Jumped into the bus again today to do the Brooklyn tour. On the way to the stop for the tour, fire trucks, ambulances and police cars passed by. Quiet difficult manouvring through busy traffic but they managed. The stop for the Brooklyn tour was near the harbor and Staten Island Ferry.
Nearby was the flightdeck for helicopters tours. In the center everyone wnats to sell you tickets for the bus, at the harbour it is for Helicopter flights with seightseeing New York. For real it is not over New York because the tourist helicopters may only fly above the water (the Hudson). Nevertheless the view is probably great. What I really love are the trucks in the states, Senna & Sam getting tired of me mentioning every truck I see :)
Switched to the new bus we have a Chinese lady as guide with real "Hannah Montana" sunglasses, We laught about it cause the looks where funny ... We left for Brooklyn, the bus went over the Manhattan Bridge, this is one of the bridges that go to Brooklyn and in its time the largest wire bridge, now overtaken by other bridges. On our way to the bridge we drove through Chinatown, I always thought that New York had one of the biggest Chinatowns, but Brooklyn is a lot bigger. (learned something again). Funny to see that even the Macdonalds are written in Chinese.
If you drive across the Manhattan bridge, you can see the Brooklyn bridge just like the Skyline or at least part of it. Of course worth some photos.
Buildings and roads in Brooklyn were set up much wider, many low-rise buildings and beautiful and less busy roads, its for a reason that many New York-based people live in Brooklyn. The streets, as known from TV, you see back in Brooklyn. Very nice.
We have seen the school that JayZ has been on and we now know who is from Brooklyn, I only knew Tony Danza (from Who's the Boss, yes sorry I'm already an old guy), but how about: Michael Jordan , Neil Diamond, Barbara Streisand, Eddy Murphy and Biggie B just to name a few. And now that we are playing Triviant, do you know how JayZ gets its name? He lived between J and Z (do not ask me about the logic, I did not get that either). So, 3 points for little pete. We drove past Junior's restaurant, one of Brooklyn's finest acording to the guide. The Atlantic terminal is the departure point of trains in all directions, a pressure point. The Barclays Center is a sports and concert hall where major sporting events are held and concerts are given. Last week Justin Bieber gave another concert, glad we were late for that;). In the middle of Brooklyn, at least for the feeling we were in the middle of Brooklyn, there was an immitation Arc de Triomphe, in memory of a war of which I just do not know when it happened.
Once through Brooklyn we drove back over the Manhattan bridge back to NY. Next stop, the Staten Island Ferry. A few photos of Wall Street, not very sexy in terms of location. The only one was The Wall-street Bull, a large bronze bull that had once been knocked down by a number of artists out of whimsical behavior (how in the world do you get a bull of 3000 kg secretly put down somewhere), but so much attention and appreciation that one has decided to let the bull stand. The bull is now inextricably linked to Wall-street and one of the most important New York Pokemons: P.
It was so crowded that we have not gone any further, we have seen it from the bus and indeed he is big.
Staten Island Ferry
The Staten Island ferry is the free ferry that operates continuously between NY and Staten Island 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and 365 days a year. Staten Island is one of the 5 boroughs of New York where many commuters live. The local government has created the ferry to transport the people to downtown Manhatten via 'public' transport. The story goes that at the start of the ferry service a crossing cost a Quarter Dollar, however, counting the Quarters costs more than the proceeds and they therefore have made the service free. Nice story but if it is true ... By ferry you come the Statue Of Liberty for a relatively short time and you can make nice pictures. The Skyline was also visible, for photos less suitable unfortunately because the weather was pretty bad, too bad but nothing to do about it. We did not go into Staten Island, immediately back with the ferry, we had more things to do .... :)
*** The Twin towers - 09 11 memorial ***
After the ferry we walked to the site of the former Twin towers. Close to the World trade center. It struck me that there is apparently still a lot of police (permanent) around the scene of the disaster. on the one hand logical, there are a lot of people, on the other hand, that is also the case with other (sorry for the choice of words) tourist attractions. I Must admit that throughout New York police are present and visible in large numbers. On the Staten Island ferry, for example, there was a whole pack of explosive detective dogs. Dear labradors with a nose for Semxtex;).
At the location where the Twin Towers have been, two memorials have now been built with a large waterfall. On the edge of the site of Tower 1, all the names of the civilians who were killed during 09 11 attacks, on the edge of the place where Tower 2 once stood, all the names of the firefighters, policemen etc. who died in trying to save lives .... It was impressive and beautiful ... NY made it a beautiful memorial site without 'American' frills ... And by that I mean exaggerated surroundings etc. There were many people but it was very quiet .. We also walked past the fire station, next door is a memorial store where eye witness witnessed reports of firefighters who have experienced everything up close.
In New York there are more than 300 (yes good read) fire department barracks. You have to think of a barracks with a small number of firefighters, usually a ladder truck, spray car and a command vehicle. However, we have experienced personally that it is a hell of a job to be able to rush through New York traffic. Oh yes, the city of New York has a uniformed police force consisting of more than 34,000 NYPD agents. On the way back we drove past Chelsea and through The Meatpacker district. In the past, the meat was already distributed and re-packed for the various restaurants and shops in NY. You probably know them from the TV series, from those dockers where bonky guys unload the trucks and load the smaller vans. Along the harbor is the old fish marketthere is no real trade anymore but the buildings are being rebuilt for the New Yorkers to exercise etc. The fish market has moved to the Bronx.
It was another exciting day, the weather was fine ... not too hot, and we have seen a lot again.
New York is a fascinating city where you notice different things every time. You will not get bored.
Today was our last day in this beautiful city, next stop is Orlando .... We rented a car for Orlando, and I really hope it is a big one….cause I love the US cars a lot.