Each day our students will blog about some of their experiences in New York City.  Our first entry comes from Ryan Robinson, Matt Feldman, Harrison Maizels, and Alex Yu.

This morning we got up around 10:00am and headed down to the World Trade Center Memorial to meet up with Matt’s dad, Jeff, for the afternoon, so we hopped on the E Train with our 7-Day Subway passes.  Once we got out of the (very complicated) subway we headed in to the deli called Stage Door and got the local favorite, hot Corned-beef on rye bread (amazing).  We had some time to kill before our 2:00pm tickets at the WTC Memorial so we wandered around the Financial District and stumbled upon the last few stragglers of the #Occupy Movement in Zuccotti Park near Wall Street. Schmid College logoAfter noticing there were only a few people protesting we asked some of the cops why there weren’t more protesters out there & we learned that just last week they’d all been kicked out for camping in the park for too long, and now they can only protest during the day at the park.  We started heading towards Wall Street to check out the NYSE, the Fed Building, Trump Towers and some of the shops in the area & it was pretty empty since it was a holiday so we went into Tiffany & Co. to see all of the jewelry we couldn’t afford (haha).  Next, we started our pursuit to find a public restroom which led us all the way to the World Financial Center and by then it was time to head into the World Trade Center Memorial where we met up with another group of guys from #WDWS12.

Visiting the site of Ground Zero was a very humbling experience and was the first time visiting the memorial for us all.  At the site of the foundations of where the two towers, there are now two of the largest man-made freestanding waterfalls in the world.

performing arts bannerFrom the WTC Memorial we went across the street to grab a drink at @BLTBarGrill with our big group to relax for a bit & watch the Nets & Clippers game.

Attallah PiazzaNext stop of the evening was Starbucks & then we hopped back on the Subway to head back uptown to 81st for a stop into the Museum of Natural History where we watched the Big Bang movie about the formation of the Universe.  From there, we went upstairs to check out the Dinosaur exhibits where we found this little guy… the Bro King of the Jurassic times.  By the time we were done at the museum, it was already 7:00pm so we decided to call it a day and head back to the hotel to get some dinner & much needed rest for our first day of corporate visits tomorrow!

Jurassic Dinosaur Skeleton– Ryan, Matt and Harrison

I got up around 8 in the morning and headed toward Planet Hollywood to get my City Pass and breakfast.  After Breakfast, I hiked my way toward Empire State Building. I have to admit, I had trouble finding my bearings in New York so I did spend more time asking for direction than pretty much anything else. After about twenty minutes, I finally found Empire State Building.  Although the weather wasn’t viewing friendly but the view remained excellent.

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After trekking to the Empire State Building, I wanted to visit Statue of Liberty.  I decided to take the subway instead of taking a taxi. It wasn’t my first time taking the subway,but it was my first time taking it in New York. Once again, it took me a while to find my bearing but eventually, I arrived at the pier. I must say, the view on the ferry to Lady Liberty was spectacular. On one end you get to see Liberty herself, and on the other end it’s New York Skyline. Overall, the trip was wonderful and eventful. I’m enjoying everything New York has to offer: the view, the weather, and its nightlife.


-Alex Yu