Castle Clinton National Monument

Castle Clinton is a circular sandstone fort located inside Battery Park, at the southern end of Manhattan. It's not one of the country's most well-known national monuments, but it has an interesting history. 

Mom and I arrived at Castle Clinton National Monument on a brisk winter morning in New York City. Our plan for the day was to visit Liberty Island and Ellis Island, and to do that, we had to pick up our boat tickets from the National Park Service counter inside Castle Clinton.

Built between 1808 and 1811, the small fort was originally constructed as a defensive fortification to protect New York Harbor from British invasion during the War of 1812. From 1855 and 1890, Castle Clinton served as an immigration center, predating Ellis Island, and was the gateway to the United States for more than 7.5 million people.

We didn't get much time at Castle Clinton, but it was cool to see a new national monument and collect another stamp in our national park passports.

After picking up our tickets, which were good for the boat trips between Battery Park, Liberty Island, and Ellis Island, we made our way through the snow-covered park to the ferry docks.

After going through security, we boarded the ferry and were soon on our way to the Statue of Liberty!

Broadway and Times Square

My dad and sister flew back home to Texas after my brother's wedding.

I had a little bit of time left in New York City before I was to fly back to Bangkok, and my mom decided to extend her visit so that we could explore the city together for a few days.

We had tickets to Harry Potter and the Cursed Child at the Lyric Theater, and it was amazing!

The show was so much fun to see in person. It was a huge spectacle, especially for someone like me who literally grew up with the Harry Potter novels. The special effects were amazing, and I would love to see a sort of behind-the-scenes documentary about how all of the magic effects were pulled off.

We had VIP tickets, which gave us access to a small lounge before the show and during intermission. The tickets came with a drink (I ordered a butterbeer, of course), and we also bought popcorn and a chocolate frog to share.

After the show, we had a little bit of trouble getting back to our hotel.

There was a pro-Ukraine protest going on in Times Square. Our taxi driver was not able to get to our location, however, and we ended up having to walk several blocks to Rockefeller Center to be picked up.

We ended up outside of the Episcopal Church of St. Mary the Virgin. Built in 1895, the church has been called "one of the finest Gothic-inspired designs of New York's late 19th century".

We finally arrived back at the hotel after dark.

It was a cold, wet evening, and we decided not to go out for dinner. Instead, we sat by the fireplace in the hotel's lounge. Mom had wagyu sliders, and I had the club sandwich. It was a nice way to end a fun day.

St. Nicholas National Shrine

St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church was originally established in 1916. It was a small church serving Manhattan's Greek immigrant community. Tragically, the original church building was destroyed on September 11, 2001 when the South Tower of the World Trade Center collapsed. It was the only house of worship destroyed in the attacks.

The church was rebuilt on the same site, and was officially consecrated on December 6, the Feast of St. Nicholas, in 2022.

Fortunately, nobody was inside the church when it collapsed, although some of the congregation's most treasured relics were lost, including relics of St. Nicholas, St. Catherine, and St. Sava, which had been gifted to the church and to New York's Orthodox community by Nicholas II, the last tsar of Russia. 

Demetrios Trakatellis, the Archbishop of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America at the time, observed that the mingling of the saints' relics with the remains of the attack's victims further sanctified the site.

The rebuilt church, consecrated as a national shrine, has become a powerful symbol of resilience and remembrance. The new building, designed by renowned Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava, draws inspiration from Byzantine architecture - particularly the Hagia Sophia in Istanbul - while incorporating modern elements. The design features a white Pentelic marble façade (the same type of marble used for the Parthenon in Athens).

Besides serving as a place of worship, it’s intended to be a spiritual sanctuary for people of all faiths and a symbol of peace and resilience.

An exterior marble panel is engraved with a Biblical quote (John 15:13) and The Funeral Oration of Pericles. Interestingly, the Funeral Oration is not a Christian text but rather comes from a famous Greek speech attributed to Pericles in Thucydides' History of the Peloponnesian War. Delivered at the end of the first year of the Peloponnesian War, it is part of the annual public funeral for the war dead. The speech praises democracy, a fitting secular sentiment at this national shrine for peoples of all nations and faiths.

The church is open daily for visitors. I had been wanting to visit it for years, ever since I first learned of the church and its history and significance.

My mom, dad, sister, and I stepped inside the quiet building and found ourselves in a dark and somber candlelit narthex. Mom and I each lit a candle for the dead, and we all made our way into the quiet interior of the church's sanctuary.

Like many Orthodox churches, St. Nicholas features an icon of Christ Pantocrator ("ruler of all") upon its ceiling.

Orthodox churches are meant to be spiritual and transcendent. Rather than the realistic three-dimensional statuary and luminous stained glass of Western churches, Eastern churches are typically painted in two-dimensional icons.

Orthodox icons emphasize the idea that God became human in the person of Jesus Christ.  Since Christ took on a visible, physical form, it's considered appropriate to depict Him and the saints in two-dimensional images that reflect the spiritual reality rather than physical perfection (this was one of the theological differences which led to the Great Schism of 1054).

At the center of the church, rising above the sanctuary, is The Icon of the Virgin Mary Embracing New York City (also known as the Panagia of New York). What makes this icon especially unique is how it connects traditional Byzantine iconography with a modern context. While maintaining the sacred, timeless style typical of Orthodox icons, it integrates the city's contemporary skyline.

Created specifically for St. Nicholas, the icon was designed to be a powerful symbol of comfort, compassion, and healing.

Ground Zero

I feel like one of the things that I must do every time I visit New York City (all two times in my life that I've ever been there, at least), is to visit the National September 11 Memorial at Ground Zero.

The last, and so far, only other time, that I had visited New York in 2013, One World Trade Center (previously called the "Freedom Tower") was still under construction. Today, the tallest building in the Western Hemisphere (and the 7th tallest in the world), proudly rises about the New York City skyline as a symbol of resilience in the aftermath of tragedy.

The memorial itself consists of two square reflecting pools entitled Reflecting Absence, each one located on the footprint of the twin towers. The water in the pools flows downwards into the ground.

The names of the victims of the attacks (including those from the Pentagon, American Airlines Flight 77, United Airlines Flight 93, as well as those from the 1993 World Trade Center bombing) are inscribed on the parapets surrounding the waterfalls. It's a very somber and meaningful place to visit.

Nearby stands The Sphere, officially Große Kugelkaryatide N.Y., a huge bronze sculpture created by German artist Fritz Koenig.

The Sphere, the world's largest bronze statue, once stood in the plaza between the two twin towers. It survived the collapse of the towers, although was badly damaged.

Große Kugelkaryatide N.Y. (1976)
Koenig, Fritz, 1924-2017, sculptor
Yamasaki, Minoru, 1912-1986, architect

Today, The Sphere, unrepaired to represent the damage, loss, and toll of the attacks, remains yet another symbol that life goes on, and that Americans haven't given up.

Walking the Brooklyn Bridge

One of our goals while visiting New York was to take a walk on the Brooklyn Bridge, so one afternoon, my mom, dad, and sister traveled to the Financial District to do just that.

We arrived just outside of the Manhattan Municipal Building.

The Municipal Building was built in 1914 as a massive project dedicated to building a single united municipal building for New York City's five boroughs. To this day, it is one of the largest government buildings in the world, with around 1 million square feet of interior space and 2,000 employees.

On March 24, 1883, a world wonder was unveiled. The Brooklyn Bridge was an architectural and engineering marvel - it was, at the time, the longest suspension bridge in the world. Spanning the East River, it connected the boroughs of Manhattan and Brooklyn, forever changing the landscape and daily life of New York City.

Designed by John A. Roebling in the late 19th century (the same man who designed Waco's iconic suspension bridge) and completed by his son, Washington Roebling decades later, the bridge stretches over 1,500 feet and is still an impressive sight to behold today.

The construction of the Brooklyn Bridge was not without its hardships. Washington Roebling, the project's chief engineer, suffered debilitating injuries from decompression sickness ("the bends") due to spending too long in the caissons (underwater air-filled chambers) deep under the river where the bridge's support towers were built. 

Bedridden and confined to his home to recuperate, he oversaw the construction of the bridge through a telescope by his bedside, conveying directions through his wife, engineer and suffragist Emily Warren Roebling. Emily became a champion of the project, relaying his instructions and ensuring the completion of the bridge.

It was super cool to see such a famous landmark up close. It was pretty crowded on the afternoon we visited, so we didn't end up walking the entire way, but I really enjoyed the time we spent on the bridge. It's amazing that such a monumental work, which was built over a century ago, still stands as a testament to human industry and ingenuity.

New York Family Time

Mom, Dad, and my sister, Rachel, landed in New York City around 5pm. We had plans to meet up around 7 at their hotel so that we could all go to dinner together.

Established in 1981 by founder Moshe, who hails from Kibbutz Galuyot in Israel, Moshe's Falafel has been a staple in Manhattan's street food scene for over four decades. The brand initially gained popularity as a legendary food truck before opening a new brick-and-mortar location situated between Columbus and Amsterdam. The restaurant is vegan and certified kosher.

I ordered the falafel platter, which came with quinoa, pickles, Israeli salad, hummus, pita, and of course, Moshe's world-famous falafel. The whole thing was topped with a generous serving of tahini sauce.

We met up the next morning for breakfast and coffee. After our brunch, Rachel wanted to take a walk in Central Park, so we set out on foot. 

Much of the snow from the other day had melted, but the lake was still frozen.

I had been hoping (although didn't have too many high expectations due to the weather) to see new birds for my birding life list during my visit to NYC. Central Park is one of the country's most famous birdwatching sites.

I saw lots of birds, but unfortunately none were new. Most of the winter birds who stuck around for the cold weather were starlings, sparrows, and pigeons.

We spent most of the morning wandering through Central Park.

Of course, the entire reason that my family had flown into New York, and indeed reason that I had as well, was to attend my brother's wedding! The rest of the day was spent getting ready for the small family service. It was such a nice evening, and I'm so happy for Kyle!

It's really rare for all three of the siblings to be together, and we had such a great time catching up.

The next morning, Mom, Dad, Rachel, and I met for brunch at French Roast, a trendy Parisian restaurant in the Upper West Side.

Established in 1804, the New York Historical Society is the oldest museum in the city. Although it's not as well-known as the Museum of Natural History or the Met, the NYHS has some really fascinating exhibits.

Rachel chose to visit the museum because of a special visiting exhibit called "Pets in the City", which focused on the history of pets as well as some of the most famous pets and animals in New York.

We also visited a really amazing gallery of Tiffany lamps.

Tiffany lamps are decorative stained-glass lamps originally designed and produced by Louis Comfort Tiffany and his studio in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. They are known for their intricate glasswork, vibrant colors, and Art Nouveau style.

The lamps typically featured nature motifs, such as dragonflies, flowers, bamboo, and other plants. They were known for being bright and colorful and very expensive.

We even got to design our own Tiffany lamp using an interactive display. Even though Rachel and I are both in our 30s, we are never too old to enjoy stuff like this!

Rachel and Dad only got to stay in New York for a few days, but Mom decided to stay a little bit longer with me before I headed back to Bangkok.