Lower Manhattan

We headed from Penn Station to Wall Street, the financial district of New York City.  Our first stop was Trinity Church, which is one of the oldest churches in the United States.  Trinity Church received its founding charter in 1697, the charter was issued in the name of King William III in response to the Anglican colonist'a wanting to build a Church to call their own.  The original Trinity Church finished construction in 1698, but this first Church was destroyed in 1776 by a fire due to the American Revolution battle.  The second Church was built like new in 1790 but due to the winter storms, the Church's structure was torn apart.  The third and final rebuilding of the Church, which is the one we saw was completed in 1846.


The interior consists of stained glass windows which can be sen from the sides of the Church all the way to the front.  The most important stained glass window in the Church is above the altar.  The design resembles a Gothic pointed arch and shows Jesus, St. Peter, St. Matthew, St. Mark, St. Luke, St. John, and St. Paul in an arrangement of different colors.

Outside the Church is the burial ground of Alexander Hamilton. Hamilton was the Continental Army officer and military aide to General George Washington during the American Revolution War, first U.S. secretary of the treasury, Federalist Papers author and founder of The Bank of New York.

After visiting Trinity Church, we walked to see the protesters occupy Wall Street.  When I walked passed them, I could see the determination in their faces.  The protesters are occupying Wall Street because they believe that the Financial System favors the rich and powerful and that the Democratic process is corrupt. I am one to be on both sides of the case, as a student going for his Business Degree, I hope when I graduate that I will have a Job, that reflects what I have worked hard for in College.



Then we walked down a few blocks and passed the New York Stock Exchange, and visited the Federal Hall National Monument, which I have passed by before but never knew what it was and what history it had.




Federal Hall was the first Capitol Building of the United States of America under the Constitution.  It is also the site of George Washington's Inauguration as the first President of the United States.  The United States Bill of Rights was introduces in the First Congress.

We then walked passed Ground Zero where we saw the construction of One World Trade Center.  We went to the World Financial Center and went to the Winter Garden Atrium.  The Atrium was damaged in the September 11, 2001 attacks.  The Winter Garden was the first major structure to be completely restored and reopened on September 17, 2002.

After stopping at the Irish Hunger Memorial and the Poet's House, we walked quite a distance to Chelsea Market, where we stopped for lunch.  I had lunch at Friedmans, I had a delicious burger with seasoned french fries.  After eating lunch we walked along the High Line, which was built on a former elevated freight railroad called the West Side Line, which runs along the lower west side of Manhattan.

For the end of our day, we went to about ten different Art Gallery's in Chelsea.  I saw many fascinating paintings, sculptures, and architectures that are very expensive, from people who are extremely talented.

In this video, which I filmed in one of the Art Gallery's, is of a huge fan that automatically is set to go on every four minutes.  It depicts a fan blowing air into a parachute causing it to blow up like it was opening in mid air.