Today was very cold again—26 degrees this morning and it snowed last night, not much, but white powder on the sidewalks and streets. At work we drove south into Greenwich Village and Chelsea and along the FDR Drive. After class I walked up Madison Avenue to St. Patrick’s Cathedral and they weren’t holding Mass so I was able to really look around at the statues and admire the stained glass and soaring arches. I then walked over to Park Avenue and down past the Waldorf Astoria, Helmsley Hotel and Lincoln Hotel to Grand Central Station and looked around there. I ate at an Irish pub near the hotel called Triple Crown and did the Empire State Building tour. There were no lines and I did the double observation deck tour up to the 102nd floor—it really is amazing at nighttime and but I messed up most of my pictures--shot them with no flash and didn't adjust the speed. On a side note, it dawned on me this evening I haven’t walked on dirt in six days. Any, over halfway through this job and still enjoying it.

We had to move to the Bronx today because of scheduling problems but I got to see another part of the city. We drove around the Bronx and into Yonkers before returning this afternoon. We start early so we get off early and this afternoon I walked up 5th Avenue past the Trump Tower to Central Park and spent a little time in the park before it got dark. I’m sure I only saw a small part of the park but it seems huge in the middle of all those skyscrapers. I then walked back down through Times Square to the hotel. It’s bitter cold here—21 degrees this morning with snow flurries.

Did my first day of training today and it went pretty well. I have a group of electrical linemen from Con Edison and they seem like a pretty good group. We drove this afternoon and basically made a complete loop around the Manhattan Island. We drove down around the World Trade Center site and around on the east beltway past the Brooklyn Bridge and up to Harlem. On the way to Harlem we passed the United Nations building and then drove through Harlem past the Apollo Theater where they still had the black banners up from James Browns’ funeral recently. We then worked our way south past Central Park into midtown. I figure by Friday I will have a pretty good idea of Manhattan. For lunch we stopped at some off-the-wall Italian deli one of the guys knew about and it was really good but food is really expensive here. My daily food allotment is not going to cover my expenses on this trip.

I caught a cab down to Battery Park and from there walked over to Castle Clinton National Monument and caught the ferry to the Statute of Liberty. The crowds weren’t all that bad but security is really tight—I had to go through the “puffer” that checks for explosives. Walked around the statue and then went inside and chose to walk up the steps to the observation tower—a little more strenuous than I had anticipated but I’m glad I did it. It was cold, hazy and overcast but there was a good view of the New York skyline and the statue itself is beautiful.
Caught another ferry to Ellis Island where the old intake building is now a museum and I used the computer to find two ancestors who processed through here in 1904 and 1910. Walked through the processing rooms and the museum is really well designed—kind of sad and happy at the same time. I can only imagine what my ancestors must have been thinking as they stared across the water at the New York City skyline.
Caught the ferry back to Manhattan and from there I walked to the World Trade Center site. Part of the underground subway is actually back in service now and you can go underground and see part of the pit very clearly. What most of us don’t realize is the tremendous damage that was done to surrounding buildings and the whole area is a maze of construction scaffolding and equipment. Walked over to Wall Street and then to Trinity Church where many of the injured were taken on 9/11.
Caught a cab back to the hotel and later walked back up 5th Avenue and over to Times Square and then back to the hotel—getting plenty of exercise here.

Flew to NY Saturday and took a limousine into Manhattan. I'll be here six days doing a job with Con Edison of New York. Checked into the Hampton Inn two blocks from Madison Square Garden and spent the evening walking around midtown—Rockefeller Center and the ice rink, attended mass in St. Patrick’s Cathedral, and walked over to Times Square. I’m staying about twenty-minutes by foot from the main attractions so I’m centrally located. It is very cold and occasionally tries to snow so the skating rink had a real Christmas flavor to it. The huge Rockefeller Tower has a light show of snowflakes moving up and down the side of the tower. I stopped into St. Patrick’s Cathedral and stayed for most of the Mass. Times Square is, as advertised, a splash of neon lights. It has been cleaned up and is very family-oriented now. Tomorrow is Sunday and I'm using it as a personal day and plan to visit lower Manhattan.