Tuesday Morning: Staten Island and WTC

This morning started off sunny and cool. We were out fairly early in search of official NYC bagels for breakfast. One of the many cool guys who seem to run this place told me that there were no authentic bagels close by. He highly recommended a place called Russ & Daughters that is over 60 years old. So we trekked over there and it was worth it. 

My Everything bagel with scallion cream cheese.

Marilyn had pumpernickel with lox cream cheese.

After that we were on the subway again down to the Staten Island Ferry docks. We walked around Battery Park a bit and saw the massive line for the Statue of Liberty ferry. Not doing that for sure! The Staten Island Ferry was a good ride and we managed some nice views of Lady Liberty and Manhattan coming back. It was pretty cool out there however and, oddly, there is only a very small outside viewing area on the ferries. 
This is a piece of art that was damaged during 9/11 and is now in Battery Park. 

Statue of Liberty from the ferry.

Once back we walked through the financial district to the South Street Seaport historic area. It’s a bit like the Distillery District in Toronto, but with water on the side! Lots of shops and restaurants. We had lunch at an ale house that served lots of American craft brews. It was quiet, we were actually the only ones there, but lunch was good. 
This is South Street Seaport with its cobblestone streets. Not many people due to the chilly weather. People here don't seem to be as used to cold as we are.

Then we were off to the World Trade Center site. They have made some major progress in starting the new tower as you can see in the pictures. It was still quite moving to be in the area and see the monuments to the people who lost their lives. We were on one of the streets that you saw in some of the video as the towers came down as well. It was hard to imagine being there at the time ten years ago.
Construction is well underway on the new tower. 

This monument to the lost firefighters was built into the wall of Station # 10 which is right beside the WTC site.