Brooklyn,
New York, Friday, May 6, 2005, 8:05 am
Hello from New York City (4) - Staten Island
and a Random Act of Violence
The Staten Island Ferry is a fabulous institution. It is a huge
ferry that departs from a very modern, glass enclosed terminal,
holds several thousand people and in just about 20 minutes whisks
you over to Staten Island, very close to the Statue of Liberty,
and all this for free! One thing we really noticed about New York
City is that we definitely love the public transportation system.
With our week long pass we have been hopping on an off subways as
we please and we have found the transit system to be very efficient,
pretty clean and quite safe (for the most part).
Departing from the Staten Island ferry dock.
The Staten Island Ferry is a great insiders way of sneaking a peak
at the Statue of Liberty since it passes pretty close by Ellis Island.
Not close enough to take really great pictures with a simple digital
camera like mine, but I gave it a shot anyway.
Miss Liberty, taken with my little camera.
As we got off the ferry terminal on Staten Island I had a bit of
a hare-brained idea: I suggested that we board one of the buses
that was waiting there, just to hop on and ride around and see the
island. Of course I didn't have a bus map with me, didn't have any
literature about Staten Island, so didn't know where we were going
or what the major destinations were on the island. So we got on
the #46 bus without any idea where we were going or how long it
was going to take. (I guess I figured how big can the island be?
Well, it's bigger than I thought...).
But we saw a good chunk of Staten Island's neighbourhoods and there
are some pretty nice residential neighbourhoods, although I had
expected a more upscale, more landscaped environment. The ethnic
mix in the area seemed to be very much characterized by Blacks and
Latinos, at least those were pretty much the only people getting
on the bus. School had just ended so a bunch of highschool kids
had gotten on with us.
Well, we rode the darn bus until the end, which ended up being
a non-descript shopping mall called "West Shore Plaza",
where we ended up having a sandwich and strolling around in a sports
store which had amazingly good prices on most merchandise. Then
finally another bus showed up and we had to run to catch it.
A grittier image of New York City.
It was a pretty non-eventful bus ride, people of all ages got on
and off, then two young black teenage boys got on, but didn't pay.
The bus driver didn't question them and we just continued the ride.
All of a sudden, I heard a big noise, like someone fists hitting
another person and all the people in the bus turned around, and
the two young men were beating up a young short Latino teenager.
It all took just a few seconds, right before a bus stop. The whole
event was too quick for anyone else to react, although I have to
say, the crowd showed compassion and shock at what had happened.
The minute the bus came to a stop, the two guys jumped out and ran
away.
Everybody was shocked. The Latino kid was sitting there, rumpled,
stunned, not seriously hurt, but had a very pained expression on
his face. After he had calmed down he explained that about 8 kids
were trying to extract money from him at the bus stop, he said he
didn't have any and gave them an expired transit pass and 2 of the
guys followed him onto the bus.
I have never personally witnessed public violence, so this was
very shocking to me and I was glad that the kid wasn't really hurt.
But I did feel very sorry for the victim and the whole event left
a bad taste in my mouth, particularly since we had had the impression
that New York City had felt so clean and safe. As a matter of fact
we had commented on that a number of times, of how little litter
there was in the street, how few street people or hustlers there
were, how there was no graffiti in the subways, and how safe it
felt to be taking transit at all hours of the day. We heard that
former mayor Rudy Giuliani as well as current mayor Michael Bloomberg
have really been cleaning up the city, and it shows. I guess it
still doesn't prevent all violence from happening.
San Remo apartment towers at dusk.
After our return to Manhattan we subwayed it all the way up to
103rd Street and essentially walked all the way down through Central
Park, admiring all the recreational facilities and the beauty of
this giant green space. Further south we strolled over to 5th Avenue
and then down into the Broadway Area just north of Times Square,
where we had some quick Italian food at Ray's Pizza. The evening
was pretty chilly, probably only about 12 degrees or so and past
11 we headed back home on the Q train, processing the memories of
another packed day and studying the behaviour of our fellow transit
riders all the way back.
Useful books for travel to New York City:
Related articles:
"Hello from New York City (1) -
First Impressions of the Big Apple"
"Hello from New York City (2) - Exploring
Mid-Town Manhattan"
"Hello from New York City (3) - Brooklyn
Bridge, Ground Zero, Downtown"
"Hello from New York City (4) - Staten
Island and a Random Act of Violence"
"Hello from New York City (5) - A
Local Expert Takes Us Through Queens"
"Hello from New York City (6) - Checking
Out Coney Island and Harlem"
"Hello from New York City (7) - Prospect
Park & Washington Square Park"
Here is my New York City budget accommodation guide - small
hotels.
Here is my New York City budget accommodation guide - hostels.
Here is my New York City budget accommodation guide - bed
and breakfasts.
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