The South Riding RV Travels

732

11th October 2012 - New York - Ellis Island and Statue of Liberty

We camped in Jersey City down by the marina. The light rail station was just next door with trains going to Hoboken. We did travel on it once.
The marina holds mostly small craft but there are a few 'gin palaces'. This is the 142ft super-yacht 'Incentive'. Built in Wisconsin in  2004 by Palmer Johnson, it sleeps 10 and has a crew of 7.
This is a lift boat 'NorthStar Vision' used to support drilling operations. It has 95ft legs and a 10 ton crane and can drill two 10in holes. It is powered by two 400hp John Deere engines driving a 40kW generator.
The ferry terminal for the boats to Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty are now in the old Jersey Central railroad station. There are no trains now but lots of trees grow between the platforms. It is more like an arboretum.
This is Jersey City on the west bank of the Hudson. Manhattan is on the east bank.
We just caught the ferry in time. This is the train station which would have carried many of the immigrants who had been processed in Ellis Island off to the rest of America.
The southern tip of Manhattan with the replacement tower for the Twin Towers destroyed in 9/11 rising from the ashes.
The bridge across the bay from Staten Island to Brooklyn.
We stopped at Ellis Island which was where immigrants to America were processed around the turn of the century.
When the immigrants first arrived they would have deposited their luggage here in the Luggage Hall.
I think our guide had had way too much caffeine he was so animated. Despite his appearance he is a native of Manhattan. He was very knowledgeable.
The hall on the first floor is very impressive but must have been overwhelming to the frightened immigrants, most of whom came from eastern Europe at this time.
A ship's manifest which contained details of the passengers. The immigrants had to know what this said because if they got it wrong perhaps they weren't who they said they were.
The calm outside is very different to the bedlam that would have echoed in the hall.
Outside there is a wall with the names of many of the immigrants. It looks out over the skyline of Manhattan, as we do.
The Statue of Liberty. Unfortunately we cannot go up it because it is closed for renovation until the end of the month.
One of several ships waiting in the bay. Perhaps they will leave on the next high tide.
This is one of the premier icons of America and there were certainly enough visitors. We could understand very few of them.
The rivers are very busy with this tugboat moving a barge loaded with stone.
The WTC tower nearing completion. We do wonder how they are going to get the cranes down since the building has a tapered shape towards the top.
The Manhattan skyline. Many of the buildings were built in the 1930s but there are many newer ones there as well.
There is a constant drone of helicopters in the air which is actually quite obtrusive. I suspect this is a police machine. It is a 1982 Aerospatiale AS355F1.
Sailing is very popular with a number of schools in the area. This is quite an impressive schooner.
Most of the freight comes in on the New Jersey side. This may even be part of Newark.
The Manhattan skyscrapers look very attractive in the late afternoon sun. The orange on the far right is the Staten Island ferry at its  terminal.
A wider shot. This is the classic New York skyline. New York is a conglomeration of five boroughs, Queens, Brooklyn, Manhattan, The Bronx and Staten Island.
The Staten Island ferry carries up to 4500 passengers across the bay taking about 25 minutes. It runs every half hour and is free. It carries around 21million passengers annually.
Another form of transport is the water taxi although this is rather more expensive.