Staten Island

Casey and I are always on the hunt for free activities in the city, which besides strolling around Central Park and exploring different neighborhoods, seem few and far between. We were therefore excited to find that the 30-minute ferry to Staten Island did not cost a single dime. The ferry leaves from the southern tip of Manhattan in the financial district and makes its way to the most suburban and least well-known of the 5 boroughs of New York (the other 4 being Queens, the Bronx, Brooklyn and Manhattan). Its population is about 1/3 that of Manhattan's, but when we stepped off the ferry we felt like we were in the Twilight Zone because there were absolutely no people around. We should have explored more of the island, because Google Maps shows that there are a lot of parks scattered throughout, but we couldn't shake that creepy we're-about-to-be-the-stars-of-a-horror-film feeling. Here's what it looked like when we first got off the boat:

The rolling fog didn't help the eerie feeling...

As shown above, the fog that day was pretty thick. Here are a few more photos...

Can't see the fog, but the inside of the boat was kind of eerie as well

And, per usual, here are few interesting facts about Staten Island:

• Fossil remains show that Native Americans were the first inhabitants of the island, possibly as far back as 1500 B.C.
• European settlers (the Italians) were the first non-indigenous folks to reach the island, in 1524. 
• British troops set camp on Staten Island during the American Revolution under Lord William Howe, and received their first notification of the Declaration of Independence while at the island's Rose and Crown Tavern (which would have been a cool place to check out).
• Citizens of Staten Island wanted to secede from New York City in the 1980's, and 65% actually approved the secession, but it was blocked in a state assembly. 
• Population of the island has increased from 3,835 in 1790 to 468,730 in 2010. 

The best, and most popular, aspect of the ferry ride to the island is passing the Statue of Liberty along the way. The boat gets pretty close to the statue, and people get VERY excited. And pushy. Oh, tourists. Anyway here are a few shots of the lady herself, as well as other views from the boat:

Lady Liberty

A view of Manhattan from the boat

Another shot of the financial district with one of the new World Trade Center buildings on the right

And finally, since Native Americans were the first ones on Staten Island, here is a photo of the National Museum of the American Indian, located a few steps away from the ferry dock on the Manhattan side.

National Museum of the American Indian

Union Sq. Farmer's Market

One of my favorite things to do in New York is to go to the farmer's market. I'm finding that, like many people who visit, the tons and tons of concrete and steel can be overwhelming sometimes, and some days I just want to smell a nice bunch of flowers. The Union Square Farmer's Market is the best place to go for that. Walking along the broad pathway lined with local farmers and businesses, passing everyone from hipsters with their silly glasses and hats to bored upper east side divas with their miniature dogs dressed in more expensive clothing than I will  ever be able to afford, I love taking in the smells of various jams, soaps, fruits & vegetables, honeys, breads, and freshly-cut flowers... it really doesn't get much better than that. Union Square is actually large enough to let some sunlight through for more than one hour per day, and I have missed getting my vitamin D from a source besides a plastic bottle. Even though everything is crazily overpriced, I always leave feeling revitalized and wholesome. The last time I was there, I purchased a homemade peanut butter granola with golden raisins and walnuts (which had been warming in the sun for a few hours), spearmint-vanilla soap crafted from the oil of an ostrich, and apple butter jam that I have literally been spreading on every flat, edible surface I can think of. I think the Union Sq farmer's market could bring out the hippy in even the most rigid conservative, and I recommend it to anyone who ventures into the Big Apple. It runs four days a week, so you can't miss it even if you're here for a short trip! And just to make the post complete, here a few pictures I grabbed from the last time I was there:

I hope you have a great night! More to come!

Joining the Work Force

Hey there ladies and gents. It's been a while since my last post, and we have a lot of updates to share with everyone! Let's get right down to business.

First: the most exciting piece of news. After working 7 out of 10 weeks at his internship, Casey met with the big daddy boss man for a progress report of sorts. Bossman is a pretty impressive dude (founded a huge hedge fund in his 30's) and Casey had never spoke with him in person before. So he was a tiny bit nervous going into the meeting, plus he wasn't sure what they were supposed to talk about. I didn't find out all of the details of what they did talk about (Casey said betting on horse races came up...) but he made a great impression on bossman and ended up ending his internship early! He's been officially full time for a little over a week now. Not much has changed in terms of how many hours he's working, but now that his boss knows he has him for at least 2 years, he's getting more projects and responsibilities. Plus it's been a little difficult making the transition from working for yourself to working for multiple managers and bosses, all of who have different ideas of how things should be done. Yay real world! But, the company does have a great benefits package that includes wifeys, so that part is pretty exciting.

As a side note, for those of you who watch How I Met Your Mother, the building Casey works in is Goliath National Bank on the show. It's often referred to as the "evil corporation" that Barney and Marshall work for, and I thought this picture was a pretty good representation of the evil company notion.

GNB, or in real life, the GM Building and Casey's place of employment

In other news, I too have joined the millions of people who are employed in New York City, albeit part time. I am working about 15 hours a week as a personal assistant to a wealthy couple. One is in fashion and design, and the other in at-home personal training, so needless to say they do very well. My main responsibilities include creating budgets and other household duties. My first week on the job I had an interesting dream (read- nightmare) where I was trying to build a massive spreadsheet to keep track of everything, and for some reason the spreadsheet was in the shape of Manhattan. I was just a little overwhelmed! Now after a few weeks on the job I've finally gotten settled in, and the nightmares have stopped, but taxes are due in less than a month, so I'm anticipating a few more sleepless nights!

All in all, though, it's been a great experience. Being a personal assistant in the role I am is probably not something I will get to do ever again after I start school in the fall, and it's nice to do something different than I'm used to. I also started working at a soup kitchen pretty close to Casey's office, and I get to see him during lunch some days which is great. Other than that, I've just been trying to enjoy my leisure time before school... my goals are to learn how to paint, do some more reading (got through the Hunger Games trilogy in a few days! looking forward to the movie in IMAX this Saturday!), and to start cooking dishes from around the world. Regarding the latter, my first dish was an Argentinian lentil stew, which I loved. However, I made WAY too much and was eating it for lunch and dinner for a week! A little too long for my taste.

We are so thankful for both of our jobs and just that we are able to survive in this crazy city! And we expect visitors soon - the first day of spring is tomorrow, so no excuses!

Indoor Waterpark

Hi again! So, I know I've mentioned that everything in New York is really old. This includes our cute little efficiency studio, as well as the pipes, valves, and gaskets that make up the plumbing system. I'm sure everyone has had their own plumbing nightmares, most of which are probably much worse than what we've encountered, but I wanted to share our story as well.

When first arrived at the apartment about a month ago, our sublettor mentioned that the super was supposed to come in and fix a few things in the bathroom. I noticed there were little plastic cups below two of the water valves, but didn't think much of it at the time. The shower had a very slight drip, which I also ignored. No big deal, right? Let's pause this story - we'll get to it later.

Story 2: about a week ago I come home from walking around our neighborhood and find there is an interesting smell in the apartment. I couldn't put my finger on it, but let's just say it didn't smell very... fresh. I walk in and find the floor of the kitchen completely soaked in water. The sink was full of a brown, thick, murky substance which I assumed was (and which smelled very much like) sewage. The counter tops were covered in the same stuff, and water had started leaking out from the kitchen into the rest of the apartment. Under the sink the pipe was dripping the same wonderful brown mess, (ironically?) coating all of my cleaning supplies and appliances the sublettor had left under there.

After cleaning up a bit. The faucet wasn't leaking....

My makeshift solution

Not being a plumber, or someone who knows anything about plumbing for that matter, I thought the toilet line had exploded into my kitchen. While trying to figure out how to completely sterilize my entire apartment, I called the super completely freaking out. He was cleaning the sidewalk in front of the building, and said he would come up when he finished. When he finished?? I thought... There's poo-water leaking into my apartment and you want to finish cleaning the sidewalks?! After what seemed like an hour, but was probably only 5 minutes, I ran downstairs and drug him back with me to fix the problem.

Apparently he had been working on the apartment above us earlier that day, and their problems trickled down to us. Not caring at the time what the problem was, I asked if what was coming back from the pipes was sewage water. He laughed. "No. Those are coffee grinds. The person above you had been pouring them down the drain for a really long time, and finally it just backed up. And now it's in your apartment." Ohhh. Coffee grinds - of course. Feeling much better that what I previously thought was poo water was actually just coffee water, I set about cleaning up the mess. The super ended up having to run one of those long snake things through the pipes to clear the clog, which had to repeat for the three floors below us.

He also ended up cleaning a little of the coffee water for me as well. I spent the rest of the day cleaning and washing all of the rugs and towels that had been completely soaked through. All in all - not a fun experience, but all of our junk was pretty much unharmed, so things could have been much worse.

And that brings us back to story number 1. The slight drip the shower previously had turned into a steady stream one night ago. I was planning on calling the super this morning after I took a shower. Well, after I finished showering and went to turn off the faucet, it decided it didn't want to. Actually the cold water turned off just fine, but the hot water did not. Which led to a very uncomfortable end-of-shower experience and a very steamy bathroom. After more than an hour of trying to get a hold of the super, I ended up calling the sublettor, who called the building's property manager, who called the super, who came to the apartment. He turned off the water to the shower, which was a silver rod covered in a ball of duct tape (don't know why I didn't think to look there!) and ran off to the hardware store for parts.

Fortunately both stories did not lead to any disastrous flooding or damage any of our stuff. Also fortunately our rent is flat and we don't have a separate water bill. :) But these are the joys of living in a building that was constructed before World War 2. I'm hoping the only remaining source of water (the toilet) keeps its cool until we've moved to more permanent housing!

Brooklyn Bridge Date Night

This past weekend Casey and I had a date night at the historic Brooklyn Bridge - a suspension bridge spanning the East river and connecting Manhattan and Brooklyn. Here's what the bridge looks like in the daytime:

Brooklyn Bridge in the daytime

There is actually a little pedestrian walkway that spans the entire bridge, which is almost 1,600 feet in length. It's pretty easy to get to as well - the subway dumps you out right at the start of the walkway and you're on the bridge in less than a minute. The pedestrian lane is also shared with cyclists, which we found after one almost took us down going about 50 mph. Anyway the bridge is situated so that you get a great view of the financial district (below) and midtown in Manhattan, and also of Brooklyn as seen in the above photo.

View of the bridge and Financial District

Construction of the bridge started way back in 1870. The bridge was designed by John Roebling, a German immigrant who had worked on smaller suspension bridges in the past. Unfortunately Roebling sustained an injury to his foot during construction that required amputation of his toes, which ultimately resulted in amputation, tetanus, and later his death. This meant that Washington Roebling, John's son, took over as project manager at the ripe age of 32. Again unfortunately, Roebling Jr. fell ill to decompression sickness and was unable to effectively manage the project, leaving his wife Emily Warren Roebling to supervise construction.

After 13 years of construction, the bridge finally opened on May 24, 1883. More than 150,000 people crossed the bridge that day, the first of whom was Emily Roebling herself. All in all, the bridge cost a then-staggering $15.5 million - which in today's terms is... well, a lot I'm sure. It was the longest suspension bridge in the world at the time, 50% longer than any other in fact. A total of 27 people were reported to have died within the 13 years of construction... I think the photo below shows a good reason why.

Fear of heights anyone?

Well that's enough history for now. Casey and I visited the bridge at night when it was lit up and twinkling. I didn't take this photo, but it looks something like this:

Picturesque, eh? Before we got there, I was imaging a quiet stroll along the little pedestrian walkway with a broad, lovely view of Manhattan in the background. Which is mostly true, except that there are six lanes of traffic rushing by right below your feet. But it wouldn't be New York without the noise, right? Anyway, here are a few pictures I captured with my camera phone; needless to say they aren't quite as good as the ones above.

From the base of the bridge on the Manhattan side

Looking back toward the financial district

Casey and I with our ghostly faces. NY doesn't get much direct sunlight!

A view of midtown - the Empire State Building and the Chrysler Building can both be spotted

We ended up walking almost all the way to Brooklyn, but just turned around and came back once we hit the end of the bridge. It was a great night!