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Note: Below is a tentative list of possible activities. The final schedule will likely change as the event draws nearer. Activities may be added, deleted, or modified.
6:00 am – 8:30 am Breakfast in the Breakfast Room adjacent to the hotel lobby (included for those staying in the hotel)
6:45 am Tour option group WE1 meets in the lobby to depart hotel promptly to walk to Delawanna NJ Transit Station to catch the 7:20 am train.
7:15 am Tour option groups WE2, and WE3 meet in the lobby to depart hotel promptly to walk to Delawanna NJ Transit Station to catch the 7:54 am train.
8:00 am Tour option group WE5 meets in the lobby to take the No. 191 Bus at 8:25 am to the Port Authority Bus Terminal.
8:30 am Tour option group WE4 meets in the lobby to take the No. 195 Bus at 8:59 am bus to the Port Authority Bus Terminal.
Visit the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island on Statue Cruises from Liberty State Park, NJ. Your cruise ticket will include entry to the Pedestal and the newly opened Statue of Liberty Museum. Lunch is available at the Statue of Liberty Café or Ellis Island Café (pay as you go). Visitors can take ranger-led or self-guiding tours of Liberty Island. Audio tours that can be used on Liberty Island and Ellis Island are available as part of the ferry ticket. More about the Statue of Liberty on FAQS page
During the afternoon we’ll spend a couple of hours touring the Museum of Immigration on Ellis Island that was the point of entry for 12 million immigrants between 1892 – 1954. The National Museum of Immigration has some 30 galleries and exhibits chronicling the history of immigration to the United States.
Highlights include the baggage, registry and hearing rooms of the American Family Immigration Center, a computerized genealogy center.
Patience and understanding are expected. There could be extended wait times to clear. Expect to spend about 3 hours on each island after clearing security. You will need to choose your time wisely.
We'll depart Ellis Island on the 4:25 pm ferry to the Battery in order to be on time for our evening cruise.
First stop this morning will be dedicated to honoring those who were killed in the National September 11 Memorial dedicated to remembering the victims of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. The names of those who died are engraved on two bronze panels flanking the Memorial pools. The pools are each nearly an acre in size and mark the footprints of the Twin Towers that once stood on that site.
The next stop will be the Museum of Jewish Heritage where we will explore modern Jewish history, life, and culture where you can learn about Jewish life in the 20th and 21st centuries before, during and after the Holocaust. The museum tells the story of the Holocaust through first-person histories and personal objects. A special exhibition on the Auschwitz death camp will be on exhibit.
We’ll board the No. 4 or 5 subway at Bowling Green and head uptown to Chinatown for lunch. Lunch is at Chinatown’s Buddha Bodai Kosher Vegetarian Restaurant (not included in base price). Try the dim sum, spring rolls, and tasty noodle dishes.
After lunch we will stop by the restored historic Eldridge Street Synagogue, a 19th-century landmark with stunning architecture that initially opened its doors to a wave of Eastern European Jewish immigrants, recently reopened as a vibrant arts and education center for all ages and backgrounds, with exhibitions and tours of the restored synagogue.
Take a guided tour of the synagogue, followed by a guided walking tour of the Lower East Side. The Lower East Side was once home to the largest Jewish population in the world as Jewish immigrants from Eastern Europe streamed in to settle in the crowded tenements that lined the street. With your knowledgeable guide, you will stroll the neighborhood streets visiting old synagogues, Yiddish newspaper buildings, socialist hot spots, and the best pickle shop in New York.
Our final food stop will be at Yonah Schimmel’s on Houston Street is known for its scrumptious knishes. How about a kugel, a latke or a classic New York egg cream?
We’ll walk over to Washington Square Park and see New York’s version of the Arc de Triumph. Then we’ll board the subway at W. 4th Street and head up to 42nd Street and walk over to our evening activity, the Circle Line Cruise at Pier 83.
6:00 pm – 6:15 pm Circle Line Harbor Cruise All groups will meet at in front of the Circle Line Cruise Ticket Office at Pier 83 @43rd Street and 12th Avenue to regroup and begin boarding. Pier 83 is the location of the dock for the Circle Line Harbor Cruise.
7:00 pm – 9:00 pm The Circle Line Harbor Cruise. As twilight descends over New York City, take in the lights of the Manhattan skyline from a boat on this evening harbor cruise Bask in NYC's most famous landmarks and the Statue of Liberty at night. A sunset cruise with the city lights glistening like diamonds on the dark water. The Circle Line Harbor Lights Cruise is a narrated two-hour cruise along the Hudson and East River as we watch the sunset and the big city lights up! Food is available for purchase on board, which includes sandwiches, salads, hot dogs, chips, and beverages.
Self-guided a walking tour of the Theater District and “Times Square – Crossroads of the World.” Our walking tour will include the Theater District, the “Great White Way” – Broadway.
Leaving the Circle Line walk north on the Hudson River Greenway to the USS Intrepid at W. 46th Street where we will stop for a photo op.
Walk east on W. 46th Street to Broadway. As we turn right on Broadway, we enter the heart of Times Squares and its razzle, the dazzle of lights and billboards. Stop to watch an impromptu on street performance. Meet some of the colorful cartoon characters and perhaps the “Naked Cowboy.” Pass the famous TKTS booth in the “heart of Times Square” where half-price tickets to Broadway Shows may be purchased. Pass iconic movie theaters where many Broadway stars performed such as the J Barrymore Theater (Broadway & 47th Street), Lunt Fontaine Theater (Broadway @ 46th Street), and Paramount Theater at Broadway and 44th Street. Look up at the Times Square Building on Broadway at 43rd Street to see the Waterford crystal ball lit up by LED lights above and viewed by millions each Times Square.
9:00 pm – 2:00 am Travel back to the hotel at your discretion. The Port Authority Bus Terminal is just south of Times Square and involves no transfer. The bus stops for Clifton Commons is literally 1,000 feet (0.2 miles) west of the La Quinta Inn.
NJ Transit Bus $6.00 - Three buses depart from Port Authority @ 8th & 9th Ave and 40 & 41st St to Clifton Commons Route 3 Entrance.
Buses Depart Port Authority at Gate 308 $6.00 Fare Pay as You Go
The Clifton Commons Bus Stop is less than a 5-minute walk from the La Quinta Inn & Suites. When you exit the bus walk east on wide grass shoulder of Route 3 with the traffic behind you walking in the direction of traffic. You will pass a BP Gas Station before coming to the La Quinta Inn
NJ Transit Train $5.50 Penn Station Between 7th Ave and 8th Ave 31st-33rd Street $5.50 Pay as You Go
Descend platform. Turn left and go west, Go under the train trestle. Make first left on Oak Street and walk a half mile to the La Quinta Inn, just before reaching the La Quinta Inn you will cross under Route 3 and then take first right into La Quinta Inn parking lot.
Pre-Trip Chairperson Marlisse Marcus and Peter Small at Pre-Trip@MosaicOutdoor.org