Hello from New York City (4) - Staten Island and a Random Act of Violence

The Staten Island Ferry is a fabulous institution. It is awas too quick for anyone else to react, although I
huge ferry that departs from a very modern, glasshave to say, the crowd showed compassion and
enclosed terminal, holds several thousand people and inshock at what had happened. The minute the bus
just about 20 minutes whisks you over to Statencame to a stop, the two guys jumped out and ran
Island, very close to the Statue of Liberty, and all thisaway.Everybody was shocked. The Latino kid was
for free! One thing we really noticed about New Yorksitting there, rumpled, stunned, not seriously hurt, but had
City is that we definitely love the public transportationa very pained expression on his face. After he had
system. With our week long pass we have beencalmed down he explained that about 8 kids were
hopping on an off subways as we please and wetrying to extract money form him at the bus stop, he
have found the transit system to be very efficient,said he didn't have any and gave them an expired
pretty clean and quite safe (for the most part).Thetransit pass and 2 of the guys followed him onto the
Staten Island Ferry is a great insiders way of sneakingbus.I have never personally witnessed public violence,
a peak at the Statue of Liberty since it passes prettyso this was very shocking to me and I was glad that
close by Ellis Island. Not close enough to take reallythe kid wasn't really hurt. But I did feel very sorry for
great pictures with a simple digital camera like mine, butthe victim and the whole event left a bad taste in my
I gave it a shot anyway.As we got off the ferrymouth, particularly since we had had the impression
terminal on Staten Island I had a bit of a hare-brainedthat New York City had felt so clean and safe. As a
idea: I suggested that we board one of the buses thatmatter of fact we had commented on that a number
was waiting there, just to hop on and ride around andof times, of how little litter there was in the street, how
see the island. Of course I didn't have a bus map withfew street people or hustlers there were, how there
me, didn't have any literature about Staten Island, sowas no graffiti in the subways, and how safe it felt to
didn't know where we were going or what the majorbe taking transit at all hours of the day. We heard that
destinations were on the island. So we got on the #46former mayor Rudy Giuliani as well as current mayor
bus without any idea where we were going or howMichael Bloomberg have really been cleaning up the
long it was going to take. (I guess I figured how big cancity, and it shows. I guess it still doesn't prevent all
the island be? Well, it's bigger than I thought...).But weviolence from happening.After our return to Manhattan
saw a good chunk of Staten Island's neighbourhoodswe subwayed it all the way up to 103rd Street and
and there are some pretty nice residentialessentially walked all the way down through Central
neighbourhoods, although I had expected a morePark, admiring all the recreational facilities and the
upscale, more landscaped environment. The ethnic mixbeauty of this giant green space. Further south we
in the area seemed to be very much characterized bystrolled over to 5th Avenue and then down into the
Blacks and Latinos, at least those were pretty muchBroadway Area just north of Times Square, where
the only people getting on the bus. School had justwe had some quick Italian food at Ray's Pizza. The
ended so a bunch of highschool kids had gotten onevening was pretty chilly, probably only about 12
with us.Well, we rode the darn bus until the end, whichdegrees or so and past 11 we headed back home on
ended up being a non-descript shopping mall calledthe Q train, processing the memories of another
"West Shore Plaza", where we ended up having apacked day and studying the behaviour of our fellow
sandwich and strolling around in a sports store whichtransit riders all the way back.Susanne Pacher is the
had amazingly good prices on most merchandise.publisher of a website called Travel and Transitions(
Then finally another bus showed up and we had to runTravel and Transitions deals with unconventional travel
to catch it.It was a pretty non-eventful bus ride, peopleand is chock full of advice, tips, real life travel
of all ages got on and off, then two young blackexperiences, interviews with travellers and travel
teenage boys got on, but didn't pay. The bus driverexperts, insights and reflections, cross-cultural issues,
didn't question them and we just continued the ride. Allcontests and many other features. You will also find
of a sudden, I heard a big noise, like someone fistsstories about life and the transitions that we face as
hitting another person and all the people in the buswe go through our own personal life-long
turned around, and the two young men were beatingjourneys.Submit your own travel stories in our first
up a young short Latino teenager. It all took just a fewtravel story contest( and have a chance to win an
seconds, right before a bus stop. The whole eventamazing adventure cruise on the Amazon River.