Looking West

Wall Street looking west towards Trinity Church

 

Exactly eighteen years ago I was heading home from an evening meeting in the Bronx. It was part of a series of five meetings, one in each of the five boroughs of New York. I don't remember the dates of the other meetings, but I doubt if I will forget being in the Bronx on September 10. And exactly eighteen years ago tomorrow I stepped out of the subway in the spot above. There was no police presence and nothing was built to deter car bombs. I'd gotten off the subway here hundreds of times, but this day was very different. When I looked west to Trinity Church I remember seeing a million pieces of paper flying in the sky in back of the church and the sky was filled with smoke. I ran the three blocks to my office, not sure of what had exactly happened and the morning of September 11, 2001 unfolded. 

 

There are infinite tiny details of the morning and the days that followed that stay frozen in amber in my mind. Perhaps my most vivid memory is standing at the window with colleagues on the second floor of our building at 2 Broadway and seeing the sky go dark at 10:30 a.m. when the North Tower of the Trade Center collapsed. We had been listening to the radio and learned about the Pentagon and flight 93 crashing. We realized this wasn't an isolated terrible accident. After that our building was evacuated and we all began the long trek home.

 

I walked through the Lower East Side and up First Avenue and then turned on 42nd Street and left my friend, Sandy, at Grand Central Station, where she was able to get a train home to Westchester. I continued to walk west and on Eighth Avenue, somewhere in the West 50s I caught a bus -- yes, buses were running uptown -- to a friend's apartment on West 66th Street, where I could begin to make phone calls and let family and friends know that I was alive. I had resisted getting a cell phone, so no one could reach me. One thing I will remember about the long walk home was turning around and seeing smoke rising from where the Twin Towers had stood. I couldn't begin to believe that they were no longer there.

 

This is my eleventh post about the worst day of my life and the worst day of many of our lives. I want to link back  to other posts I've done about September 11 for those who are new friends of Buttercupland. 

 

I started writing this post about an hour ago. By this time eighteen years ago I was home from a rainy night in the Bronx. My first commitment of the day was a budget meeting at 10:00 am and I decided I would go in to the office a little late the next morning. I'd worked late and the next day was just an ordinary Tuesday in September. Of course, it was the least ordinary day I would ever know.

 

R Is for Rector Street

Alexander Hamilton's grave in Trinity churchyard.

 

Our hint in the last post was the Federalist Papers, so it may come as no surprise that we're stopping to pay respect to one of the authors of the Federalist Papers, Alexander Hamilton, who is among many figures of Colonial and Federal New York buried in the churchyard. This site is just one block from the northern entrance to the Rector Street station on the Broadway local line, the #1.

 

The same view, but at twilight. In the not-so-far distance One World Trade Center.

 

I spent time searching for a historical fact about the name for Rector Street. My belief is that at one time the rectory for Trinity Church was here and hence the street was name. But, alas, I found no actual information to support this assumption. We'll just have to call it a theory. Trinity Church had its beginnings in 1696 when a group of Anglicans asked for a charter granting legal status to their worship. New Amsterdam became New York in 1664. The first church in New Amsterdam was a Reformed church founded in 1628.  

 

The original building for Trinity Church was built shortly after 1696 at the head of Wall Street, looking to the Hudson River. In 1705 Queen Anne made the land grant that the church had received permanent with a gift of 215 acres, where the church still stands. There have been a number of different buildings and there is a cemetery further uptown, but the site bestowed in 1705 by Queen Anne is still the home of Trinity Church.  

 

The northern entrance to the Rector Street station

 

When I worked in lower Manhattan this was my subway entrance. I didn't always appreciate the five block walk when it was cold and windy, the wind coming off the Hudson River. But I always appreciated the view of the church and the churchyard and knowing I was viewing history every day. 

The same view as above, but with a different perspective to include One World Trade Center. Walking north on from the station we come to the still on-going construction for the World Trade Center site.

It's April 30 and I am supposed to have completed my A to Z Blogging Challenge. Obviously, that hasn't happened. There are eight more letters to feature. I've enjoyed A-R and learned a lot about the history of New York. I've also discovered artists that are new to me. I hope to do S, U and V this week and finish the remainder of the alphabet later in May. There are a few books I'd like to share and photographs of a quick trip next week. Thank you all for coming with me as we've traveled the subways and streets of New York.

As ever, thanks for visiting and happy May! 

Random Five Friday

My blogging thoughts have been all over and I'm returning to an old favorite format, Random Five Friday. I haven't done this in awhile -- possibly years -- but it really works today.


1) I'm starting with an Instagram Friday regular feature, Frenchie Friday. It's not complex, but it is fun. I take photographs of French Bulldogs on the streets of New York. I met this cutie in Lower Manhattan and he earned the Frenchie Friday title.
 

2) I created my blog pages -- though they are still under construction. I hope to get the content in place in the next few days. I'm happy to have made this first step and realize it's a long project and there will be lots of YouTube watching before it's completed. 
 

3) One of the highpoints of this week was meeting my Instagram friend, Janmary. She was visiting New York on an anniversary trip and carved out some time to get together. She is a lovely person, great photographer and talented jewelry designer and the hour we spent together passed very quickly. Meeting my friends from all over the world is a treat and we agreed that the next time we get together it will be in Northern Ireland. The beautiful bookmark was a gift and is a great addition to my bookmark collection.   

 

 

4) The weather this week was perfect -- clear and not too hot. I found myself in Lower Manhattan and stopped to take pictures at Trinity Church.

5) I'm in town for this holiday weekend, enjoying the relative quiet. Movies, with no lines and restaurants aren't crowded makes it a great time to enjoy the city. What are your Fourth of July plans?    

 

I spent a lot of today getting organized. I didn't make as much progress as I'd hoped, but happy about things that I got done. My next project is making (some) order out of the chaos of my dining room table. Wish me good luck!

 

As ever, thanks for visiting and have a great weekend!     

Spring Thoughts Random 5 Friday

It's been a wonderful holiday weekend. I've had the joy of spending both Seder nights with dear friends. There's been much good conversation, thoughtful reflection and great food. I've got any number of random thoughts flying through my mind that I'd like to share. Without further ado, welcome to five random thoughts for this Random 5 Friday post.

1) My first thought is about Passover. One of my grocery stops was at my local fruit and vegetable market. Horseradish is still part of the service as we recall the bitterness of slavery in Egypt. We had roots very much like these on our tables.

2) I am so enjoying the spring weather. It's really here and it's really wonderful. This planter is at the building next to mine. I was delighted one morning as I turned the corner and this beautiful display greeted me.

3) One of my favorite buildings in Manhattan is Trinity Church. There are generations of Lower Manhattan buildings in this photograph, including One World Trade Center on the far left. Black  and white depiction per Google.

4) I am in a somewhat state of disbelief that I will be leaving for Japan in less than a week. I've got a dentist appointment on Tuesday, one more Weight Watchers meeting to attend on Wednesday, one more trip to the gym, laundry, banking and of course, packing. I've bought new jeans, I'm trying to determine which shoes will be comfortable and I'm downloading a few library books to read on the plane.  I'm both anxious -- I get anxious at every long trip -- and so excited.

5) I don't think a Random 5 recap would be complete without a picture of food, and those giant horseradish roots don't count. In anticipation of Easter I present these sweet cakes. I saw them at a bakery this evening, and only the knowledge that regular baked goods are not on my food list for Passover kept me from making an impulse purchase. I was especially taken with the pink ones.

To everyone celebrating Easter, bright and joyous wishes!  

 

As ever, thanks for visiting and take very good care.

Wish Me a Happy 350, Please

No, it's not Buttercup that just turned 350, but my favorite city, New York. September 8th was New York's 350th birthday and we're celebrating. I realize that 350 is a pup compared to London and Paris or Rome and Jerusalem. But it's a landmark for the Western Hemisphere, where we measure in centuries and not millennium. New Amsterdam, founded by the Dutch in 1625, became New York on September 8, 1664.

In honor of the city and this special birthday we're going to visit one of my favorite places, Trinity Church, which has been part of the life of the city for over 300 years. Founded in 1697, it stands at Broadway and Wall Street, and even amid the bustle and crowds it is a place of beauty and serenity. It also has one of the few cemeteries existing in Manhattan. I worked a few blocks further south for over five years and had the good fortune to pass the church almost every evening on the way to the subway. I have rarely seen the cemetery open to visitors, but it was during my visit to Lower Manhattan last week.

Trinity Church faces west to Broadway and Wall Street. This picture is the side facing south to the harbor. 

Looking into the cemetery from Broadway. The church and cemetery are surrounded by skyscrapers.  

 One of the beautiful monuments in the cemetery. 

This view looks west. The Hudson River and New York harbor are a few blocks away. 

Trinity Church is located just a few blocks south and one block west of the World Trade Center site. I so remember that morning thirteen years ago. I came out of the subway at Wall Street and William Street and looked up and saw the church spire. It was framed by thousands, millions of pieces of paper from the World Trade Center, which had been attacked by the first plane just fifteen minutes before I got off the subway. 

Happy, happy birthday, dear New York. I am so happy to call you my home. 

As always, thanks for visiting. Take good care! 

At the Corner of Pine Street and Broadway

Two nights ago I was happily riding the subway home. When we arrived at Wall Street there was an announcement that the train was turning around and everyone needed to deboard and wait for the next train. The subway platform at Wall Street was very crowded. I had no idea why there was a disruption, but I invoked my primary rule of riding the subway -- when there is a disruption and I am uncomfortable, I get out of the train. This was the day after the Boston Marathon Bombings, and I had some anxiety about riding the subway.

The evening was lovely and I was happy to be walking in one of my favorite neighborhoods, Lower Manhattan along Broadway. I noticed the sign for Pine Street and just started snapping pictures.

 I looked across the street and realized I was at the immensely historic Trinity Church Cemetery. The Cemetery was first opened in 1697 and includes the graves of Alexander Hamilton and Robert Fulton, among many other notables. I often walked past this site when I worked in the neighborhood and marveled at this gem of history in the middle of the most urban setting possible. The American Stock Exchange is in the background and the World Trade Center was only three blocks away.

This picture shows some of the earliest markers in the cemetery. It is very hard to read the carving on them. Trinity Church is to the left in this picture. Presently it is covered in scaffolding and it is difficult to get a good picture.  

  

Our featured blogger of the day is Wayne, whose blog is "Random Stream of Consciousness." Wayne is also part of the Blogging from A to Z Challenge and is a musician, as well as fiction writer. I've enjoyed my visits to Wayne's blog, and am glad we met through the Challenge. 

Please join me for Q and a trip on the subway. We'll have no delays or service interruptions!

Wishes for a Perfectly great Friday!