ITUFSD

ITUFSD

Wednesday, October 5, 2016

7th Grade New York City Field Trip a Success!

The 2016 7th Grade New York City Trip
By Nicholas Isaacs

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This year, from September 29th to September 30th, the ITMMS seventh graders went on the annual New York City trip. About 80 kids went on the trip which was organized by Vice-Principal Amanda Steele, and teachers Mrs. Danielle Azar and Mrs. Taryn Aponte, and chaperoned by many of the Island Trees teachers. The two day trip included many exciting stops to New York’s most famous landmarks.

We left Island Trees Middle School around 7:30 AM and arrived around 10:00 AM at Battery Park, where we took the ferry to Ellis Island. There we could see across to Liberty Island and we had a good view of the Statue of Liberty.

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On Ellis Island, we toured the Immigration Museum. We saw many pictures and artifacts of what life was like before, during, and after immigrants came through Ellis Island on their way to becoming Americans. I was struck by all the reasons why people came, such as religious persecution. For example, Jewish families, such as my grandmother’s, trying to escape Russia in the early 1900’s.

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Next, we were supposed to walk across the Brooklyn Bridge, but we did not have enough time, so we headed to the South Street Seaport to get a good view of the bridge instead. Then we took the bus and went to Radio City Music Hall, located at 1260 6th Avenue.


Inside, we got a tour throughout the entire building, which is actually designed to look like a boat sailing into a sunset. We got to see rooms such as the boys and girls lounges, which are completely original from the 1930’s, the locker room, and the room under the stage area where all the set mechanisms are located. We got to see the stage from a VIP area. We even met a Rockette who took pictures with the students!

Our day wasn’t even done! We headed to Ellen’s Stardust Diner, located at 1650 Broadway and 51st Street. This diner is famous because the staff are singers and dancers that entertain you while you eat. We got to choose from a variety of foods. We had so much fun there!


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We then were escorted by two New York police officers while we walked to 214 West 43rd Street, where we saw “Cirque du Soleil: Paramour” at the Lyric Theatre. It was an exciting show with a lot of humor, drama, and acrobatics. The story is about a movie director in the 30’s who finds a really good actress and then falls in love with her. We ended the first night at our hotel at the Hyatt Place, in Secaucus, New Jersey.
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We began day two by visiting the National September 11 Museum and the 9/11 Memorial at 180 Greenwich Street. It was really emotional and upsetting, but very powerful and informative. I tried to help my classmate find his grandma’s name on the plaque. I also looked up and found my grandfather, Frank Bucherati, whose name is printed as “Bucaretti” in the book, “102 Minutes”. He was trapped in an elevator on the 73rd floor of Tower 1 with another man, but escaped and survived. I always heard stories from him about the attacks, but it was even more powerful to be at the site and see others stories and sorrows. We even got to see “The Survivor Tree” that not only survived the attacks, but also survived hurricanes Irene and Sandy.


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Next, we went to the Empire State building which is located at 350 Fifth Avenue. It has art deco style and was named a national landmark in 1986. There we got to see New York City from an 80th story window, and we got to go to the outside observatory area located on the 86th story. It was so high up that it was nearly snowing up there instead of raining! Back inside, we got to visit the gift shop where they had a lot of King Kong merchandise (the famous fictional giant ape that climbed the Empire State Building), candy and models of the building. A lot of kids were nervous about heights beforehand, but eventually had a good time. By the time we got back down, everyone’s ears were popping!

Finally, our last stop was the Metropolitan Museum of Art, located at 1000 Fifth Avenue. It is considered one of the largest and finest museums in the world.

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Some of the things I saw were a weapons gallery, a hall of Greek statues, masks and outfits from Africa, and even an Egyptian tomb. We were there for almost 3 hours, and we just skimmed the surface of what was actually there. One probably needs a couple of days to see all the exhibits properly.

Then we headed home and got back at 8:00 PM, ready to share our adventures with our families. Everyone overall had a great time. We were very lucky to have great teachers who chaperoned us and all the fifth and sixth graders who are reading this should consider going when it is your turn. I had a really great time!