Travels in the 2nd half

Each subway line in New York City, whether underground or elevated, has its own vibe. It comes from two factors: 1) the neighborhoods it travels through, and 2) the neighborhoods at the terminals of the train. This is the first of a series of what you will find if you go to The End of the Line. I am starting with the Number 1 train. Not because it is the lowest number, or even because it is one of the oldest subways in New York. I start here because this is my line. I grew up on this line, and I have lived somewhere along it for almost all of my life. When I picture a subway in my head, it is always the Number 1 train I see. Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=138076 The Number 1 train is part of first subway line that was built in New York. The Interborough Rapid Transit System was a private company and the operator of our first subway. Today you will hear old-timers (like me) still refer to the IRT. In 1904 it opened a line that...

Battery Park is a fun place to visit, and has a special place in my heart. Growing up in NYC I was taken on the trip that almost every child of my generation went on – across the Harbor on the Staten Island Ferry. It was an easy way to get out of school on a trip and a free way to see the Statue of Liberty. And the trip came with time in the park to play and run around. The Battery also a place that I used as a teacher to demonstrate the effect of salt water and weather on bronze and granite statues when I taught chemistry. My students were fascinated by the difference in how bronze statues were affected by weather in different places. Statues in the center of Manhattan would turn black, while ones in The Battery were green. This opened up a whole series of lessons on the chemistry of metals. By Alfred Fredericks (Popular Science Monthly Volume 75/Brittanica) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons   Most people know Battery Park as the place they g...