NYC… home to so many people.

NYC… my home, and to others, the place of skyscrapers, Broadway shows, and lights. Don’t get me wrong, NYC has lots of lights and tall buildings, but it’s more than that for me. It’s home, always has been… if you don’t count the first year or two of my life in Wisconsin. In NYC (well, really, everywhere), history is all around you - you just have to be interested enough to learn about it.

I stepped out of my brick apartment building (located in the neighborhood of Bushwick, Brooklyn), ready for the weekly journey to my choir practice, and walked along my street, turning the corner covered with scaffolding (in NYC, there’s always construction).

I walked along a few more familiar streets, filled with bright deli signs that made the traffic lights seem dull, gentrifying hipsters, and blasting music from car radios.

Where was I walking to, you might ask. The Myrtle-Broadway stop, on the JMZ line - the train stop near my apartment.
I ran up the stairs (at the station), not wanting to miss the train. Sometimes they wait for passengers, but not for long.

I hopped on the train and surreptitiously took a photo; it’s always a little awkward when you’re taking a photo while people are staring straight at you. But that’s just me.

The train went over the familiar Williamsburg Bridge (I’ve been going across this bridge since I was 2), passing over the East River.

A picture of the Freedom Tower that is being made in the place of the World Trade Center, it is being made “as a beacon of freedom, and demonstrate the resolve of the United States, and the people of New York City,” as this site says- http://www.nyc-tower.com/

I said my byes to the train and walked up the stairs ready to sing. I mean this quite literally.

Rector St. Station

I’m part of the Trinity Church Choir, and go to practice every Thursday. Trinity church is actually the 3rd Trinity church. The 1st was built in 1698 and was ruined in the  Great New York City Fire of 1776, and the second was constructed in 1790 and torn down because severe snow weakened the structure in 1839. The third and current Trinity Church was completed in 1846. During that time, it was the tallest structure in NYC at 281 feet (with its spire), until the New York World Building was built in 1890.

This Thursday, I went to the Trinity Church Cemetery and took some pictures.

The Trinity Church Cemetery was opened in 1697 and has many historical figures resting there, such as Alexander Hamilton, a military aid for George Washington during the American revolution, first Treasurer of the US, author of the Federalist Papers, and the founder of the bank of New York.

The photo above is the Gravestone of Richard Churcher, and is the oldest engraved gravestone in NYC. The sign below the gravestone says “Although difficult to read, this gravestone is dated 1681 and is for Richard Churcher, age 5, son of William Churcher.” 

I thought the gravestone above was creepy/beautiful, with the worn angel carved into it.

Why do pigeons poop on those gravestones? There’s a whole cemetery to choose from! 

Do you see the old woman sitting on the bench alone in the picture above? She blends in. I thought this picture was sad, in a way; she was sitting alone, sort of staring off into space, and looked lonely.

I find the above picture a little funny with the “American Stock Exchange” and gravestones. The juxtaposition of subject matter makes me laugh.

That building across the way from the church is connected by this bridge:

The building is where I have my choir practice, and up on the 18th floor I took this photo of Trinity Church down below:

It’s so cool to have a mixture of ancient church, Wall Street, and choir! Wherever you are, take a look - history is all around you.

Anevay Darlington is a member of the Youth Travel Blogging Mentorship Program

All photos courtesy and copyright Anevay Darlington