit about freedom as they’re trying to cram onto the subway and dodge tourists and make it finally home then getting called back in to work a few hours later because the banks are having some emergency about the sovereign fund of a no-name Pacific state which might lead all the numbers to various pissed off investors into the red, and so it goes.

So what can you do in three days when it’s your first time?

“Are you going to see a show?” my friend Frederick asked us as we ate dinner on night one. Already one night down, another night with another friend, we don’t have time for that. The only thing that currently intrigues me on Broadway at the moment is Hamilton. All the new and cool stuff costs too much and/or is sold out. As for something off Broadway, you can see off Broadway plays anywhere.

Scenes from Hamilton

Back to prioritizing. I’ve talked extensively about prioritizing when traveling. You can’t see everything, so you should see what’s most important to you. Knock a few off the bottom and then you can have a nice and relaxing trip.

After some discussion, we were able to narrow my wife’s interests and what I thought she should see down to these: the Statue of Liberty, Times Square, the Rock, Central Park, Freedom Tower, the Empire State Building, a winter market, a taste of some neighborhoods, Wall Street, and a St. Paul’s Chapel.

Times Square at Manhattan

I found us a hotel on Times Square. Believe it or not, there are some “affordable” places right in the center of the city. They usually go by very innocuous names since their limited budget can’t get them better marketing groups. The one I chose was The Manhattan at Times Square – what a brilliant name! At 150 dollars a night after taxes and surcharges, it definitely ranks as one of the cheaper choices around in a city where the average hotel price seems to be around 300 dollars – there are cheaper hostels around, but with the surging homeless population and America’s general anti-hostel vibe, buyer beware. The hotel itself is more than passable in every respect – you can even pass right by it without noticing. The outside architecture looks as though it were built in the golden age of American architecture of the 70s and 80s – a giant box with smaller boxes for windows. Strangely though, the rooms seem to be about 50 or 60 years past their prime, with a kind of never updated art deco feel, paint peeling off the walls which themselves seemed to be leaning in under the burden of weight they had been carrying for ages. But whatever, it was comfortable enough.

As soon as we landed, we went for the hotel to drop our bags and clean up. Then we headed off for a walk. We had to meet Frederick at Ilili at 7, which gave us a good deal of time to knock a few things off the list. From Times Square, we jumped over to Avenue of the Americas and 5th Avenue, both great locations for the tourist gauntlet – bumping and grinding with foreigners from all across the world; it’s also no doubt a pickpocket’s dreamland. Luckily, the only place we were robbed by gave us coffee in red cups – there’s a Starbucks on so many corners in New York you would think you’re in Seattle!

St. Patrick's

There walking down those two streets, we were able to knock a lot off the list. There’s the big tree at the Rock! There are lots of pretty, decorated windows! There’s a bunch of guys scamming your way to the top of the Empire State, offering you their low deal of 60 dollars to the top (it’s 32 online and at the cash desk)! We added on Grand Central Station and the Ghostbusters’ Library, both on our route to the restaurant. And luckily at the library, there was a big winter market. After wandering around there for a bit, finding only souvenir shops and coffee stands, we decided American winter markets weren’t as much fun as their European equivalents. No mulled wine? No hot alcoholic punch? No hot alcoholic cider? No Feuerzangenbowle? Was this the Sharia law all the Conservatives have been on about?

Finally, satisfied with our walk, we were able to sit with Frederick and eat some fairly decent Lebanese food, at a place that doesn’t cost too insanely much, just around ten dollars for a portion, and about two portions per person. The beer was the typical eye-goggling New York price – 10 dollars for a micro-bottle (.33 liters, again an effect from the Sharia law, in Europe the standard serving size is .5 liters, the tiny size is always a shocker for me when I visit home).

After visiting Frederick, we took a taxi back to Times Square, being too cold to walk back. Taxis aren’t cheap folks – twenty dollars to traverse barely a quarter of the Big Apple. The subway is always better in this case, unless you’re just too tired and cold as we were. But we made it back okay and were able to regroup for the next day.