27/3/13 – Two Bridges and a Heap of Meat

Last night we had agreed to meet Bo and Kristie at Katz’s Deli for breakfast. As usual they were up early and beat us to the deli. As I had missed out on this treat when Hans and Sue were here (as I was at a PD), I was looking forward to my first sample of Katz’s famous ‘pastrami on rye’. This sandwich is famous, not just in NYC but all around the world, and rightly so as the whole experience is the stuff of legend. 

There are photos of famous people all over the walls (it is a favourite for Bill Clinton) and the many posters, some from as far back as WW1, that encourage patrons to ‘send a salami to your boy in the army’ are icons of American popular culture. As their website states:

‘It would not have been possible for Katz’s Delicatessen to survive three depressions, numerous recessions and two World Wars if Katz’s wasn’t the best deli in NYC. Opened in 1888, Katz’s Deli has maintained the tradition of quality that made us a beloved deli among the immigrants who crowded into the Lower East Side one hundred years ago. Since then, generations have stood before the carver as he skilfully carves a pile of pastrami, turkey or corned beef. It’s the exceptional taste that has carried Katz’s name far beyond NYC. Over the last century, a lot has come and gone, but Katz’s Delicatessen is still where it was in 1888.’

We weren’t disappointed, but by the time Bo and Peter had finished their sandwiches they were very full indeed … and this was only breakfast! Neither Kristie nor I were able to fully finish our sandwiches so we stuffed what was left into a ‘to go’ bag and had our photos taken at the very table where Harry met Sally (you can’t miss it … its marked with a big red arrow and a sign that says ‘We hope you have what she had’)  oh and of course Bo and Peter had to have their photos taken too … with the caption: ‘the boys behind the counter and their big salamis.

Then, finally, we were off on our next adventure. 

We knew we had to get some exercise to work off all the food we had just eaten, so we decided to go for the double – crossing two bridges in the one day. First we set off due east down Delancey to cross the Williamsburg Bridge since it was the closest bridge to us and we were still moving very slowly with that big breakfast load on board! The skies had cleared and the views back to the city and down the East River to the Brooklyn Bridge were excellent. 

We thoroughly enjoyed the walk and still managed to turn up at the Tenement Museum in time to see the informative 20 min video about the many different and often desperate journeys that people’s lives have taken over the years before going on our booked tour. When I was here with Hans and Sue I did the ‘Hard Times’ tour, so this time I had selected the ‘Sweat Shop Tour’.  We were taken through some fascinating rooms accurately detailing the lives of the families who lived and worked in these cramped little rooms, and their migrant stories over the years.  

By the end of the tour we were hungry (well not really, but one can never miss an opportunity to sample the fare at the Donut Plant) we dropped in there for coffee and donuts. The chocolate and peanut butter donut was exceptional. And now for bridge No 2. – The Brooklyn Bridge. Unfortunately for Bo and Kristie they were doing some maintenance work on the bridge so there was cladding covering at least half of it. Nonetheless the views were still spectacular and I never seem to tire of following the patterns of the cables as they sweep up and over the pylons. This bridge is made of iron not steel and it has a fascinating story on Wikipedia some of which I include below:

The Brooklyn Bridge opened to great fanfare in May 1883. It was, at the time, the longest and tallest bridge in the world. The names of John A. Roebling, Washington Roebling, and Emily Warren Roebling are inscribed on the structure as its builders. It was initially designed by German-born John Augustus Roebling in Trenton, New Jersey. Roebling had earlier designed and constructed other suspension bridges, such as Roebling's Delaware Aqueduct in Lackawaxen, PA, and the John A. Roebling Suspension Bridge in Cincinnati, OH, that served as the engineering prototypes for the final design. During surveying for the Brooklyn Bridge project, Roebling's foot was badly injured by a ferry, pinning it against a piling. This badly crushed his toes, causing those toes to be amputated, leaving him incapacitated; he died shortly afterward of a tetanus infection caused by his injury and leaving his son, Washington Roebling, in charge of the bridge. Construction began on January 3, 1870, under the supervision of the younger Roebling. Not long after taking charge of the bridge, Washington Roebling suffered a paralyzing injury as well, the result of decompression sickness. This condition plagued many of the underwater workers, in different capacities, as the condition was relatively unknown at the time and in fact was first called "caisson disease" by the project physician Dr. Andrew Smith. The occurrence of the disease in the caisson workers caused him to halt construction of the Manhattan side of the tower 30 feet (10 m) short of bedrock when soil tests underneath the caisson found bedrock to be even deeper than expected. As a result, even to this day, the Manhattan tower rests only on sand. Roebling's wife Emily Warren Roebling stepped in and provided the critical written link between her husband and the engineers on-site. Under her husband's guidance, Emily had studied higher mathematics, the calculations of catenary curves, the strengths of materials, bridge specifications, and the intricacies of cable construction. She spent the next 11 years assisting Washington Roebling helping to supervise the bridge's construction. The Brooklyn Bridge was finally completed and opened for use on May 24, 1883.

The opening ceremony was attended by several thousand people and many ships were present in the East Bay for the occasion. President Chester A. Arthur and New York Mayor Franklin Edson crossed the bridge to celebratory cannon fire and were greeted by Brooklyn Mayor Seth Low when they reached the Brooklyn-side tower. Arthur shook hands with Washington Roebling at the latter's home, after the ceremony. Roebling was unable to attend the ceremony (and in fact rarely visited the site again), but held a celebratory banquet at his house on the day of the bridge opening. Further festivity included the performance of a band, gunfire from ships, and a fireworks display. On that first day, a total of 1,800 vehicles and 150,300 people crossed what was then the only land passage between Manhattan and Brooklyn. Emily Warren Roebling was the first to cross the bridge. The bridge's main span over the East River is 1,595 feet 6 inches (486.3 m). The bridge cost $15.5 million to build and approximately 27 people died during its construction. One week after the opening, on May 30, 1883, a rumor that the Bridge was going to collapse caused a stampede, which crushed and killed at least twelve people. On May 17, 1884, P. T. Barnum helped to squelch doubts about the bridge's stability—while publicizing his famous circus—when one of his most famous attractions, Jumbo, led a parade of 21 elephants over the Brooklyn Bridge.

When we got to the Brooklyn side of the bridge we decided that we had thoroughly digested our breakfasts and were thus ready for more food. So we caught a cab to Peter Lugers Steakhouse for the biggest and best steaks in New York. And of course the steaks were wonderful … as always! [Note to self – be careful what you order at Peter Luger’s Steakhouse. As we weren’t sure we could finish one steak each, we ordered three steaks. 

What we didn’t realise was that three steaks wasn’t the same as steaks for three. Therefore when they arrived in their usual spectacular fashion, we had three New York cut T-Bones – that’s six porterhouse steaks.] While Peter managed to finish most of this massive meal, with some assistance from the rest of us, we had to get another ‘to go’ bag as this meat was too good to leave.

We paid the bill and waddled slowly towards the door. We were wondering how we could find a taxi to take us back to Manhattan when the doorman informed us that Peter Luger’s knows how full its patrons will be after their huge steak meals, so it maintains its own special ‘limousine service’ that takes patrons anywhere they want to go after their meal.

As we couldn’t possibly walk anywhere, especially as we were now carrying two ‘to go’ bags full of meat, we took up the limo service option! We asked the driver to take us to the Empire State Building so that we could see the sun go down on NYC. By the time we got to the top of that big building on the corner of 5^th Avenue and 34^th Street it was a beautiful evening.

At first the sky was a lovely ‘icy' blue, but it gradually turned to pink then black as we watched the sun disappear completely over the horizon. The photos were sensational. And believe me we took a few. Bo and Kristie finished the night with some shopping while Peter and I decided to take our ‘to go’ bags containing 5kgs of pastrami and steak home….for the dog!!!