Downtown

This morning I set out from Columbus Circle and followed Broadway down through TImes Square - which was frankly a bit overwhelming. All the bright lights and colours, I'm not sure how it's effective advertising at all...

From there I continued on past Madisson Square Garden, through Chelsea and into Greenwhich village. These older buildings (dating from the 1800s) are noticibly much shorter from the towering skyscrapers in mid-town and I called in at Christopher Park for another bit of history. The park is adjacent to the Stonewall Inn and saw riots in the summer of 1969 after a police raid on the gay bar. This is often cited as the start of the Gay rights movement in the USA and around the world. The park now houses a sculpture to commemorate the event.

From there I continued towards Battery Park, and had to take a big detour around the World Trade Center site which is a hive of activity - the new tower is going up and the memorial park is being landscaped. Eventually I reached the tip of Manhattan and caught sight of the Statue of Liberty across the Hudson River.

Tommorrow the rest of the WAGGGS delegation arrives and we begin work on the Commission on the Status of Women activities.