History of the City of New York - Field Trip 7

All Night Bike Tour

This trip, the most famous of all of them, was an amazing experience. We mat at the sundial on campus at 11:30 PM, and started off down Morningside Drive to 110th Street, then down 110th to Central Park West, and into Central Park at about 106th Street. We rode through Central Park and came out in the fifties, then took 7th Avenue to Times Square. That was an experience: 200-odd students on bikes riding through the busiest area in the city, lit up bright as day at 12:30 AM.

The bike I had borrowed was a little too big for me, and I had some trouble keeping it straight when the riding slowed. I had a real NYC experience when I accidentally crashed into a blue Corvette with a number of large muscle-bound men in it. After checking for damage, I apologized profusely and promised it wouldn't happen again. They seemed annoyed but amused. Whew! Anyway, we turned east on 40th Street and then down Fifth Avenue. We passed by the Flatiron Building on 23rd Street and waved and hollered up to Carol Willis' apartment.

The Flatiron Building by day

We ended up in Gramercy Park, a very exclusive neighborhood. Prof. Jackson spoke to us about it, but I was too far back to hear clearly. The Park is an enclosed community, the only one in the city. We moved on past the meat-packing district and across Canal Street. In the Village we made a rest stop by a bar and restaurant. It might have been the Ear Inn, but I'm not sure. We continued on to Battery Park City. In Battery Park, one of the auditors in the class, a former broker who lives in BPC told us about the community and its policies. We had to be very quiet entering and leaving, so we wouldn't disturb the sleeping tenants.

After leaving BPC, we rounded the tip of Manhattan and made another stop by the 24-hour McDonalds on Water Street. The place was huge, but the riders filled it up. I went into a cafe next door to get some Entenmann's. After that major stop, we went to Wall Street and saw the New York Stock Exchange and Federal Hall, the site, if not the original building, where George Washington was sworn in as our first President. Then we rode to the Fulton Fish Market.

It was around 3:30 or 4 AM and the Fish Market, the largest in the U.S., was jumping. Workers with giant hooks crossed back and forth in front of miniature forklifts that zigzagged their way down the street. There were at least fifty "shops," and almost any type of seafood you could imagine. Shellfish in giant bags so big they looked like potatoes, huge slabs of tuna, swordfish, bluefish, crabs, lobsters, and a lot of fish I didn't even recognize. It was unbelievable. I was tempted to buy a fish, but I didn't know what I would do with it for the remainder of the tour.

We then began to cross the Brooklyn Bridge. Going up was OK, but when we got to the middle and began to ride down, I started going so fast that I had to ride the brake all the way down. It was pretty scary. When we got to the Brooklyn side, we rode by the promenade and through Brooklyn Heights, which is a gorgeous neighborhood, and the first one to be landmarked. We stopped by the site of the Church of the Pilgrims, where abolitionist Henry Ward Beecher preached. Finally we made our way to the City hall subway station, and got home at about 6:30 AM. It was an unbelieveable tour, and I'm glad I went, even if my posterior disagreed with me for a few days afterwards.

By David Sanders

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