NYC: Day 6

Ie Li is fast asleep so I (Steve) thought I'd help her with her work tonight. Today started like most other mornings with Stephen talking about taxis and Mei Li waking up soon thereafter. We ate our humble in-room breakfast in preparation for attending the Manhattan 1st Ward for church. Since they don't have to share their building with too many other wards, they get to start church at 11, which was a good time for us.

Here is a picture from my phone of the Angel Moroni that sits atop the church building, as the building also houses a temple.



I was interested to see what group of people attends the Manhattan 1st Ward. A mix of old and young; small children and teenagers. I guess this should not surprise me but since I've been here, I've been wondering how in the world I could live in New York City with a family and have not come up with a workable plan, but here was a room full of people who had.

Anyway, if you are going to come to New York, you should go to the Manhattan 1st Ward if for no other reason than to see the Sacrament Meeting chorister. This guy was truly first class. He was older, balding, with dark rimmed glasses. He used a metal baton that was at least a foot and a half long. He did not use a music stand because I guess he knew all the words, and if he didn't, we'd all know because he was singing loud. Really loud. He had a great voice. So good that the combination of a real pipe organ and his voice in the small chapel sort of negated the combined voices of the rest of the congregation. (On another note, what do you think is the per square foot cost to build a basketball court indoors in a building one block from the Lincoln Center? Is there another church in all of Manhattan that has an indoor basketball court?)

After Sacrament Meeting we headed back home for a quick lunch and then went to catch a ferry to Liberty Island to see the Statue of Liberty. The weather was really nice. We met a nice guy with his son waiting in line to board the ferry. He asked to borrow our sunscreen. Have you ever asked a stranger to borrow their sunscreen? I don't think I'd ever have the courage to do so, which is probably why I'm not the VP of sales for a software company like this guy was.

The Statue of Liberty is actually quite impressive up close. It is very tall and up close, you can actually see all of the details that were sculpted into her hands and face. We did not have tickets to go inside which was just as well as Mei Li and Stephen enjoyed mostly running on the grass and playing in the dirt.

We then moved on to Ellis Island. This is a place I'd like to go back to when I have more time to read the signs and take the tour (read: no children running around enjoying the echo of a large empty room). They have a section where you can search for and print a copy of the actual manifest that would record the name, date, and other information for your ancestor as the based through Ellis Island. What was interesting to me was that Ellis Island only started to be used as the central point of reception for immigrants in the early 1890s. Before that, I think the State of New York did the processing on the mainland.

Another interesting thing was the "Stairway of Separation" at the end of the registration hall. Here the stairs are divided into three parts: one part went to a window to buy a train ticket, one part went to a ferry, and a third part went to a detention center and then likely back to the country of origin. Just like that, after a long journey to America, you could be sent down the stairs and back where you came from.

One final interesting story from Ellis Island. As we were on the second level, all of a sudden a guy with a SWAT team uniform appeared and started directing people away the stairway he was standing in front of. We walked down the other stairs to find a few other SWAT team guys and a bomb sniffing dog. At this point, people were still kind of just milling around, not sure what was going on. Then a girl walked past me and casually said, "I think they are evacuating the building. You should probably go." So we did.

For dinner, we ate at the Peking Duck House in Chinatown. I think this is the best food I've had so far in NY. For those who have never had Peking Duck, you need to get past your duck association from A Christmas Story and just try it. Go to a real duck place and try it and I'm confident you won't regret it. After that, we wondered through Chinatown, got some egg tarts, and made our way back home on the subway. Another very full and good day.