I am still low on sleep, but New York City is truly the “City that Never Sleeps”.  For a week and a half I took in the sights and sounds and hustle and bustle and learned a great deal in the process.  I then found quiet and beautiful upstate New York to be a calming retreat after my time in the big city.  There were moments that I truly felt like a big shot at places like Wall Street, Broadway, Times Square, and 5th  Avenue, yet others including tours on the subway where I realized that indeed I was only a  tourist.

So what did I learn about the city?  First of all, it was evident that New York clearly is the “melting pot”.  Our stops at Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty were excellent and the teaching resources that we received will be quite useful in the classroom.  At these stops, we gained firsthand knowledge of the processes that immigrants have encountered when seeking entrance to the United States.  You don’t have to venture far into any part of the city to notice the multiple languages, ethnicities, restaurants, businesses, etc. that the ancestors of such immigrants have set up throughout the isles.  As we learned in reading Russell Shorto’s book, The Island at the Center of the World, toleration among cultural differences is paramount in New York and in fact as Ed O’Donnell pointed out is a necessity in such a diverse city.  Although toleration is crucial, for tourists included, there is also a certain etiquette that must be followed in New York.  If you are with a large group of people touring, try not to block the entire side walk.  The New Yorkers will look at you as if you are a rube and might have some colorful language for you.  I did experience this colorful language on a couple of occasions as I watched them sitting in the middle of traffic jams.  However, when dealing with them one on one, they were very hospitable and helpful to me whether it was providing directions or the man at Staples on 5th Avenue, whom I will never forget, that came chasing after me as I had left my wallet at the checkout counter.   “We New Yorkers get a bad rap”, he stated.  Transportation was convenient, but at times frustrating, though it didn’t seem to bother the New Yorkers.  Through the subway system, run by the Metro Transit Authority, you can literally get anywhere in the Big Apple if you just know what line to take.  I found it interesting to note that ¾ of New Yorkers don’t even have cars.  Obviously, not many want to deal with the traffic, and the parking, especially in Manhattan, must be atrocious. 

The New York skyline with the Empire State Building in the middle. Photo by Howard Mestas.

In such a city, the history is also vast.  We had learned about the legend of the sale of Manhattan Island to the Dutch for $24 in guilders and the construction of the “Great Bridge”.  Most of us however were not fully aware of the archaeological dig site, not far from the bridge, that is the African burial ground.  With the wealth of artifacts that have been unearthed, here we have tangible proof that slavery did also exist in the north.  We learned more of this topic as we examined primary documents at the New York Historical Society.  Ed also pointed out at one point in our trip that New York always tries to look toward the future.  Our visit to Ground Zero was easily the most sorrowful moment that I had throughout the trip, but New Yorkers plan to rebuild the site of our country’s most tragic hour and have tastefully memorialized the victims at St. Paul’s Church and a nearby repository.

I hated to leave such an awesome city and must admit that I was a bit skeptical about visiting other parts of the state.   I mean how can you beat New York City?  In the long run, however, I was pleasantly surprised.  Cooperstown, New York is an absolute baseball mecca.  The Hall of Fame and Farmer’s Museum that we visited were irreplaceable stops on our journey and will help my teaching of the cultural history of the United States.  The video conferencing option provided by the Hall seems to be a natural fit with the use of Promethean Boards that District 70 is pushing in the classroom.  This is something I hope to explore further in the future.  Also, the reenactors at the Farmer’s Museum had great passion for their subject matter and added to my background knowledge of colonial life.  While at Sagamore Hill and Oyster Bay, I felt as though I was entering a gamesman’s lodge after an African safari at Teddy Roosevelt’s house and learned a great deal of the man’s politics and personality.  The boat ride on the Erie Canal, outside of Rochester, was priceless, and allowed me to finally visualize the locking system of a canal that I teach about when we study the Industrial Revolution.  Finally, through stops at Fort Ticonderoga and Saratoga, led by our guide Jim Hughto,  though it was a long final  day I experienced  and learned more about major turning points in the American Revolution that led to our great nation’s independence.

As the trip has now come to a close and I pause to reflect, I am happy to be heading home, but will cherish the memories.  As Jim Croce once said, “New York’s not my home”, but it is a great place to visit.  Now it’s time to get some sleep.

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