Life From a Lame Perspective: Lame Travels: To New York and Back Part II (days 8&9)

After driving through the rest of Ohio, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey, we made it to New York City. We arrived in this crazy city of lights on a Thursday night. We went straight to where we were going to stay; my Grandma's cousin's house. We had never met our grandma's cousin before, none the less, she opened her house up to us. She lives in a beautiful home in the Bronx, and is so kind and hospitable; I am so grateful that she welcomed us into her home! I loved getting to meet and talk with her!

Crossing the George Washington Bridge

George Washington Bridge (after we had crossed)

On the morning of our first full day in New York City, we drove to 96th street where we parked our van in a parking garage, then hopped on the subway. This was quite an experience for me. I had never been on a subway in my power wheelchair, only in my manual chair. When getting on the subway, we had to be quick in order to jump the gap; someone had to pop my tires up the bump onto the train. Once we safely made it onto one of the cars, we were on our way! First stop: Lincoln Center.

On the subway!

We exited the subway at the 66th street station, then we walked to Lincoln Center. Here, we saw the Opera House, and Juilliard, along with one of the many beautiful fountains in this city. We also came across an outdoor elevator, which made it so I did not have to travel all the way around the block (since I could not access the stairs), and a "ticker tape" stair way.

At the Opera House

My sister sitting on the Lincoln Center fountain

BEWARE OF STAIRS IN CENTRAL PARK!

After we visited Lincoln Center, we walked over to Central Park. I do love the natural beauty of Central Park; this area is made up of many trees, winding trails, and wild life, and is nestled in the middle of this busy city. However, to my disappointment, many of these curvy pathways lead right into stairs. These stairs are not labeled on the map that we were handed in the park. So, as a tourist, these stairs came with quite a surprise. The other unfortunate thing is, not all of the trails that branch off the main paths are labeled on the map either. This makes it extremely difficult to find an alternative route to a desired destination. My recommendation would be that stairways are labeled on maps, and that alternate routes are listed as well. This would not just benefit people in wheelchairs, but those who use walking aids and anyone pushing a stroller.

Entering Central Park

When we came to a stairway, my dad and sister continued on to find our destination and to meet up with family, while my mom and I ventured on our blind detour. After looking at our map many times, getting directions from three different people, and then making some educated guesses, we finally made it to our destination: Turtle Pond.

There are actually turtles in this pond!

My sister and the little guy

We met up with my grandma's other cousin (who lives in New York City as well) at Turtle Pond. From there, we all went to get lunch. We ate at an outdoor "walk-up" restaurant located in Central Park that serves hotdogs, and according to my grandma's cousins, the best orange juice ever.

While the others were ordering food, my mom and went to use the bathroom. As we were walking towards the facilities, a women pushed passed us. At first, I thought nothing of it, but as I entered the bathroom, I saw that same lady walk into the only handicap stall. Now, I would not have been bothered by this -- if it was the only stall open -- but there were five other stalls open! I waited and waited for that lady to be finished with her business; a family with three children came in after me, all went to the bathroom and left before this lady finally came out of the handicap stall. When she did come out, she would not even look at me. At least, when I actually had the chance to enter the stall, there was plenty of room for both my mom and I.

My dad, my grandma's cousin and I strolling through Central Park

After we ventured through Central Park, we decided to ride the bus down to South Ferry. There we would get on the Statin Island Ferry (which is free), and ride it across to Statin Island and back in order to take pictures of the Statue of Liberty. The busses are super accessible, and even though they are way slower than the subway, they go more places. On my very first bus ride in New York City, I was amused by the bus driver. He did not hook my chair down with any restraints, nor did he offer me a lap belt. This was totally cool with me, but the reason for my amusement is here in Bellingham, every bus driver takes the time to latch and secure all four restraints, and then on top of that, they ask me if I would like a lap belt; this is a huge contrast!

After about an average of five minutes per block, we did finally make it down to South Ferry. We entered the ferry terminal to find it swarming with people. As we walked though the turn style, the switchbacks and down all the ramps, I felt as if I was a part of a cattle heard being guided to the destination. We made it onto the ferry; the ride was cool and refreshing. We could see the Statue of Liberty, and took a ton of awesome pictures! When we reached the Statin Island terminal, we asked one of the ferry workers if we could just stay on the ferry, even though everyone was told to exit the boat. Since we were not venturing out onto the island, we did not want to fight the traffic, and to quickly navigate through an unknown ferry terminal. The ferry worker radioed his boss, and then told us that it would be fine if we hung out in the back of the boat, while passengers exited. The ride was so relaxing, and I loved getting as close as we could to the Statue of Liberty!

Mom, Gina and I on the Statin Island Ferry

View from the ferry

After we crossed to Statin Island and back, we walked to Ground Zero. On the way there, we passed through Battery Park, and by the Wall Street Bowl, which were both featured in the Nicolas Cage movie, The Sorcerer's Apprentice, as well as Trinity Church, which can be viewed in the Nicolas Cage movie, National Treasure.

Ground Zero

After we found Ground Zero, we walked to the nearest subway station that was listed (on the website) as being handicap accessible. However, when we arrived there, we found that the elevator was not broken, but blocked off due to all the construction being done in that area. My mom walked down the stairs to talk to the man in the information booth. He informed her that we should walk to the courthouse subway station, there we would find an all accessible entrance to get onto the subway. This was news to us, as the courthouse station is not listed on the website. After about an hour of wondering around, we called our family, and they suggested we hop on a bus to get to where we wanted to go. So, we rode the bus to the Empire State Building.

Riding the bus takes a lot longer than taking the subway. This was not a problem earlier in the day, as we were not in a hurry. Unfortunately, this was not the case this time, as my sister wished to watch the sun set from the observation deck of the Empire State Building. We made it to the entrance of the building, just as the sun slipped behind the horizon.

By this time, I really needed to use the bathroom. My sister and I were the only two in our party going up, but my mom still had to get checked to help me in the bathroom. The handicap bathroom was locked and separate from the rest of the of the toilets. An employee had to unlock the bathroom for me.

When my sister and I went up, there were two elevators that we road in; Gina and I were the only two in the second. When I got out to the observation deck, I realized that the venture around the deck was going to be a tight squeeze. The deck was about four feet wide and cram packed with people. This made it a challenge to maneuver around. On top of the tight quarters, on more than half of the deck, there was a cement wall that was at least five feet tall. This made it impossible for me to view the city from those sides of the building. In one section of the building, I could view the city, but you can only look at that one section so long. I decided to go down an meet up with my parents, but my sister stayed to snap a ton of pictures in order to capture the beauty of the city.

I took an elevator all the way down to the second floor, but from there, I was told to exit the building via the store elevator next door. I found the elevator, and took it down to the ground floor. When I found the exit to the street, I asked someone to open the doors for me. Then, I was loose on the streets of New York City; it was nighttime, and I was by myself. My parents were waiting for us in the bar; however, since I was not twenty-one, I could not just roll right in and find them. Even though my mom had texted to inform us her phone was going to die, I called her. Fortunately, I did end up reaching her, as my phone was going to die too! I enjoyed being able to venture out of the Empire State Building and being on the streets of the Big Apple on my own (though it was just for a short while)!