I LOVE being here! Every week is essentially the same yet different.

I LOVE being here!  Every week is essentially the same yet different.  I have been to Staten Island again this week, Plainview for a conference, Woodside for a conference, and Flushing.

Had a missionary in Brooklyn go to the ER with abdominal pain. He was admitted because it was thought he had gallbladder stones and released the next afternoon.  No surgery required and the pain was gone.  Miracles happen.

I accompanied another missionary to Staten Island for a follow up.  My lovely, Joan (GPS) once again took us on the fastest route to our destination which was Flushing.  Unfortunately, or fortunately, however you choose to look at it, she took us to the FDR Parkway which runs along the Manhattan side of the East River.  Manhattan is out of our mission.  Oops!!!

One goose found a puddle in the roadway/parking lot. Didn't want to move no matter how close we came.

Only one nice turkey.

Dolphin statue on the boardwalk next to the highway.

Saw more geese this trip.

After the week before when we went to our destination via New Jersey, I swore I'd be more diligent about looking at the route we would be driving.  It started out in the correct direction but I didn't follow the route on the GPS far enough before starting off.  We ended up again on a freeway where I couldn't turn around.  It took us through the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel and directly onto the FDR.   I didn't get pictures because I was driving but the sisters were excited to see Brooklyn and Queens from across the river and they were kind enough to share their pictures with me.

Queens Skyline

This is one of the first views you get as you exit the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel

The FDR Drive (officially referred to as the Franklin D. Roosevelt East River Drive, and sometimes known as the FDR) is a 9.44-mile freeway-standard parkway on the east side of the New York City borough of Manhattan. It starts just north of the Battery Park Underpass at South and Broad Streets and runs along the entire length of the East River, from the Battery Park Underpass under Battery Park north to 125th Street / Robert F. Kennedy Bridge / Willis Avenue Bridge interchange, where it becomes the Harlem River Drive.

The highway is mostly three lanes in each direction, with the exception of a small section underneath the Brooklyn Bridge where it is one lane in each direction. A section near the Queensboro Bridge interchange is also narrowed to two lanes on the northbound side, and the southbound roadway south of the Brooklyn Bridge is marked as two lanes.

The FDR Drive features a mix of below-grade, at-grade, and elevated sections, as well as three partially covered tunnels.

A story in my family history makes the East River important to me and because I traveled almost the length of the East River this week and Jim and I visited Roosevelt Island in the middle of the river when he was here, I wanted to know more about it. Let me first tell you about my history.  My fifth great grandfather, John Blair was captured in Quebec during the Revolutionary War.  He was put on a prison ship and brought to New York Harbor. He was on the ship HMS Jersey. He escaped from the ship.  I love the story but I left it at home in my books there.  I tried to find it on the net (I have found it before but not today) so from memory, he and another man on the ship went to the forecastle of the ship where several large Newfoundland dogs were tied.  They hissed and riled up the dogs.  While attention was paid to the dogs, the two slipped over the side of the ship and managed to get into a rowboat.  By the time they were noticed, they were too far away for the ships guards to re-capture them.  They made their way back to General Washington where they were chastised for their demeanor. 

At the end of the information about the river is more history regarding the Revolutionary War and the East River.

The East River is a salt water tidal estuary in New York City. The waterway, which is actually not a river despite its name, connects Upper New York Bay on its south end to Long Island Sound on its north end. It separates the borough of Queens on Long Island from the Bronx on the North American mainland, and also divides Manhattan from Queens and Brooklyn, which is also on Long Island. Because of its connection to Long Island Sound, it was once also known as the Sound River. The tidal strait changes its direction of flow frequently, and is subject to strong fluctuations in its current, which are accentuated by its narrowness and variety of depths. The waterway is navigable for its entire length of 16 miles, and was historically the center of maritime activities in the city, although that is no longer the case.

Prior to the arrival of Europeans, the land north of the East River was occupied by the Siwanoys, one of many groups of Algonquin-speaking Lenapes in the area. Dutch settlement of what became New Amsterdam began in 1623. Some of the earliest of the small settlements in the area were along the west bank of the East River on sites that had previously been Native American settlements. As with the Native Americans, the river was central to their lives for transportation for trading and for fishing. They gathered marsh grass to feed their cattle, and the East River's tides helped to power mills which ground grain to flour. By 1642 there was a ferry running on the river between Manhattan Island and what is now Brooklyn, and the first pier on the river was built in 1647 at Pearl and Broad Streets. After the British took over the colony in 1664, and was renamed "New York", the development of the waterfront continued, and a shipbuilding industry grew up once New York started exporting flour. By the end of the 17th century, the Great Dock, located at Corlear's Hook on the East River, had been built.

RFK Triborough Bridge

Recently renamed the Robert F. Kennedy Bridge, few people in New York realize how incredible the story of this Northern-most commuter bridge really is. Rather than a single stretch of bridge, this behemoth is actually three linked spans accessing Manhattan, The Bronx and Queens (thus its original name) and is the product of one of the biggest initiatives ever undertaken in the history of the city. Mayor Jimmy Walker broke ground on the project in 1929, the day after Black Tuesday began the nation’s decent into the Great Depression, resulting in a tumultuous start to the construction. Funding dried up quickly and due to quixotic politics and competing egos in city government at the time, not much progress was made through 1933 when controversial/legendary New Yorker Robert Moses became interested. He sought to improve access from The Bronx and Westchester to the city parks on Long Island and after realizing how derailed the project really was, lobbied Mayor Fiorello LaGuardia and Governor Al Smith for control of its progress. Funded with the city’s first loan from the new federal Public Works Administration, LaGuardia succeeded in keeping the Tammany Hall political machine out of the project, stating:

We are going to build a bridge instead of patronage. We are going to pile up stone and steel instead of expenses. We are going to build a bridge of steel, and spell steel “s-t-e-e-l” instead of “s-t-e-a-l.” The people of the City of New York are going to pay for that bridge, and they are going to pay for it in tolls after its completion.

Once Moses gained control and had the support he needed, progress came quickly, aided by a country literally starving for jobs and industry. This project was far from just a bridge – it dwarfed anything Robert Moses had attempted before and its total cost would be greater than all of them combined.  The approach ramps were so big that hundreds of large-scale apartment buildings had to be demolished, the anchorages were comparable in size to pyramids of ancient Egypt, the concrete needed to build them and to pave the road across the bridge (not including the approaches) would be enough to pave a four lane highway from New York to Philadelphia. Just to supply the bridge, entire cement factories reopened from Maine to the Midwest, nearly 50 separate steel mills in Pennsylvania were reignited. All elements considered, this was the single largest traffic project ever undertaken anywhere in the world. By its end, the Triborough project had generated an estimated 31,000,000 man-hours of work in 134 cities in 20 states.

The Queensboro Bridge, also known as the 59th St Bridge and more recently renamed for former mayor Ed Koch, doesn’t enjoy the same level of fame as it’s neighbors to the south, but as the only major cantilever bridge, it is quite unique and has actually had a few brushes with celebrity.  From the Simon and Garfunkle song to the poster of Woody Allen’s Manhattan, most people recognize the bridge without even realizing it.  Not only was it the longest cantilever bridge in the United States when it opened in 1909, but it was also designed for heavier loads than any other and had a major impact on traffic patterns. With 10 lanes of traffic on its 2 decks, it allowed for incredibly easy trips between Long Island City and Midtown East, crossing right over Roosevelt Island. (Side note: if you ever drive onto the bride and start to freak out because it feels like you are actually on a bike path sticking off the side of the bridge… it’s just keep going.. might have happened to me once upon a time)

Today, this unique span across the East River is the busiest bridge in all of New York City. According to 2009 estimates, over 180,000 vehicles cross from one side to the other an average weekday.

Queensboro Bridge

Williamsburg Bridge 

The Williamsburg Bridge was the 2nd bridge to be built over the East River and when it opened in 1903, it took over the Brooklyn Bridge’s record as the world’s longest suspension bridge span, a record it held until 1924, and was actually built by the Roebling Company, the namesake company of the builders of the Brooklyn Bridge.  It was also the first suspension bridge to feature all-steel support towers – with a span of 1,600 ft and total length of 7,308 ft, this bridge connects the Lower East Side at Delancey St with Williamsburg in Brooklyn.  The impact of connecting these two areas was so profound, the bridge is credited with directly influencing ethnic migration patterns. 1st and 2nd generation Irish and German workers had heavily populated the Williamsburg area, but following the opening of the bridge, many Jewish families moved across from the overcrowded Lower East Side, giving the bridge the temporary nickname of the “Jew’s Bridge.” As a result, many residents of Williamsburg relocated to Queens, giving rise to the Germanic communities that exist there today.

Manhattan Bridge 

Going upriver from the Brooklyn Bridge, the next major crossing is the Manhattan Bridge. Distinguished by its tall, exposed blue metal arches with 4 blue spheres on each support, it also features a beautiful arch colonnade on the Manhattan side. Opened in 1909 and stretching 1,480 ft over the water with an incredible total length of 6,855 ft, this is the newest of the suspension bridges over the East River. While the story of it’s construction was not quite as dramatic as that of the Brooklyn Bridge, it was designed and built by Leon Moisseiff, one of the leading suspension bridge architects of the 1920s and ’30s. However, his reputation was later ruined by the collapse of what he described as “the most beautiful bridge in the world”: the Tacoma Narrows Bridge. If you have never seen the newsreel footage of that bridge blowing like a sheet in the wind, it is pretty trippy. Hopefully we never see the Manhattan doing the same.

Manhattan Bridge

I like this pic of the Manhattan Bridge and the Brooklyn Bridge. You are looking at the Brooklyn skyline.

Brooklyn Bridge

Possibly the most iconic span crossing in all of North America, the Brooklyn Bridge is easy to spot – its only competition for recognizability is the Golden Gate on the opposite coast.  It is the southernmost bridge on the East river, reaching from Fulton Ferry Landing in Brooklyn over to City Hall in Manhattan. Its span is 1,595.5 feet long (total length is a massive 5,989 ft) and when it opened in 1883 after 13 years of construction it was the biggest, longest, and first in nearly every category. It was the longest suspension bridge, the first suspension bridge built with steel cables, the first bridge to connect to Long Island, the first land connection to Manhattan from the East or West and remains the only stone passenger bridge over the Hudson or East Rivers.

Brooklyn Bridge

American Revolution

Expansion of the waterfront halted during the American Revolution, in which the East River played an important role early in the conflict. On August 28, 1776, while British and Hessian troops rested after besting the Americans at the Battle of Long Island, General George Washington was rounding up all the boats on the east shore of the river, in what is now Brooklyn, and used them to successfully move his troops across the river - under cover of night, rain, and fog - to Manhattan island, before the British could press their advantage. Thus, though the battle was a victory for the British, the failure of Sir William Howe to destroy the Continental Army when he had the opportunity allowed the Americans to continue fighting. Without the stealthy withdrawal across the East River, the American Revolution might have ended much earlier.

Wallabout Bay on the River was the site of most of the British prison ships - most notoriously the HMS Jersey - where thousands of American prisoners of war were held in terrible conditions. These prisoners had come into the hands of the British after the fall of New York City on September 15, 1776, after the American loss at the Battle of Long Island and the loss of Fort Washington on November 16. Prisoners began to be housed on the broken-down warships and transports in December; about 24 ships were used in total, but generally only 5 or 6 at a time.

Almost twice as many Americans died from neglect in these ships than did from all the battles in the war: as many as 12,000 soldiers, sailors and civilians. The bodies were thrown overboard or were buried in shallow graves on the riverbanks, but their bones - some of which were collected when they washed ashore - were later relocated and are now inside the Prison Ship Martyrs' Monument in nearby Fort Greene Park. The existence of the ships and the conditions the men were held in was widely known at the time through letters, diaries and memoirs, and was a factor not only in the attitude of Americans toward the British, but in the negotiations to formally end the war.

List Of 8000 Men Who Were Prisoners On Board The Old Jersey

List compiled by 'The Society Of Old Brooklynites' in 1888.

"This list of names was copied from the papers of the British War Department. There is nothing to indicate what became of any of these prisoners, whether they died, escaped, or were exchanged. The list seems to have been carelessly kept, and is full of obvious mistakes in spelling the names. Yet it shall be given just as it is, except that the names are arranged differently, for easier reference. This list of prisoners is the only one that could be found in the British War Department. What became of the lists of prisoners on the many other prison ships, and prisons, used by the English in America, we do not know."

John Blair's name was on this list.

We had a member of the seventies, Elder C. Scott Grow, tour the mission.  I helped with lunch at the conference on Wednesday in Woodside.  Thursday I went to Plainview to listen to the conference there and to be with the missionaries.  It was a rainy day.  EVERY time I go to the island, it rains.  It is beautiful none-the-less. 

Plainview is a hamlet and census-designated place located near the North Shore of Long Island in the town of Oyster Bay, Nassau County, New York, United States. The population of 2010 was 26,217

Plainview's origins dates to 1648, when Robert Williams, a settler from Wales, bought land in the area. The land was considered desirable for farming because of a small pond named the Moscopas by local Native Americans, meaning "hole of dirt and water". The remainder of the land in the area was purchased by Thomas Powell in 1695 as part of the Bethpage Purchase. The name "Mannatto Hill" had already appeared on the 1695 deed of the Bethpage Purchase, and the settlement came to be called "Manetto Hill". Manitou was the Native American word either for "god" or for "spirit"

The 1837 arrival of the Long Island Rail Road to nearby Hicksville brought a boom to local farming. In 1885, residents of Manetto Hill petitioned the United States Postal Service for a local post office, but were turned down because, according to several accounts, a similar name was already in use upstate.  The hamlet was then named "Plainview", for the view of the Hempstead Plains from the top of the Manetto Hills.

Plainview remained a farming community, famous for growing cucumbers for the huge Heinz pickle factories located in nearby Farmingdale and Hicksville. In the early 1900s blight destroyed the cucumber crop and many farmers switched to potatoes. After World War II, a potato blight combined with the desire of many returning GIs to leave New York City for the more rural Long Island, convinced many farmers to sell their property, leading to massive development in the area, giving rise to so-called suburban sprawl.

Between 1950 and 1960, the hamlet grew from a population of 1,155 to more than 35,000.  Most of the available land was developed during this period or otherwise designated as parkland. While overall development declined it did continue sporadically as smaller remaining parcels of land were also developed. In recent years, some of few large remaining parcels have given way to gated communities, which are in contrast to most housing in the area.

Saturday was a women's training conference. I am conferenced out this week.

Queens Mall Food Court

Sister Urizar and Sister Robinson

I overheard one of the sister training leaders trying to help another sister who was struggling with the trials of her mission as well as depression.  They were discussing the Atonement.  One of the things that stuck in my mind was that as part of the Savior's atoning sacrifice, He took upon Himself our pains and sicknesses. Because He has experienced our trials, He knows how to help us. When we exercise faith in Jesus Christ, He will give us strength and ease our burdens.

In Sacrament Meeting today we sang Reverently and Meekly Now.  The 3rd and 4th verses touched me: 

3. Bid thine heart all strife to cease;
With thy brethren be at peace.
Oh, forgive as thou wouldst be
E'en forgiven now by me.
In the solemn faith of prayer
Cast upon me all thy care,
And my Spirit's grace shall be
Like a fountain unto thee.

4. At the throne I intercede;
For thee ever do I plead.
I have loved thee as thy friend,
With a love that cannot end.
Be obedient, I implore,
Prayerful, watchful evermore,
And be constant unto me,
That thy Savior I may be.

I love my Savior.  He is my friend.  He carries my burdens.

I love you my family and friends.