For those of you who don't know - both Katy and I are a bit directional challenged. Needless to say this has put us on high alert in our figuring out the New York Subway system. And let me tell you people it requires more than a knowledge of lefts and rights. It is about "uptowns" and "downtowns" and which level of the system you need…requiring stairs - lots of stairs. Then once you board you may be sitting backwards , sideways or forwards to the direction the train is moving . Finally when you arrive at your destination the stairs exiting will either be in the direction your going or against. And then there are usually multiple ways to exit onto the street especially in the main stations - Union Square being one of them. Like gophers popping our heads out of the various tunnel options, I think we have tried every tunnel at Union Square :) There is one that is closest to ABT and for the record and my own mental pathway it is Broadway and 16th! Did you hear that brain - 16th! Until we learned the street names it seemed like we came up a different way every time. The subway is only a one minute walk and one stop from our apartment - then transfer to another for one stop and if you transfer in the right direction and come up the right tunnel the entire trip takes only about 15-20 minutes!
What we have learned is that Greenwich Village, where we are staying, and anything towards the Staten Island Ferry and Financial District is "Downtown" and anytime we want to go to American Ballet Theater, Time Square or Central Park we follow "Uptown" signs. This all may sound simple enough but in the first week when you are down in the bellows of the subway station with the pulsating drone of the ever stopping and starting subway trains thick with the humid summer air mixed with the musical overtone of the musical buskers - these little things are important! And just when you think you have it all figured out you decide to be brave and take a number or letter that is going in the same direction that the subway you usually take only to discover that it is an "express" and doesn't stop at the same stops you are used to or happens to be a line than turns before you get to the spot you wanted on the map.
Anyways back to my story - we walked in the wrong direction towards the Staten Island Ferry but in the end it worked out to our benefit as we discovered Pier 17 which had a lovely boardwalk overlooking Brooklyn and a seaport that was only a short ways from the Brooklyn Bridge. This has been one of the bonuses of not being sure where we are going - we often end up discovering something that we weren't looking for!
After snacking on some New York fries along the boardwalk, we wound our way along towards the tip of Manhatten until we joined up with hundreds of others to board the free Staten Island Ferry for our free viewing of Lady Liberty. Once on the other side we had decided to have dinner, so attempted to search out a Carribean Restaurant recommended on the tourist info once we landed. Well it turned out to be closed and not much to see in the area left of the ferry….so I guess it doesn't always work out and we decided next time we go to Staten Island we will try walking right!
Should I still come.
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