New York City - Roosevelt Island

On our last day in New York City we pushed through the chaos of Times Square one last time and made our way to Broadway to see this little-known play called Hamilton. Afterwards we went back to the hotel so I could retrieve my camera gear, and then we headed over to Roosevelt Island. The island sits in the East River between Manhattan and Queens, and can be reached via a tram car. It is a cheap and fun way to cross the river (it's really a shame that we can't commute with trams more in this country).

Roosevelt Island is a rare stretch of land in New York City that hasn't been extensively developed. For most of its history it was home to prisons, asylums and hospitals. Nowadays, a good portion of the island is set aside as parks and greenspace. The views from the island are great, especially of the Queensboro Bridge.





And across the river you can see the United Nations Building, the Empire State Building and the Chrysler Building.





Walking along the river was a good way to wind down our trip to the Big City. It wasn't busy at all, with just a few other people out strolling along the sidewalk. There were even a few people out there fishing. It was a far cry from the image of New York being a dirty, crime-ridden hellhole made by certain people (and a certain president). I spent a lot of time walking through the city carrying a bag with lots of camera equipment inside, and never once felt unsafe. For the record, I was never attacked by an antifa trying to infect me with the woke mind virus. And since I'm still here writing this, no mobsters put out a hit on me. I wasn't even murdered by one of those crazed serial killers that pops up on all those TV crime procedural dramas that are set here.

New York is a great city, but I might be biased since I'm easily impressed by big cities. I mean I went to college in a small town that practically shut down at night (the only thing open after 8 PM was one gas station, a truck stop and the Waffle House). My family is from an even smaller town in western Arkansas that just recently got its first and only stoplight. So I was absolutely delighted to see things like multiple skyscrapers, decent mass transit and countless places selling pizza by the slice.



Ok sorry for the digression, back to Roosevelt Island. At one point you walk by an old Smallpox Hospital, which was built in 1856. It closed in the 1950s and was abandoned, eventually turning into this really cool ruin that has been left as a reminder of the island's history.



And then one last shot from Roosevelt Island, and from New York City, taken as I walked under the Queensboro Bridge.



And then it was time to head back to the hotel and start packing up our suitcases. We had an early morning flight the next day, so we woke up before dawn and drove through the city in darkness towards the airport. They say that New York is the city that never sleeps, but perhaps at 4:30 that morning it was taking a little catnap. As we drove by Times Square and then Grand Central Terminal, there was hardly any other cars or people about (which was nice, since there was no traffic on the way to LaGuardia). A few hours later we were back in Little Rock, eager to see our two boys (and two dogs) at home.