My First Day in NY 2012

When I woke up, I decided I'd take the subway down to the site of the World Trade Center.

On my way to the subway station, I noticed a bunch of fur shops.  I thought that was interesting.

Now, I didn't decide to see the WTC because of  any particular need or desire to see it.  I was there when it was two big buildings, and that was pretty cool.  But, having looked at Google Maps for a while, it seemed to me that I'd be able to walk from there to Tribeca.  I had seen an interview with Alan Rickman, in which he recommended the pecan pie at a little restaurant on Chambers Street.  So I figured I'd walk past the WTC site, get a slice of pecan pie , walk up through Greenwich Village, and continue along where the subway goes until I was tired of it, then grab a train back to the hotel or theater, depending on what time it got to be.

I learned some things.

One:  I learned that there's bugger all to do at the WTC.  It's a big construction site, and you can't actually get close to any kind of "memorial" bit of it, unless you've made reservations.  That wasn't any particular disappointment, but if I had known that, I probably wouldn't have gone that far sound to begin with.

I got a few pictures, though.

At the WTC site

Some guys are playing chess.

Another thing I learned was that when I'm surrounded by tall buildings and streets with names instead of numbers, I have no idea which way is north, south, east, or west.  I had a subway map, but nothing that showed actual streets.  I learned that my map didn't always correspond very well to the reality that I was observing around me.  So I got kind of lost.

I did manage to find that pie place, by dumb luck.  I went in and asked if they had any pecan pie.  They said no.  I said, "do you usually have pecan pie?"   They said, "No, that's pretty much a special order thing."  I guess if you're Alan Rickman, they can conjure one up for you.

Heh heh.  See what I did there?  Severus Snape?  Conjure?

So I didn't bother with food there.  Afraid to be stuck in Lower Manhattan all day, and ending up late for my play at 8pm, I was kind of afraid to explore away from the subway station that looked like it would lead uptown.  A proper map would have been good.  It all looked so intuitive on Google Maps street view, I assumed I'd be able to figure it out.

Another thing I learned was that subway trains sometimes are labeled.   Notice I said sometimes, not always. And a train might be labeled "C", when actually what it is is "C Express".   That means that when you get on the train, hoping to get off at, say, "W. 29th Ave.", you will actually blast right on past W. 29th, and have to get off at W. 72nd or some such thing.  Then you have to find a train going the other way, and hope that it's not also an Express.

I'm pretty sure they do say the name of the train when it stops.  I mean, the drivers make an announcement of some sort, so I assume that's what they're saying, but it's completely unintelligible.