Manhattan Part 1

Hello from Barclay Street in the Center of the Financial Universe…Lower Manhattan! It’s all fairly overwhelming and disorienting. The post-9/11 contruction boom dominates the landscape. I walked up to the WTC site from Battery Park and made it 3/4 of the way around Ground Zero. I gave in to tired legs and found a Starbucks to crash, reflect, and dump my camera. Unfortunately I had a “short” of some kind in my camera battery and had to let the camera cool down. My thanks to the nice gentleman at World Trade Photo for the diagnosis.  Photos from the first part of my water taxi tour, middle East Side to Battery Park are posted at:

http://picasaweb.google.com/jtholste/ManhattanPart1

I’ll catch up with the pictures on the way back. I’m probably going to shorten my taxi tour and head back to the South Street Seaport and then to 34th Street for a nice dinner at a local place. Going to save my strength for the Ameican Museum of Natural History tomorrow!

New York, New York!

Finally made it to New York! Arrived late Saturday after a great little BBQ in Maplewood NJ. A thirty minute train ride but me and my friend Judy in Penn Station and exiting into the crowd from Madison Square Garden. And, yes, I was a total rube; gawking skyward, tripping over people, saying “Wow” more than a dozen times to no one in particular. The true New Yorkers were either amused or indifferent to my sudden loss of “New York” virginity. I was taken with the orderliness of people lining up for cabs under the watchful eye of one of New York’s finest. One women did cut the line and grab a cab much to the chagrin of the crowd. Unfortunately the officer was busy helping to load a van with a group of New York Newbies. The gods of New York will probably subtract some serious cab karma points from this women!

 Spent Sunday recovering and enjoying the local sights of the NYU Medical Center and the central East Side. Judy’s faculty apartment is on the 15th floor facing the river. The view is stunning although marred by the recent construction of a new science research building which obscures the center part of the view. Some pictures will be posted shortly on the photo site with many more to follow today and tomorrow. I have some personal business this morning; negotiating prescription refills long distance for shipment via UPS. This could be interesting. Both my doc and my pharmacy told me last month “no problem” to this arrangement. We’ll see. I also plan on doing the “Hop On. Hop Off” tour of the Island by water taxi. Lots of opportunities for great pictures and venues. Hope to hit Battery Park, the WTC Memorial, Greenwich Village, and perhaps one other stop. I’m on my own as Judy has both clinic and the start of a new rotation of interns and student. I probably will not see her until tomorrow morning. She an amazing doc and makes Matha Stewart look aloppy with her hospitality.

Much more later. BTW…weather is outstanding. Sunny, warm, 78 degrees, moderate humidity. Hope this doesn’t make anyone feel bad.