Feeling Overjoyed Instead of Overwhelmed!
In late April, Maria Abello and her daughters Keilah and Vaneza came to New York from Vancouver, Canada, to celebrate the girls’ college graduation.
After checking into their hotel in Times Square, they set out to explore the neighborhood—an experience that left them feeling “overwhelmed.”
Help was on the way! The next morning, the Abellos met Greeter Chris Knowlton at a café in Midtown. Although she grew up elsewhere, Chris visited family in New York frequently as a child before moving to the city in her 20s. After relocating to California for law school and her career, Chris and her husband moved back to the city three years ago after they retired, leaving Chris to feel that she had finally “come home” and eager to share her city with visitors.
Navigating the Subway
Chris offered an overview of the NYC subway system—something the Abellos had asked for in their Greet request—before leading the group to a train that took them to the Times Square station to view extraordinary mosaics created by artist Nick Cave.
Commissioned by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s public art program and part of upgrades to the busiest station in the system, “Each One, Every One, Equal All” and “Soundsuits” feature 4,600 square feet of colorful tiles. Chris explained that many stations in the system showcase vibrant mosaics for the enjoyment of both visitors and locals.
The group then hopped a Brooklyn-bound train to Clark Street, the starting point for exploring Brooklyn Heights.
With brown street signs indicating the neighborhood’s status as an historic district (most NYC street signs are green), Brooklyn Heights is home to more than a thousand pre-20th Century structures, ranging from wood-frame homes to classic New York brownstones. In addition to enjoying the area’s beautiful homes and cobblestone streets, the group went by several notable Brooklyn Heights churches, including Plymouth Church, whose founding pastor was Henry Ward Beecher and which served as a stop for people escaping slavery on the Underground Railroad.
The Brooklyn Heights Promenade
Next stop: The Brooklyn Heights Promenade, which offers stunning views from Lower Manhattan to the Statue of Liberty and beyond.
With the view as backdrop, Chris was able to explain the critical role that New York Harbor played in the city’s development as a major center for trade and finance beginning in the 1600s. She then led the Abello family on a walk back to Manhattan across the Brooklyn Bridge. Chris noted the key, if underrecognized, role played by engineer Emily Warren Roebling in overseeing completion of the bridge after her husband Washington Roebling became too ill to manage construction of the bridge, which was designed by his father John.
After three hours of walking, lunch was calling and the group strolled through Chinatown to Lombardi’s at the corner of Spring and Mott Streets in Little Italy.
Founded in 1905, Lombardi’s was recognized by the Pizza Hall of Fame as the first pizzeria in the US. The Greet ended with lunch, but Chris continued to be a resource for the Abellos, sending them information about how to use public transportation to get to the airport for their flight home, along with restaurant recommendations.
Maria, Keilah, and Vaneza agreed that having a Greeter early in their New York visit made a big difference. They would likely not have ventured to Chinatown or Little Italy, and despite saying that their legs felt “like Jello” the next day, Maria was grateful to have walked across the Brooklyn Bridge. She thinks that without Chris, they would have gone far enough to take photos and then turned back. Feeling confident using the subway allowed the Abellos to move around the city more easily, and to take in more of the art featured throughout the system.
The only downside to the family’s stay in New York was not having enough time to explore as much of Central Park as they would have liked. Spending more time there is at the top of the list for their next New York adventure!