Seeing NYC from Jersey City NJ

ahschneid
15 hours ago
9 min read

Liberty Harbor RV Park - Jersey City New Jersey - 30 Aug - 1 Sep 2026

We arrived at Jersey City New Jersey 30 Aug 2026 to go into New York City 31 Aug to see the 9/11 Memorial. On 1 Sep we wanted to see the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. We only had a 75-mile drive but it was somewhat stressful with all the traffic as we got closer to our RV Park. We didn’t want to miss the turn onto Marin Blvd. It was the last turn before the Holland Tunnel for which we were too tall to go into. The maximum height of the Holland Tunnel is 12ft 6in and our camper is 12ft 8in. Needless to say, it would not have been good to miss our turn! Liberty Harbor RV Park is located at the end of the road at East River where we could take a ferry to Manhattan. We got settled early enough to go for a walk. We walked to Liberty State Park which was about 1.5 miles one way. The park is huge and we walked far enough in to see the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island from Liberty State Park. We had seen a German Beer Haus on the way so we decided to stop and pickup German take-out on our walk home. Well we were disappointed to find that the place looked like a German restaurant but did not have German dishes on their menu. Burgers and pizza are not found on menus in German restaurants in Germany. We looked for other restaurants within walking distance, but in the end we just came home and cooked brats. We had walked 6 miles by the end of the day. Our plan was to see the 9/11 memorial on Monday. Liberty Ferry is located across the parking lot from Libery Harbor RV Park, so we opted to take the ferry to NYC.

St. Patrick's Catholic Church - Newburgh NY - 29 Aug 2026

We went to mass at 5pm on Saturday that week...

St. Patrick's Catholic Church - Newburgh NY - 29 Aug 2026

St. Patrick's Catholic Church - Newburgh NY - 29 Aug 2026

Liberty Harbor RV Park - Jersey City NJ - 30 Aug 2026

Jersey City NJ - 30 Aug 2026

Liberty State Park - Jersey City NJ - 30 Aug 2026

Liberty State Park - Jersey City NJ - 30 Aug 2026

Liberty State Park - Jersey City NJ - 30 Aug 2026

La Vela di Columbo - honors Italian immigration to the Port of New York and New Jersey, as well as the maritime history of Genoa, Italy...

Liberty State Park - Jersey City NJ - 30 Aug 2026

Liberty State Park - Jersey City NJ - 30 Aug 2026

Liberty State Park - Jersey City NJ - 30 Aug 2026

Ellis Island across the water...

Liberty State Park - Jersey City NJ - 30 Aug 2026

Liberty State Park - Jersey City NJ - 30 Aug 2026

On Monday 31 Aug we were on one of the first morning ferries to NYC and we observed couples taking the ferry to work. The ferry landed at Wall Street Pier 11 and we walked all day to what we wanted to see. We walked to the 9/11 memorial and museum first. The museum is well done and the outdoor memorial is also moving. Anita had put off seeing anything about 9/11, but now at almost 25 years since the 9/11/21 attack it felt right to pay our respects. We were glad we went. It was lunch time by the time we left the 9/11 museum, so we walked to West End Deli for lunch. Steve was wanting a Ruben sandwich and he got a very authentic Jewish treat. After lunch we took a subway to St. Patrick’s Cathedral. The outside of the church had scaffolding due to current ongoing maintenance. The inside of the church had been renovated in 2012, so we were able to walk through it in awe of the detail and grandeur of it all. After St. Patrick’s Cathedral, we headed to the part of NYC within walking distance to Chinatown. We were taken aback by all the street vendors on Canal St. with their purses, headphones, wallets, etc spread out on blankets on the sidewalk. They were about a foot apart and it went on for blocks! We couldn’t wait to get out of that. We finally got to the street taking us to Chinatown. We had smelled marijuana on Canal St. and it continued in Chinatown. I told Steve I’d be high by the time we got to the restaurant! We picked a restaurant to get dinner. We took it to-go. We walked to the subway station to take the subway back to the ferry and made it back to Liberty Harbor close to 6pm. It was a long day and we had walked 9 miles by the end of it.

New York City - 31 Aug 2026

East River

Liberty Harbor New Jersey - 31 Aug 2026

East River at NYC ferry landing - 31 Aug 2026

Pier 11 at Wall Street

New York City - 31 Aug 2026

New York City - 31 Aug 2026

We wouldn't have seen this had we not been walking...

New York City - 31 Aug 2026

New York City - 31 Aug 2026

Trump Tower

New York City - 31 Aug 2026

New York Stock Exchange

New York City - 31 Aug 2026

New York Stock Exchange

New York City - 31 Aug 2026

Across from New York Stock Exchange

New York City - 31 Aug 2026

Trinity (Episcopal) Church - Circa 1846

New York City - 31 Aug 2026

Trinity (Episcopal) Church

New York City 31 Aug 2026

Inside Trinity (Episcopal) Church

New York City 31 Aug 2026

Graveyard on the side of Trinity Church

New York City 31 Aug 2026

Graveyard on the side of Trinity Church

New York City 31 Aug 2026

Graveyard on the side of Trinity Church

New York City 31 Aug 2026

Graveyard on the side of Trinity Church

New York City 31 Aug 2026

Interesting architecture...

New York City 31 Aug 2026

Ground Zero of World Trade Center

New York City 31 Aug 2026

Ground Zero of World Trade Center

New York City 31 Aug 2026

Lobby of World Trade Center

New York City 31 Aug 2026

Lobby of World Trade Center

New York City 31 Aug 2026

Lobby of World Trade Center

New York City 31 Aug 2026

9/11 Museum

New York City 31 Aug 2026

9/11 Museum

New York City 31 Aug 2026

9/11 Museum

New York City 31 Aug 2026

9/11 Museum

New York City 31 Aug 2026

9/11 Museum

New York City 31 Aug 2026

9/11 Museum

New York City 31 Aug 2026

9/11 Museum

New York City 31 Aug 2026

9/11 Museum

New York City 31 Aug 2026

9/11 Museum

New York City 31 Aug 2026

9/11 Memorial

New York City 31 Aug 2026

9/11 Memorial

New York City 31 Aug 2026

9/11 Memorial

New York City 31 Aug 2026

9/11 Memorial

New York City 31 Aug 2026 - North end of The Battery

American Merchant Mariners' Memorial

New York City 31 Aug 2026

Other side of New York Stock Exchange

New York City 31 Aug 2026

New York City 31 Aug 2026

Empire State Building

New York City 31 Aug 2026

St. Patrick's Cathedral - It takes up a whole city block...

New York City 31 Aug 2026

St. Patrick's Cathedral

New York City 31 Aug 2026

St. Patrick's Cathedral

New York City 31 Aug 2026

St. Patrick's Cathedral

New York City 31 Aug 2026

St. Patrick's Cathedral

New York City 31 Aug 2026

St. Patrick's Cathedral - Pieta II

New York City 31 Aug 2026

St. Patrick's Cathedral - Blessed Michael McGivney, founder of Knights of Columbus

New York City 31 Aug 2026

St. Patrick's Cathedral

New York City 31 Aug 2026

St. Patrick's Cathedral

New York City 31 Aug 2026

St. Patrick's Cathedral

New York City 31 Aug 2026

St. Patrick's Cathedral

New York City 31 Aug 2026

St. Patrick's Cathedral

New York City 31 Aug 2026

St. Patrick's Cathedral

New York City 31 Aug 2026

Subway

New York City 31 Aug 2026

Chinatown

New York City 31 Aug 2026

Little Italy

On our third day we took a ferry to Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty. We had to walk to Liberty State Park on the New Jersey side to take the Statue City Cruise ferry. We saw Ellis Island first and then went on to the Statue of Liberty. On Ellis Island there is lots of information and stories about the immigrants who came through Ellis Island between 1892 and 1924 (the peak years). Ellis Island processed over 12 million immigrants during its years of operation (1892-1954). We watched a short film about the process immigrants endured going through Ellis Island and we came away feeling very grateful to have been born in America.

We were amazed at the size of the Statue of Liberty up close! We went up to the pedestal of the statue and enjoyed the view from up there. There were no tickets to the crown that day. Anita had been to Ellis Island and the Statue of Liberty back in 2000 and she found it to be much more evolved with more information and an easy flow to all the sections available to see. Back in 2000 thick books of all the immigrant names were available to search. Now it’s all computerized. We walked quite a bit that day too, but by the end of the it was just 7 miles.

Liberty State Park New Jersey - 1 Sep 2026

Liberty State Park New Jersey - 1 Sep 2026

Liberty State Park New Jersey - 1 Sep 2026

Statue City Cruise Building

Liberty State Park New Jersey - 1 Sep 2026

Statue City Cruise Building formerly a Railroad Terminal with 20 rail lines

Liberty State Park New Jersey - 1 Sep 2026

Statue City Cruise Building

Liberty State Park New Jersey - 1 Sep 2026

Waiting on Statue City Cruise...

Overview of Ellis Island and Liberty Island with ferry route

1 Sep 2026

Liberty State Park New Jersey - 1 Sep 2026

Statue City Cruise Building

Liberty State Park New Jersey - 1 Sep 2026

Boat to Ellis Island and Statue of Liberty

Ellis Island New York - 1 Sep 2026

Ellis Island New York - 1 Sep 2026

Ellis Island New York - 1 Sep 2026

Ellis Island New York - 1 Sep 2026

Ellis Island New York - 1 Sep 2026

Ellis Island New York - 1 Sep 2026

Ellis Island New York - 1 Sep 2026

Ellis Island New York - 1 Sep 2026

Ellis Island New York - 1 Sep 2026