Donuts or Die, Transit-ions, Colbert Despair

Another grail that Alison set before us in Brooklyn was to try vegan donuts at Dun-Well Doughnuts.  Our route to the NYC Transit Museum (to pay homage to the history and building of the subway), has to take a big swoop to get doughnuts with flavors like Chai and Ginger Earl Grey Tea.  Also sprinkles.

When we arrived, some young guys had a professional filming set up as they are making a documentary on doughnuts.  The cinematographer snapped this very nice pic for me which took advantage of the guy holding the lights.

I like that we are somewhere that people take so seriously their mission on Planet Earth.

Homage and sugar fix accomplished, we went back underground to travel to the next locale on our itinerary - the New York Transit Museum.  Great fun for kids and adults alike. This little guy was taking driving seriously.

The museum is situated in a retired subway station.  A multi-media exhibit on the history of the subway and the thousands of immigrant laborers who built it through mud, rock and under rivers, takes you back to an era that combined emerging engineering technology with back breaking human labor.  A wheelbarrow laden with rocks is there for you to lift - 80 pounds and a worker would carry out 50 loads of such rock a day.  On two occasions workers were shot out of the subway on huge geysers of compressed air.  In 1916, while tunneling under the East River, a worker named Mabey survived the experience, as reported in the paper at the time:

Mabey, who received no serious injury, took his narrow escape without much show of concern. The sandhogs, as tunnel workers are known, expect something to happen in their kind of work, he said.

"The first thing that told me something was wrong," he related yesterday, "was when I saw an opening in the earth ahead of the shield which was used to protect the tunnel as we went along. The hole was then about eighteen inches in size. Frank Driver, my partner, and I grabbed hold of a big plank and threw it at the hole to stop it up. I found that the air pressure was pushing me toward the hole, and I tried to save myself by grabbing the air pipes. I missed them, and then I felt myself being pushed into the hole.

"As I struck the mud it felt as if something was squeezing me tighter than I had ever been squeezed. I was smothered and I guess I lost consciousness. They tell me I was thrown about twenty-five feet above the water when I came out, but I don't remember that.

"I am a good swimmer and I kept my mouth shut and came up to the surface. I had on my big rubber boots and they bothered me but I managed somehow to keep my head above the surface. My left leg was numb but I could move it. Finally men on a pier threw me a rope and I held on until I was taken out of the water."

There are about 20 historical subway cars to stroll through - their design, materials and advertisements tell a lot.  For several decades the seats were covered in tightly woven wicker, which was obviously very durable.

This 1949 car was made entirely of stainless steel and considered "the car of tomorrow" except that it was not compatible with existing cars and therefore, few were ordered.  It contained futuristic elements such as electrostatic dust filters and germ-killing lamps.  Also, trendy advertisements - Ben and I selected our faves.

Another bonus of the Transit Museum is super nice employees.  New Yorkers are keenly aware that people assume they are not friendly.  This is so far from the truth!  New Yorkers are extremely friendly and helpful.  

Case in point - after leaving the museum we had a hard time finding the righ station in downtown Brooklyn so we were went into another station, resigning ourselves to a longer trip with more connections (we do use a subway app on my iphone, just lost faith in it for the moment).  A young woman saw us looking at the map and asked us where we were going.  As she was walking in the direction of the correct station, she invited us to walk along so she could point us to the right one.  We had a great chat along the way - her brother has just moved to California.

Meanwhile, Garrett and Libby were discovering another side of New York excess - FAO Schwartz Toy Store.  They peeked in at the Central Park Zoo and took in the sunshine while walking miles of NYC streets.

We agreed to meet up back in Manhattan at Bryant Park, right behind the grand Public Library.  As we walked along from Grand Central Station, we knew we were going the right direction because every 20 feet or so were bronze plaques in the sidewalk, extolling reading.  This one seemed appropriate to my new efforts in blogging.

Garrett had made it a top priority to see the Colbert Report filming.  If you don't have almost impossible-to-get tickets, this involves the "standby line" and hoping for no-shows.  We were first in line.  Looking good, according to the young guy managing sign-ups.  However, the guest for the night, Jack Johnson, is extremely popular.  We did have the fun of seeing him arrive and getting a picture and he was as laid-back and nice as he seems.

Bad news is after 2 hours in the standby line, then chilling in a coffee show, and coming back as instructed, all the ticketed guests showed up.  We were out of luck.  Bummer.  Perhaps to make us feel better, the girl in charge said that many ticketed guests would not get in for the show, either.  They did move some young Navy personnel in full dress whites to the front of the line, so good to see how Stephen gives military personnel first dibs.

Some fresh air was required, so Ben and I took the ferry back to Brooklyn.  What a great kick for 4 bucks.  This has got to be the most efficient ferry in the world and watching a full moon rise over Brookly - priceless.