The Bull and the Memorial

I've been in New York City twice before, and both times were this year and were trips for my job.  The first time I stayed near Times Square, so at least I got to see some things around there.  The second time I stayed in lower Manhattan, but it was a quick trip so there was no time for me to see anything extra.  Today I'm in NYC again, as I had meetings during the day today but actually had some free time in the late afternoon and evening, so I decided to use the time to see some sights.  

My last meeting of the day was in a building right by the famous Wall Street Bull.  Or at least I thought it was the Wall Street Bull.  It is a bull, but it's not on Wall Street.  Thanks to the fine ladies and gentlement of the Occupy Wall Street movement, the bull is now blocked off, and a cop is stationed there full-time to manage the long line of people to ensure only one person or small group at a time can be by the bull.  Being a tourist, I of course wanted a picture with the bull, but since I didn't have a burning desire to touch its nose, horns, or any other part of it, I settled for a quick picture from outside the fencing.

I then looked up where Wall Street actually was (a few blocks away), found it, and walked all the way down it, seeing the famous buildings along the way.  I also saw the last bastion of Occupy Wall Streeters, where five disheveled rebels were cordoned off into their own small designated area from which they were free to both yell and smell.

I stayed at the W New York Downtown, which overlooks the World Trade Center site.  They are still in the process of building the new WTC skyscrapers around the perimeter, but in the center is the 9/11 Memorial which is essentially complete, with the exception of the museum, so I went to see it.  In the footprint of each of the twin towers is a square pool with water flowing down the sides, across the base, and into a void in the center.  The names of all the victims are inscribed into the edges around both pools.  In the picture above you can see that part of what appears to be the skyline behind me is actually one of the new towers reflecting the skyline opposite from it.  The memorial was really nicely done, and I got to spend the remainder of the evening walking around and reflecting on the most significant world event of my lifetime.  I'm really glad I had the opportunity to see it.