Staten Island, Manhattan, Entering the Hudson River - July 25-27

Four hours on the ocean took us from Manasquan New Jersey, around Sandy Hook, into Lower New York Harbor and the welcome calm of Great Kills Harbor on Staten Island NY.
Great Kills Harbor, Staten Island, NY



The following day, we took the Staten Island Ferry into Manhattan for an afternoon and evening with June's sister-in-law Mickey, who lives in the West Village.


 
Staten Island Ferry's Coast Guard escort; Verrazano Narrows Bridge connecting Staten Island and Brooklyn in the distance.

Gilded Age Ferry Terminal on the Battery, Lower Manhattan
June and Mickey
 On Thursday, we explored the Great Kills area by bicycle.

Who knew Staten Island had wild swans?
Cruising under the Verrazzano Narrows Bridge into Upper New York Harbor, past the Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island and lower Manhattan, into the Hudson River was all we could hope for.  It is impossible not to think of grandparents and great-grandparents for whom this was the first sight of
their new country, as well the events of 9/11.   It is also impossible not to be awed by the monumental architecture both historic and modern on both sides of the Hudson.

Verrazano Narrows Bridge - entrance into Upper NY Harbor
On our port side.
Also on our port side, Ellis Island Immigration Station 1892-1954, now a museum
On our starboard side, Lower Manhattan, new World Trade Center buildings
Empire State Building, Chrysler Building looking small to its right.
Something new on the West Side.
New Jersey side also has some impressive modern architecture.
Upper Manhattan, the George Washington Bridge

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