I am not usually into the ‘touristy things’ in New York City but this was a special day and I wanted to experience something different. All this walking around the Island of Manhattan to explore what was there lead me to think “what about riding around it?” What does it look like from the rivers and what do the neighborhoods look like that I visited so many months or years ago? What can this modern day Henry Hudson see from the water view? This lead me to take the “Best of NYC Cruise”, the full Circle around the Island of Manhattan. It was a nice afternoon where someone else did the driving.
Unfortunately, the weather was cloudy and a little gloomy but still warm with no chance of rain when I got to Pier 83 on West 42nd Street and 12th Street at 12:30pm and bought my ticket. There was a chance of clearing later in the day, so I figured ‘let’s go!’ I was surprised that on a early October afternoon in the middle of the week that the boat would be so crowded. There was loads of people from different countries who had the same idea that I had that day.
The entrance to the Circle Line at Pier 83 in Manhattan
I took the last cruise of the day at 1:30pm hoping it would warm up and it ended up being in the low 70’s that afternoon, nice enough to sit outside and enjoy the sites. The Circle Line is really nice in that you can either sit in the middle of the ship and up above inside and on the top of the outside and no matter where you sit (depending on the number of people taking pictures) you will have a great view of everything. My recommendation is to sit where I sat, on the top deck, outside in the front where the isle is located. Here when you are tall you can stretch your legs especially when you are tall like me.
Circle Line boats ready to go
The tour starts out at Pier 83 on the far West Side and be prepared for a long line that goes very quickly. I have to admit that the tourists that I travelled with were a very orderly and polite bunch until we got to Liberty Island and toured around the Statue of Liberty. Even on a gloomy day it is an impressive site that I never get tired of looking at. It still to me means America and a promise of better things to come. It still amazes me after all of these years and I have been coming to the island since I was eight. You have to think that my family saw this site when they came here over a hundred years ago.
Liberty Island
We did a two time tour around the island so that everyone could take pictures and I swear that I thought the boat would tilt with all of those people taking pictures on that side of the rail. It really was a great site to see.
The views of Lower Manhattan are still breathtaking and even after the Towers fell still and the area rebuilt it still has an air of money and power and the extent of the influence of Wall Street to the rest of the world. I don’t think there is any other city on earth that has this type of powerful image than Manhattan. There were many group shots here as well. To the other side of the boat, I could see the forts and lawns of Governours Island, which I had visited last summer.
Lower Manhattan and Governors Island
Once we were past those two photo shots, people sat and relaxed for the rest of the trip. Our next stop was South Street Seaport and the view of the Brooklyn Bridge. I think this is just as iconic as the Statue of Liberty and the view of Lower Manhattan but it did not garner that same attention. I thought it was impressive to go under the bridge and see the under workings of the it.
After going under the Brooklyn Bridge, what really impressed me was the view of the Brooklyn side of the East River. I can not believe how much the coast line had changed and the beauty of Brooklyn Bridge Park and all the buildings that have been built around it. I even saw that they have a Domino Sugar sign from the old factory building that used to be located there (Our family’s claim to fame is that it was my Great-Grandfather William Rochibowski, who used to be the man running the boilers at the factory in the early 1900’s).
Brooklyn Bridge
Brooklyn Bridge Park is an impressive park and shows the extent of reclaimed land on the Brooklyn coastline that is being used for parks. It is impressive between the Brooklyn shoreline and Long Island City in Queens how much construction of office buildings and apartments is changing the way we look the East River. We have reclaimed the land so that everyone can use the parks and we can look at green again instead of manufacturing.
Brooklyn Bridge Park
As we crossed over East 43rd Street, I could see from the boat all the neighborhoods that I had recently visited over the summer including Turtle Bay, Sutton Place, Beekman Place and the recently visited Midtown East. I recognized all the apartment buildings and small parks that line the Manhattan side of the East River. It was interesting to see what they look like from the river side.
We passed by Roosevelt Island and I got to see the new Cornell Tech campus and the old hospital that is falling apart next to the new Franklin Delano Roosevelt Park that sits impressively on the southern tip of Roosevelt Island. It was equally impressive to see Lighthouse Park on the northern part of the island as well.
Roosevelt Island
We passed the dreaded East River Houses that dominate the low 100’s along First Avenue and the bridge that will take you to Ward-Randall’s Island. Here you can see the walking paths, playing fields and the old stadium on the island. You could even see the people walking their dogs around the island and how busy it was during a work week. On the other side is High Bridge Park that lines the area from about 163rd Street to Dyckman Avenue. This park is rarely on the richter scale with tourists but it does have some of the most interesting rock formations even from the river view. It still reminds us of the Ice Age’s role in the formation of the island.
Ward-Randall’s Island
As we rounded the top half of Manhattan Island, I could see the commercial side of Inwood and Washington Heights where the Sanitation Department, Verizon and 207 Street Train Yard Facility are located. Visiting this part of the Island can be seen on this blog from Days One-Seven. It is hardly the Manhattan that most people know and you can see this even more from the river view how industrialized the area is from the deck.
When you finally cross under the Broadway Bridge under the tip of Manhattan, we crossed over to the west side of the island. We had to stop at the Amtrak bridge for them to move it for us to pass through and here you can see the giant “C” of Columbia University who has their rowing team facility in this area and their football stadium on top of the hill.
The Columbia ‘C’
It is a nice place to stop and relax as you can see the Spuyten Duyvil Creek, the Muscato Marsh (see my review on VisitingaMuseum.com) and the beginnings of Inwood Park with its large hills and virgin forest. Then you enter the Hudson River Basin and the beautiful extensive views of cliffs of the Palisades Parkway Park side of New Jersey. These areas were protected by the Rockefeller family when the area was bought for the construction of the Palisades Parkway in New Jersey and New York.
Muscato Marsh
On the Manhattan side, we were treated to the woods and parks of Inwood and Riverside Parks with their wooded paths, barbecue areas and boat basins. It may not be the view Henry Hudson saw when he travelled the river but it close to it with the wooded hills. You could see the Cloisters Museum (see my reviews on TripAdvisor and VisitingaMuseum.com) from the hill in Fort Tyron Park and travelling down to where West 155th Street is located you can see the Trinity Church Cemetery with its winding hills of tombstones.
The Cloisters Museum
Going under the busy George Washington Bridge was interesting in that the bridge never slows down. It always seems to have traffic. Under the bridge you can see the historic site of the “Little Red Lighthouse” the inspiration for the children’s book “The Little Red Lighthouse and the Great Gray Bridge” (se my review on VisitingaMuseum.com).
Little Red Lighthouse
Below that is RiverBank Park on top of the Water Treatment plant. This interesting park I talked about visiting when blogging about Hamilton Heights. It has everything from ice skating to track to tennis. A fair trade off to clean our waters.
Below that it was the start of Riverside Park and seeing Grant’s Tomb where President Grant and his wife are interred (See my review on VisitingaMuseum.com) at the top of the park. In the background you can see the tops of the buildings at Columbia University.
Grant’s Tomb
From there we could see the beginnings of the Upper West Side and the sliver of Riverside Park that hugged the shoreline of this neighborhood. The one part that stands out is the new construction of Riverside Park South and the new park below it. These shiny towers give the West Side a contemporary modern look and show the optimism of building on this part of the Hudson River.
Riverside Park
As we headed down the last stretch of the tour of the Hudson River on the way back to Pier 83, we passed the various piers of this part of the island showing its maritime and industrial history of the island.
Back at Pier 83
The Circle Line cruise to me was revisiting the neighborhoods I had already walked from a different perspective. When you walk the streets and parks of the island, you get to see the detail work of the buildings and the landscaped structure of the parks but from the rivers, you see it from the natural standpoint from the beauty of the parks to the dynamic of the buildings and the statements they make. It is one thing to see Grant’s Tomb or the Cloisters by visiting them and going inside of them but it is another to cruise past them and them becoming part of the landscape.
Sometimes being a tourist in New York City is fun!
My birthday Dinner:
For my birthday dinner that night, I ate at The Juicy Seafood Restaurant (Closed in 2020) that I had passed when walking Turtle Bay for this blog. The Juicy Seafood at 1047A Second Avenue (see my review on TripAdvisor) is an interesting little seafood restaurant with a lively bar scene and an interesting music soundtrack playing.
The Juicy Seafood Restaurant
The food is wonderful. I had the Fried Shrimp basket ($13.00) was delicious. Eight well breaded and fried shrimp sat on top of a bed of French Fries. The shrimp were sweet and fresh and had a nice crunch to them.
The Fried Shrimp Basket
For dessert, I wanted a small birthday cake and went to Eclair Bakery at 305 East 53rd Street (see my reviews on TripAdvisor and DiningonaShoeStringinNYC@Wordpress.com) to see what they had that night. I settled on a Lemon Cake ($4.00) that had a nice caramelized color to it and a layer of icing. This sweet dense cake perked me up immediately and was a nice way to complete my birthday evening. The simple things in life are the best!
It does not take much to please this Libra!
Things to do:
The Circle Line Cruise
Midtown
Pier 83
West 42nd Street and 12th Street
New York, NY
(212) 563-3200
1https://www.circleline.com/0036
Tour of the “Best of New York Cruise” times:
10:00am, 12:00pm and 1:30pm cruises daily
My review on TripAdvisor:
Places to Eat:
The menu on the Circle Line is not that exciting so eat a good breakfast before you go and save lunch or dinner to after you exit the cruise.
The Juicy Seafood (now closed)
1047A Second Avenue
New York, NY 10022
(646) 850-4080
http://www.thejuicyseafoodny.com/
My review on TripAdvisor:
The Eclair Bakery
305 East 53rd Street
New York, NY 10022
(212) 371-3459
https://www.eclairbakery-nyc.com/
My review on TripAdvisor:
My review on DiningonaShoeStringinNYC@Wordpress.com:
https://wordpress.com/post/diningonashoestringinnyc.wordpress.com/1068
mywalkinmanhattan 