Tribeca

Yesterday we were on a mission to find where JFK Jr. had lived and this search took us to the Tribeca area in lower Manhattan, just north of 'Ground Zero'. JFK lived in Tribeca and while looking for his apartment we met a former NYC police officer who knew Kennedy. The tall building in the above picture shows where his apartment was located.

This ex-police officer is now head of security for Robert De Niro's holdings in Tribeca and he gave us a lot of information we would have otherwise not have heard (such as where other celebrities live in the area) and their personalities. He also arranged for us to have a tour of De Niro's new hotel and restaurant - we did just that! Very nice and very expensive.

This gentlemen was also very heavily involved with the aftermath of 9/11. He told us that the Twin Towers blocked the wind that blew off the Hudson River and when the buildings went down the wind was sucked up Greenwich Street thus creating the picture that showed people running from a cloud of ash.


We had a very enjoyable hour with him before starting the long walk back to Chelsea and our hotel. We made a point of checking out the Chelsea Hotel that inspired Joni Mitchell in her song "Chelsea Morning". The hotel was also often used by Bob Dylan, Leonard Cohen, and many other performers.

We walked through Greenwich Village and Soho before heading to the Empire State Building. Our hotel is located just minutes from this famous building, but we hadn't bothered to check it up close. We were sorry we tried as it is impossible to see anything but a big, square block from the streets around it. It is only impressive from a distance.


Nearby, we saw some unusual activities such as the restaurant worker bringing in the supper preparations from the street.


After seven hours walking the streets of Manhattan, we had to break down and eat as New Yorkers do - have a soft pretzel on the street.