Heroic NYC by Water Taxi

New York is the kind of city that always surprises me. In fact, it almost overwhelms me with the sheer volume of new and interesting things to do! A lot of people who live here don’t even take advantage of the great seasonal events, shows, museums and tours that are on offer 365 days a year. Many assume these things are just for tourists, but I think if they did a bit of research they’d find that living in one of the most exciting cities in the world is pretty pointless if you don’t experience it to the fullest. And just because you’re a New Yorker – doesn’t mean there isn’t more for you to learn and love.

When I’m not doing journalism-type activities, I work in the travel business and as a result am lucky enough to see some of the best attractions up close and personal. This week I attended an event that took me from the USS Intrepid to the brand new 9/11 Memorial by Water Taxi. Here’s what I thought:

Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum

I have to admit that I knew very little about the U.S.S Intrepid before I visited the museum. In a stereotypical way, I had these pre-conceived notions of it being a “boys place” with big ships, planes and guns. However, once our tour guide Daniel started to show us around, my opinion completely flipped. The Intrepid Museum is for anyone with a passion for history and a love of fascinating machines. Daniel only had a short period of time to squeeze in a lot – but I’ve never seen a guide with so much enthusiasm for his subject! He was constantly sharing little known facts about US naval history and making the huge amount of information he had extremely accessible to our small group.

The museum space is set out in an attractive way with plenty of places to sit and take everything in. It also has lots of different interactive exhibits including a 4D experience! In addition the museum has a British Concorde plane and is soon to be home to a US Space Shuttle.

One thing I learned was that the U.S.S Intrepid is still vital to the US military. Directly following the September 11th attacks, the aircraft carrier was called back into duty and became the base of the FBI in New York as it carried it out its counter terrorism operations.

At $24.00 for adults and either $12.00 or $19.00 for kids (depending on their age) the price tag is a bit steep. But you could easily spend several hours in this museum and not tire of the educational, historical and heroic snapshot its gives.

For more info see:
http://www.intrepidmuseum.org/

The NY Water Taxi

I’m no stranger to the NY Water Taxi and spent a whole summer ferrying large groups of senior citizens on and off these boats! I can therefore vouch for my experience on more than one occasion. But in a city where quick and easy transportation is king – these boats sure do come in handy!

We were ferried from the U.S.S Intrepid Museum down along the Hudson river, which allows you to take in every facet of the New York skyline in all it’s glory! There is no better way to check out the city than from the top deck of a boat with the breeze in your hair. Especially when you compare the experience to a cramped, dark and sweaty subway carriage. It took us no time at all to reach the Brooklyn shore and the newly revamped Brooklyn Bridge Park for lunch.

We were then ferried back across the river to lower Manhattan and Battery Park. You can get a Hop on Hop Off day pass for $25.00 and see the city at your own pace. The NY Water Taxi docks at Pier 84, West 44th Street, Battery Park Slip 6, Pier 17, South Street Seaport and Fulton Ferry Landing, DUMBO.

And now, the Water Taxi has partnered with the new 9/11 Memorial offering passes and packages on its website:
http://www.nywatertaxi.com/

9/11 Memorial

It’s hard to believe that ten years have passed since the attacks on September 11th, 2001 but sure enough, time has flown by and a
few weeks ago the 9/11 memorial opened to the public. As someone who was in New York on that fateful day ten years ago, I was eager to see what kind of tribute would be put in place and I can tell you, I was not disappointed.

Passes to the memorial are available from its website
http://www.911memorial.org/
(or the water taxi website above) and are issued in timed intervals. This system works really well and once you’re there on time with your pass you should have no problems. Lines moved quickly and security went very smoothly despite the huge numbers of people going through the metal detectors. Once in side the Memorial itself I was surprised at how open and airy it was. There weren’t too many people crowded into one space and this left each person more than enough room to breathe and thus take a moment to reflect.

The two pools of water located on the original Twin Towers sites are breath taking. Cool waters flow from all around square imprints where the towers once stood and are surrounded by engravings of the victims’ names. The metal surrounding the giant pools is such that it will always be cool, even on the hottest New York day. Also visible from the sight is the Freedom Tower – currently under construction and only at half it’s final height.

While we were making our visit, we were overwhelmed by the respect ordinary visitors showed to the FDNY, NYPD and military officers who also attended. It is truly a touching and fitting tribute to what happened that day.

This is sure to be one of the most visited tourist attractions on the planet – especially when the 9/11 Memorial Museum opens up next year. Passes for the site are free (but a donation is suggested) and must be reserved in advance. Definitely put this one on your to-do list.

The Butterfly Effect

The following is my Stage 2 Toastmasters speech. Although I gave it awhile ago, and I have written a similar post to this before, I felt it was an important addition to my blog this weekend. Now that I’m back in New York, the story I’m telling below is just one of millions. Here each and every person has a searing memory of that day. This is mine:

When a butterfly flaps its wings in Brazil, does it cause a tornado inTexas? Have you ever examined the decisions and actions that were outside your control but that somehow changed your life forever? Could you pinpoint it to just one day? To one hour? To an instant?…. I can.

The day started like any other – except it was summer reading test day. The bane of every High School student. Each summer we were assigned a couple of novels to read and on the second day back, we were quizzed. The air was warm and the sun was shining as I left the house for school that morning. The weather was so glorious that I wore knee highs with my uniform and didn’t bother with a jacket. I allowed the usual bus to pass me by as I met my friend Tara and we walked the whole twenty blocks – a feat reserved for only the nicest days.

At 8:30am the bell rang and I sat down to the test. I scrawled the date across the top of the page – it said: September 11th, 2001.

Fifteen minutes into the test, the first announcement came over the school PA.

BING BONG Attention students, will those of you with parents working at the World Trade Centre please report immediately to the general office. Thank You.

Not one girl looked up from her test.

Another twenty minutes passed then another announcement from Father Collins came over the PA.

BING BONG. Attention girls, I’m not sure how to report this…. but two commercial airplanes have hit the Twin Towers. Would anyone with parents or family working in the area please report to the general office immediately.

It’s hard to imagine ignoring something like that. But we did. When something that unimaginable happens – your brain probably doesn’t know how to process the information. It’s like reading a word that you don’t know the definition of – you simply skip it and move on to the next one. But reality was about to hit.

The silence of the classroom was broken by the bell for second period and as soon as the door opened, I knew something was seriously wrong. Cell phones were banned in school, yet every girl was on one. There were tear stained faces everywhere I looked – including my friend Tara who’s aunt worked in one of the towers. We hurried to the general office and even though it was complete chaos, one kind secretary let us use the phone to call Tara’s mum. Her aunt, she told us was absolutely fine and had gotten stuck in heavy traffic on the way to work. As she was describing the sequence of events, we still couldn’t visualise what had happened – and then Tara’s mum stopped. She stopped dead in her tracks and gasped. One of the towers had fallen…we couldn’t believe it – but it had completely collapsed.

The rest of the school day was like trying to piece together a puzzle while blind. We had no TVs and the radios were all going haywire. Teachers tried to continue with classes, but we all had so many questions that they couldn’t answer. Soon, parents started collecting their daughters one by one and there was no point in keeping school open – so we were sent home.

I should probably explain that I lived in Brooklyn – right across the river from Manhattan. It was far enough away that I couldn’t see the buildings, but close enough that all the cars in the area were covered in ash, like a dull grey snowfall. I can still vividly remember the smell of burning.

I took the bus home – which is normally packed and loud…but that day it was strangely silent. I hopped off at 79th street, not quite knowing what I’d find at home. My Mum would be at work – but my Dad had been planning a trip to Manhattan that morning.

When I got into the house, I called out but there was no answer. The place was empty and I did what anyone would do in a silent house and turned on the TV for a bit of company. What confronted me still makes me feel nauseous almost ten years later. It was a shot of the towers and all of a sudden, a plane crashed through the middle of the building heading straight towards the camera. Finally my brain had something to make sense of and the only thing I could do was cry. As I sat there, not really knowing what to think – my parents arrived home with a week’s worth of shopping. My Dad had been just about to leave for the city when the first plane hit.

The rest of the day was spent glued to the television and receiving worried phone calls from family in Ireland. I don’t remember the exact details as they unfolded. But one image has stuck with me for all these years; the hundreds of people who jumped from the towers, desperate to escape the flames. It was more like a disaster film that life.

After that day, things were very different in New York. People were kinder to their neighbours. There was a greater sense of patriotism. At first the city was angry, broken and scared, but after awhile there was a great sense of determination and strength.

That day shook me to the core for a number of reasons, but most importantly, it was the day my parents decided to leave New York and go home. The city we called home wasn’t safe anymore and my world was turned upside down. It meant a brand new life back in Ireland with new friends, a new school and a complete culture shock. When those hijackers got on those planes, they set off a butterfly effect that changed the lives of millions. For me it meant moving country, for others it meant coping with the loss of a loved one, moving career because their office was destroyed or changing their vote.

If those planes had never taken off, would I be in Ireland today?

If a butterfly flaps it’s wings in Brazil, does it cause a tornado in Texas?

Come on Irene: and other freakish weather

To say that a lot has happened in the last couple of weeks is putting it lightly. Since I last posted, I have left Ireland, my family, my job, my friends and journeyed to beautiful, sunny Long Island, New York. Why did I make the leap? Well that’s another blog post entirely. 

I’ve been in New York (“my home away from home” really) for just over two weeks and it has been a whirlwind. Literally.

Earthquakes and hurricanes are two things that are generally quite low on New Yorkers lists of things to worry about; and yet both have happened since I arrived. Let’s just hope that’s a big coincidence!

The earthquake was the first bizarre occurrence. I was at home, working on a project, minding my own business when I heard a rattling sound. I went over to inspect the wine rack, which was trembling slightly and I could not, for the life of me figure out why. Next I hear my sister upstairs screaming “is that a tremor?” No. It couldn’t be. This isn’t California, we just don’t have extreme weather here in New York. Unless you count the snow, but we can handle that! Now that I thought about it, I did feel kind of dizzy. Once the sensation had passed I checked twitter and sure enough, everyone was chatting about an earthquake in Virginia that could be felt all the way up to Toronto. Now, if that’s not freak weather, I don’t know what is!

I spoke to several New Yorkers about the quake. Some thought it was extremely cool, and others (perhaps the more dramatic among them) seemed genuinely worried. One of my friends thought it was just coming up to lunchtime and that her stomach was rumbling! Here’s an idea of what people thought:

And just when I thought that we were done with freakish weather on the east coast, along comes Hurricane Irene. The warnings began early, but because hurricanes happen every summer and usually taper off before they get anywhere near the tri-state area, I largely ignored them. It wasn’t until Mayor Bloomberg outlined a possible evacuation plan (the first mandatory strategy of its kind) that I sat up and took notice. Even more extreme was the complete shut-down of New York’s mass transit system. This sort of plan was completely unprecedented and frankly not something I could even contemplate.

Here’s a clip of me speaking to Jonathan Healy on Newstalk’s Lunchtime Programme…

The weekend of the storm was terrifying to be honest. We spent most of Saturday in this pre-storm haze of news reports and weather maps. Outdoor furniture was tied down, local businesses were boarded up and sandbagged and we were instructed to have a “go-bag” of essentials ready should be have to leave the house in a hurry. Our biggest worry in Nassau County was the perils of falling trees. Last March, during a particularly violent storm, a tree fell on top of the house next door to us – crashing through a teenager’s bedroom. I wasn’t taking any chances and slept on the couch.

As we went to bed, begrudgingly, we could hear things flying around outside and the wind and rain seriously picking up. Around 2:30am, our power blew – which really freaked everyone out. We all fell asleep and when we woke up the next morning, we creeped outside to see what the damage had been.

Thankfully, as we slept the hurricane was downgraded to a Tropical Storm and although it caused havoc for electricity users, the structural damage to the houses in my neighborhood was pretty tame. We spent most of the day cleaning up minor branches and leaves from around the house and garden.

Although we definitely got off lightly after Irene, we then faced FOUR DAYS of no electricity and considering that an office (with several employees) is based here – that was a problem. We carried flashlights around to go to the bathroom. Everything in the fridge had to be disposed of and most noticeably, we had no hot showers or air conditioning. We did manage to acquire a small generator to run the phones in the office – but when the electricity did come back on, I’ve never seen a happier group of people!

So, a tumultuous first two weeks here in NY. Hopefully it continues to be this exciting!