NYNY 2019: Choices.

We start out our second day in New York by taking the subway to the redeveloped Hudson Yards area and its controversial centerpiece, the Vessel.  It's a fascinating structure, reminiscent of alien spacecraft and M. C. Escher drawings* - 150 feet in height, and made up of 2,500 steps, 154 staircases, and 80 landings.  In spite of those daunting totals, the short staircases and frequent landings make the climb to the top an easy one, even for people like Karli who suffer from knee problems.  

After our visit to the Vessel, we take advantage of the sunny weather and wander down the High Line, Manhattan's converted rail line/elevated park, toward Chelsea Market.

When we leave the High Line and head down to street level to enter the market, we happen to pass by a book vendor who is just starting to put out his inventory - but it's still enough for me to pick up a couple of unique additions to my library.

The first book is America in Space, a slightly faded black and white NASA publication from 1964, complete with an inspirational introduction by President Lyndon B. Johnson, who couldn't have been president for very long when production began on this book.

It's a fascinating window into the state of the nation for the early days of space exploration, which starts by announcing that America's space program "took a great step forward" with L. Gordon Cooper's 1963 22-orbit mission in the Mercury Faith-7 capsule - perhaps the first time someone at NASA talks about giant steps (but not the last).

The publication comes from a point in time when the planned Apollo missions were in the earliest of planning stages, with work just beginning on the Saturn V rockets, and Neil Armstrong one of nine unproven astronaut trainees brought into the program two years earlier, in 1962. It's an odd little cultural artifact, and I have to wonder what its path has been to this sidewalk tabletop.

My second purchase is, in its way, an equally odd cultural piece: a 1989 Malibu Comics collection of Fu Manchu newspaper comic strips that were originally published in the 1930s.

The character of Fu Manchu, Chinese super villain and master criminal, was created by British author Sax Rohmer in 1913, and is a perfect example of the "Yellow Peril" fears of the late 1800s and early 20th century.  As Nayland Smith, hero of the stories, describes it to his Watson, Dr. Dexter Petrie: "Fu Manchu knows that I alone recognize him as the most evil and formidable personality in the world today, and understand how the yellow hordes of the East plot to destroy Western civilization."   The cartoons also feature the full array of derogatory cliches regarding China:  pidgin English, opium dens, exaggerated physical characteristics, and so on.

At the time of purchase, I was excited to see the collection, but in retrospect, I'm having second thoughts.  In their way, the comics are much a window into a historical state of mind as the NASA publication, but I'm not sure that outweighs the nature of the view through that window.  It may well be that this book will end up in recycling rather than a bookshelf when we get home.

- Sid

* It's also frequently been compared to a shawarma roast - it all depends on your references, I guess.

NYNY 2019: "Thank you for your service."

After a long search, I managed to find some suitable hats for the collection of patches that my friend Chris gave me for my birthday in 2015.  I brought one of the results to New York with me as a backup for my NASA hat, but now I'm afraid to wear it - I'm worried that someone is going to think that I actually served in the armed forces, and I'm not sure how to answer if they ask what my rank was.

- Sid

NYNY 2019: "We'd be toast!"

"Hey, she's tough.  She's a harbour chick!"

Peter Venkman, Ghostbusters 2

On our first real morning in New York, Karli and I make our way down to Battery Park, at the south end of Manhattan Island.  It's a bit of a sentimental spot for us from our first trip, and it's a pleasantly low-key way to start the day - we take some pictures, ride the underwater-themed SeaGlass carousel, stroll along the water's edge, and then take advantage of the city-supplied seats to just sit in the park enjoying the morning.   We've arrived in the middle of a heat wave, so the temperatures are more reminiscent of Miami than Manhattan, but it's still pleasantly cool at this point in the day.

As we sit looking through the trees at the Statue of Liberty, Karli breaks a companionable silence.

"You would NOT want to be in New York in case of an apocalypse." *

​​​​​"I've seen all the movies - even Cloverfield started at Coney Island!   And we’re close to the Statue of Liberty - we’d be toast!"

 

She's not wrong. There is no version of the apocalypse that I want to experience in New York. Just ask Robert Neville.  Or Snake Plissken.  Or Larry Underwood. Or Gerry Lane.  Or the Avengers, come to think of it. 

Second, to quote Jeff Goldblum from the second Independence Day movie, "They like to get the landmarks," and let's face it, New York is full of iconic structures that provide an instant recognition factor when the aliens are looking for something to destroy. (Although film makers may have been pulling back from that kind of destruction in Manhattan since 9-11.)

As Karli points out, the Statue of Liberty has been a frequent flyer in terms of apocalyptic destruction - if you're going to show that the end times are here, you'll probably feature Liberty's fallen head as part of the scenery.

 

However, there's one small problem with all of this.  Did any of these people look at the actual location of the Statue of Liberty before deciding to stick the poor woman's head in the middle of a New York thoroughfare?  Liberty is located almost three kilometers from Battery Park, the southernmost part of Manhattan, it's not like her head would just fall into the middle of the street during the downfall of civilization.  (Yes, I'm looking at you, Escape From New York poster.) However, let's be fair: it's not impossible that the monster from Cloverfield would be able to toss the statue's head into the city, although lord knows why it would bother.

 

On the other hand, the Cloverfield creature may have gotten off easy.  Remember Ghostbusters II?

- Sid

* These are the moments when you know you're married to the right person.