Day 12: UN, Liberty and Ellis Islands - Dean

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Day 12 New York/Brooklyn



It’s Wednesday morning and as per usual I snuck down to the “milk bar” on the corner of 6th and union in Brooklyn for my small latte with an extra shot. A Small in the USA is the same as a large back home!



We caught the subway to grand central and then walked to the UN building on first st street near the east river.



We joined a guided tour and sat in the general assembly and saw the security council and other chambers . There was a telling poster that showed annual military expenditure at 1.8 trillion dollars, where as expenditure on development is only 30 billion a year!



All the world’s leaders and Greta Thunberg will be talking in the general

Assembly next week!



We then headed off to the ferry for the Statue of Liberty and Ellis island.



From the ferry we had a tremendous view of the bottom of manhattan.



The statue was stunning. It’s been in place on Bedloe’s island since 1886. If only “she “ could talk about all that she has seen since then, from her height of 151 ft.



We then head to Ellis island where over 12 million immigrants were assessed on their way into the USA from 1892 to World War One.



About 80 per cent made it through the giant and daunting registry room immediately while 20 per cent were detained for medical and legal reasons. Some were sent back home. Sounds familiar.



The immigration centre has been restored to its original condition and contains a terrific museum.



Dinner was in Chinatown on the way home. Sesame chicken and beef in orange sauce. Yummo!

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