NYC Day 12: Staten Isand Mystery Tour

Above and Below: Images from the refurbished South Ferry subway station.

Five years and millions of dollars later, the station has finally opened after

the damage caused by Superstorm Sandy has been fixed.

MAGICAL MYSTERY TOUR TO STATEN ISLAND
I rode the 1-train to South Ferry and boarded a Staten Island Ferry to St. George, where I boarded an S44 bus and rode as far as the Staten Island Mall. I have been to the mall during a previous trip to New York, and was happy to alight there for a meal and reacquaint myself with the complex. The mall is much the same as it was when I last saw it, but the owners are in the middle of an expansion project which will add more stores and parking to the site. I also noted that the mall now has an Apple Store that was very well patronized.

Like most visitors to the city, I have taken advantage of the free ferry ride between Manhattan and Staten Island. In my case, I have made numerous such trips over the years, and yes, I have even left the confines of the St. George terminal building to explore farther parts of the island. I have taken a bus as far as Tottenville at the far end of the island, visited the Sailors Snug Harbor complex and more. What I have enjoyed most about this little explorations is discovering just how suburban parts of Staten Island are. Many of the homes stand on their own blocks, separated from their neighbors with lush lawns, trees and shrubs in well-kept flower beds, and clean yards. These come as a pleasant surprise when contrasted to the crowded noisy streets of Manhattan and the other major boroughs.

Above and Below: Images of the Staten Island Mall.

On returning to Manhattan, I walked to the South Street Seaport area fully expecting to enjoy a meal and the views of the Brooklyn Bridge from the new shopping complex that has replaced my former favorite resting spot at that location. To my surprise the building process has yet to be completed, and from what I could see, I don't expect it will be ready for most of the rest of this year.

There was nothing for it therefore but to go to my alternative eating house, Squire's Diner, where I ordered a chicken quesadilla and house fries. The house fries, while very nice, were more than I could eat since the quesadilla with its salad, sour cream and guacamole on the side was more than enough for me. I left feeling completely bloated, and after buying a couple of cans of condensed milk at a local supermarket I headed for the A-train and home.

The lower Manhattan skyline from the deck of a Staten Island Ferry.

The magnificent clipper ship, Wavertree at the South Street Seaport. 

A panoramic view of heritage buildings at the South Street Seaport. 

"Why the condensed milk?" I hear you ask (and I'm glad you did). Because there is something definitely not right with the milk that my local store, Frank's Gourmet Market sells. After buying a litre of milk there on a Friday, I found that it had started to curdle by the following Monday. I day later when I decided to pour the rest down the sink, it had practically solidified! That's when I decided to give up on buying fresh milk and try condensed milk in cans and see how I go with those. I will end up paying more for less milk, but then if I am going to throw half a litre of milk away every time I buy the stuff, the cost might be cheaper in the long run anyway.

As for the milk at the supermarket, my guess is that there is nothing wrong with the milk as such when they get it from the manufacturer, but that the fault probably lies with the way the milk is stored before I hits the shelves at Frank's. I'm tempted to let the manufacturer know, but I have better things to do.

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Wednesday 28, June | Expenses $38.37 ($50.10)

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New York on $20 a Day

Image: Staten Island pilings at St. George

Recently I spent around ten hours out and about in New York City and to my surprise, and delight, only expended $20 during the whole outing. Here’s how I did it.

New York during summer is awash in free events and activities. From Summer Stage in Central Park to the River to River Festival across the Downtown area of the city; from the numerous free events in Bryant Park and the Lincoln Center, to the free outdoor screenings of popular movies across a number of locations; from the free ride to Staten Island on the Staten Island Ferry, to the Celebrate Brooklyn events in that borough – the list goes on and on.

My planned schedule of events and activities for Wednesday, July 21 included: Paul-Andre Fortier: Solo 30x30 (one of a series of thirty, 30 minute dance works); the Henry P. Warner Jazz Quartet (at Trinity Church); a trip to Staten Island, where I planned to spend at least 2-3 hours; a walking tour of the South Street Seaport; and finally, a performance by the Jamaican recording artist, Burning Spear. All of these events and activities were free. As if that wasn’t enough, I had also penciled in a visit to an open mic night at Coogan’s Bar to round out the day!

In the end, I missed the dance performance, but instead caught 30 minutes of music from two Columbian twins who perform under the name Gimagua. Although jazz is not my forte, I enjoyed the excellent set from Henry Warner and his associates at Trinity Church, before walking down to the ferry terminal for the free 30 minute trip to Staten Island. And for reasons I am about to explain, I also missed the South Street Seaport walk and Burning Spear – and somewhere in my overheated, sweat soaked condition completely forgot about the open mic.

Image: Staten Island Ferry up close

Now you have to understand that 99.9 percent of visitors taking the trip to Staten Island do so because it is free, and because it allows them to get excellent views of the Statute of Liberty. An added bonus is that you also get great views of the bottom end of Manhattan as the ferry crosses over to the island and when it makes the return trip. Having reached Staten Island, this 99.9 percent then disembark, walk back around to the main hall, and wait to board the same ferry back to Manhattan! And that is the extent of their visit to Staten Island. The other 0.1 percent of visitors like myself (these are my guestimates, I should point out), actually decide to at least explore a little bit of St. George, the main town on the island – and that is what I preceded to do.

Since it was by now around 2.00pm and I hadn’t eaten since breakfast, I went in search of sustenance. I found a little café and ordered a Mexican Wrap and a coffee. For some reason the coffee was free, which was fine by me, and I didn’t refuse the offer a top-up from the owner who also gave me a small bottle of water – also for free! My bill for this Wrap, two coffees and bottle of water was $7.00.

Having recharged my cells, I headed off into the humidity to explore St. George. I walked up and down a couple of ‘main’ streets, and eventually discovered a thrift shop. On a whim, and looking for something to do, I went in and after browsing around for ten or fifteen minutes walked out with a five dollar t-shirt. I don’t know why I bothered really, since a few days earlier I had bought three t-shirts for $10.00, but I felt a need to spend money on something.

I then looked at a map of Staten Island and decided it was time to jump on a bus and ride it to the end of the line. The longest route across the island seemed to be on the s74 bus, from St. George to Tottenville. To my surprise, the trip was longer than anticipated, which I suppose is another way of saying the island is a lot bigger than it looks, and after a journey lasting well over an hour, I alighted in Tottenville.

Image: Pretty as a picture - manicured lawns on Main Street, Tottenville, Staten Island

I spent 20-30 minutes walking around Tottenville, when wouldn’t you know it – along came an s78 bus making the return trip to St. George. To my delight, the return trip ‘up’ the island took an alternate route to the previous one, so I got to see different scenery on the drive back. However, this bus run also took over an hour to complete. By the time I reached the Staten Island ferry terminal at St. George and was able to board the next ferry back to Manhattan it was 8.00pm, and my initial 2-3 hours of explorations had turned into six hours!

By the time I reached Manhattan around 8.30pm I was more than ready to call it a day, and headed straight for the subway for the long ride up Manhattan to the 181st Street station.

Which I completely missed.

Which meant I had to get out at 191st Street and walk back down to my digs at 186 Street.

Now with the time approaching 9.30pm and me approaching meltdown, I stopped by a local Chinese take-away and ordered chicken and black bean sauce with rice ($5.00) and stumbled back to the apartment to eat.

Thus ended my excellent adventure for another day in the Big Apple. I had spent a total of $17.00. If I include another $3.00 to cover for my use of the already purchased MetroCard (30 days by $89.00 = $3.00 per day), then my total outlay for the day was just $20.00.

Not bad, even if I do say so myself.