Sunday, July 12, 2020

The Big Apple, New York City: Day 3: Part 2 Wall Street, Brooklyn Bridge

WALL STREET:


We were walking down the famous Wall street.
Wall Street is an eight-block-long street in the Financial District of New York City. It runs crosstown between Broadway on the west to South Street, at the East River, on the east. The term has become a synonym for the financial markets of the United States as a whole, the American financial services industry, 

The charging bull statue was installed by Italian American artist Modia in 1989 Dec after 87 crash, 11 ft tall, 16 ft long 3200 kg bronze, cost $360,000.




In 2010, similar bull in Shanghai, in 2012, in Amsterdam.
We walked on down the Wall Street.

TRINITY CHURCH:


Trinity church seen here. . 
 Trinity Church [1839-46] is a historic parish church  located at the intersection of Wall Street and Broadway in the Financial District of New York City. current church is the 3rd one on the site. It's a fine example of Gothic Revival architecture. 

Trinity Church used to be the tallest building in New York City When construction was completed in 1846, the steeple reached 281 feet, making it one of the most recognizable features of the skyline and a welcome sight for those sailing into New York Harbor.

An old pic here... when the church did not get dwarfed/hedged in by skyscrapers...

The parish received its charter from King William III in, 1697. Its land grant specified an annual rent of 60 bushels of wheat. On July 9, 1976, Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh visited Trinity Church. Vestrymen presented the Queen with a symbolic "back rent" of 279 peppercorns!!

During the September 11 attacks, people took refuge inside the church from the massive debris cloud produced by the first World Trade Center tower collapse. Some of the chapel pew's paint was rubbed off from the people taking refuge. The pews were later replaced, but one still exists at the back of the chapel for remembrance of the events on 9/11


TRINITY ROOT:


This is the Trinity root sculpture made by sculptor Tobin from the  miraculous sycamore tree that had "saved St. Paul's Chapel."

 The enormous old sycamore tree in the church yard was spit out of the ground by the impact as the World Trade towers came crashing down and its trunk and branches bore the brunt of falling debris, protecting St. Paul's and its churchyard, which holds the tombs of such luminaries in American history as Alexander Hamilton and Clement C. Moore.

The fallen tree was found covered with fallen objects, including victims' DNA and a large I beam that had flown from the collapsing buildings. Scientists agreed that the seismic waves the tree absorbed were so powerful they would have damaged or completely destroyed St. Paul's Chapel.

Artist Tobin made this bronze sculpture incorporating the original stump. Unveiled in 2005, on the four year anniversary of the WTC attack, the sculpture standing at 15-feet wide, 20-feet deep and 13-feet high stayed  in the churchyard of St. Paul Chapel’s, which is part of Trinity’s parish for 10 years.

Weighing more than three tons, the sculpture contained actual DNA from the attack victims, and required Tobin to take out a home equity loan to pay more than $1 million to create it, according to the artist.

The Trinity Root, which was the first and only memorial in Lower Manhattan for nearly a decade, until the official 9.11 Memorial and Museum opened to the public in 2012,  attracted  a million visitors annually, according to church officials. A 6' high bronze maquette study of the Trinity Root is in the permanent collection of the 9.11 Memorial and Museum.

10 years later the church announced plans to move it to a seminary in Connecticut. Lupfer as new rector in 2015, moved “to send ‘The Trinity Root’ away because he did not want non-parishioners and ‘hordes of strangers’ to continue to crowd the church’s courtyard.”

Tobin, who called the work site-specific, refused to have it moved, but said the church furtively moved it during the evening of Dec. 11, 2015. The matter was taken to court and ruled in the Church's favor.

 As a report succinctly stated...Shading the churchyard of a 250-year-old Wall Street chapel for a century, an august sycamore fell with the World Trade Center a few blocks away on Sept. 11, 2001.

Then, an artist’s painstaking bronze sculpture of the tree stood in its place for roughly a decade. The litigation over the artwork, however, lasted in Manhattan federal court only for a few months.

Glad we got to see it though!!

Here we are at the church...



the famous bronze doors with relief panels modelled on the Duomo in Florence.




TRINITY church--Sunday service is going on.

We visited the 9/11 memorial also. Did not take pics as we felt 
that' s disrespectful

We took the subway to Jay st metrotech station by A/C from Fulton to walk the Brooklyn bridge.


Brooklyn Bridge:


This engineering masterpiece was the world's longest suspension bridge upon its completion in 1883. One of the most recognizable structures in NYC, the bridge has been featured in countless movies and television shows and, as the first land passage between Manhattan and Brooklyn, represents a critical piece of New York City history. Though the bridge is visible from the shores of both boroughs, it is best experienced through a leisurely stroll across its elevated pedestrian walkway.

Here, visitors from around the world can share a path with New Yorkers making their daily commute; those walking across can enjoy views of downtown Manhattan and New York Harbor on every step of the 5,989-foot traverse.

The Manhattan-side entrance is at Park Row and Centre Street, across from City Hall Park.

Here we are at the start of the Brooklyn bridge...pedestrian side.
 On the bridge... with copper plaques presenting relief work.





The skyline was amazing...

 Manhattan bridge in background.


The temp was 7C/44 F... windchill much more.















The locks .. proclaiming eternal love...
These locks are not a politically correct thing to do--they rust,  damage public property and the city has to pay to get them removed.




  The Brooklyn Bridge is the prettiest bridge in New York and one of the city’s most iconic structures. Walking across the East River atop the wooden-planked structure takes about 40 minutes and delivers some of the best views of Lower Manhattan.  



We got off the bridge. 
Brooklyn city hall here...



A quirky bldg with such lovely nicks and dents...not caught here.
We took the subway back to our hotel. From there collected our bags, took the subway to Penn station and took the train the airport.

End of a lovely holiday!!

Hope to resume travel soon, when the world recovers!

Trip report on Mexico starts here:



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