Monday – August 6, 2012
The Armenian genocide of 1915 in Eastern Turkey divided my family and scattered them on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean. Now, two or three generations later, cousins visit each other whenever we can. This week, my cousin Francoise arrived from France. Her great-grandfather and my grandfather were brothers. Francoise’s grandparents had fled to Marseille after their parents were killed and my grandfather had immigrated to the U.S.
New York City Skyline From New Jersey
Another cousin, Carol, who lives in Syracuse, NY took the train to Manhattan order to see Francoise and spend some time with “the cousins”. We all gathered at Nancy’s house, who is another cousin who lives in New Jersey.
Cousins
One of the best treats of having French cousins is playing tourist and visiting the tourist attractions in New York City. This morning we met in New Jersey and rode the NY Waterway ferry across the Hudson River to the mid-town terminal. Then we boarded a bus which took us to “Ground Zero”.
The New Freedom Tower
The former World Trade Center site was one of the places that Francoise wanted to visit. There has been much progress on the construction of the Freedom Tower and its completion is expected in 2015. Three smaller towers are also planned, so it is interesting to watch the buildings rise up to the sky. There were many foreign and American tourists milling around the construction area.
Federal Hall
Following a “Lower Manhattan” theme, we continued past St. Paul’s and Trinity Churches to Wall Street. We took a short break on the steps of Federal Hall with the other tourists and looked across to the NY Stock Exchange. I remembered school trips to see the trading floor many years earlier.
Water Street Building
We discovered a satellite store of Tiffany & Co. on Wall Street and Francoise wanted to see “les bijoux”, so we stopped in. The Ambassador, yes that was his title, greeted us and gave Francoise a special souvenir card in a Tiffany robin’s-egg-blue shopping bag. We were sorry it wasn’t a glittery keepsake!
South Street Seaport
Then we continued east on Wall Street to Water Street and explored The South Street Seaport. The pier is more like a suburban mall now but there were many tourists and much to see. The weather was typical New York City weather: hazy, hot & humid.
The Cousins Taking a Break
The Brooklyn Bridge
We took a break at the Seaport and rested for a short while. Francoise sat out on a lounge chair on the upper deck of the pier overlooking the Brooklyn Bridge and relaxed. It was a good day to be a tourist in The Big Apple!