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?

Nine Years On…

Today is the ninth anniversary of the September 11th attacks on the United States. Up until that day, my generation of Americans were fortunate enough not to have experienced war or attack on a first hand basis. The wars we saw were on CNN or Fox and written in the newspapers. They seemed like light years away from our homes and families. On that sunny morning in September, everything changed.

For me, the day marked a definitive point. I think it was a turning point in my parents’ decision to move back to Ireland after ten years of life in Brooklyn. It was a tragic day, a poignant day and above all a terrifying day.

I started that morning like most fifteen year old New Yorkers – and walked to school. On the way, I passed election posters for local office and chatted with a friend. It was our second or third day back to high school and we were dreading our sophomore summer reading tests coming up that day.

I was sitting in English class staring down at that test when the announcement was made over the intercom.

Attention students: If anyone has any relatives that work in the World Trade Center, could you please come down to the General Office as soon as possible. Thank You.

Not one person looked up from their exam. The test continued on in silence until another announcement was made.

Attention students: Just a little while ago, an airplane hit the North Tower of the World Trade Center. Again, anyone with relatives working in the area, please come to the General Office immediately. Thank You

The idea was so surreal that still, not one girl looked up from her English test. I remember glancing up at the clock. I remember looking out the window, wishing I was out enjoying the sunshine and I remember handing up the test hoping that it would be enough to get me a good mark. I don’t remember thinking, A PLANE DID WHAT?!

When I arrived out in the corridor, it was like mayhem. Girls were rushing around asking each other what was going on. Cell phones were out as people desperately called their parents and relatives for answers. A friend of mine had an aunt who was working there and she was really distraught. I went with her to the General Office as she tried to call home. Luckily, her aunt was late for work that morning and was stuck in traffic in Queens somewhere.

While we were on the phone with her mother (around ten o’ clock) the South Tower of the World Trade Center collapsed. There is no way I can convey our complete shock and surprise. Up until then, we hadn’t seen any images of the attack and couldn’t possibly fathom what a plane looked like crashing into the Twin Towers! Imagine someone describing two huge buildings crumbling to you – over the phone! We literally couldn’t speak.

As we sat around in the cafeteria, and in our regular classes there was nothing but complete confusion. We had no TV or radios and all the teachers could do was try to continue on with their lessons. They were constantly interrupted by announcements on the loud-speaker as parents came one by one to collect their daughters. Originally it was thought that the safest place for us to be was in school, but after a while, they closed the school and sent us all home.

I took the bus home that day, even though I could have walked. It was the quietest bus journey I have ever been on. The bus was packed to the brim but people turned their eyes to the floor and didn’t say a word to one another. I just prayed I would get home quickly.

When I arrived at home, I wasn’t sure what I would find. I knew my mum was off that day, and I wasn’t sure if my dad had decided to take a trip into Manhattan or not. When I got inside, there was no one home and in order to fill the silence of the house, I did the instinctive thing and turned on the television. Of course I was greeted with my first image of the Towers. As the plane crashed through one of New York’s strongest symbols I couldn’t help but cry. In fact, I balled.

I ran to the phone to call my Dad’s cell phone, but of course by now all the signals were gone and people weren’t reachable. I had nothing left to do but sit and cry.

Maybe ten minutes later, thankfully, the hall door opened and both my parents came in with a week’s worth of shopping. It looked like we weren’t going anywhere for a while.

The next few days are a blur. The whole city was glued to CNN. You didn’t want to see the horrible images, but you couldn’t help but look. The whole thing looked like a blockbuster film. The worst images were of the people jumping from the Towers. I don’t think I will ever be able to erase them from my mind. Just as horrible were the clips of people searching for loved ones, placing posters around the area and making desperate pleas on television. I thanked my lucky stars that my family were safe and sound in Brooklyn or Queens.

In the aftermath, New York was a different place entirely. People became extremely patriotic and much more neighborly to one another. People were definitely angry and looking for someone to blame. At school, several girls in my year had lost family members and we rallied around them with memorial services and masses.

About a month after the attacks, my concert choir was asked to sing at an NYPD memorial. As we stood there in our school uniforms, looking out at New York’s finest and singing “You’ll Never Walk Alone”, I couldn’t help but think that America would never be the same again.

Nine years later, the wound is still fresh as the debate over the Ground Zero Mosque and the chaos surrounding the burning of the Koran rages on.

I hope all of that is put aside today, just for one day, as all around the world we remember the innocent lives that were lost on September 11th, 2001.