New York Diary - Day 3

We were met by the New York autumn weather, the girls now understood gossip girls fashion with their amazing long warm coats and high covering boots. 

First thing in the morning, we boarded the ferry to go to the Statue of Liberty. We were met by a gust of wind which led to Arran seeing the purchase of a rather large green blanket to be a perfectly inelastic good. 

Everyone was very impressed by the Statue of Liberty as many did not know it was given as a present from the French 100 years after the revolution to celebrate their relationship created from the French’s aid so they could beat the British. The whole group of Fettesians were wanting to catch this unique moment by taking multiple photos, even the teachers wanted to catch this moment...with some interesting results from photo-bombers.

Ellis Island was the next stop of our day. The buildings were screaming grand American architecture. The history of America is vast and diverse just like the volume of immigration. We were enlightened by the push and pull factors for leaving their country for the new United States. There were many commonalities with the reasons for leaving eg lack of economic opportunity, famines and overcrowding in their countries. We saw many economic push factors and how there were many government schemes at the start of the 1900’s for getting families to the United States e.g. the Salvation Army helped war orphans in Britain to start a new life in the USA. Also thanks to technological advancement steam engines were faster and cheaper hence lowering the proportion of income spent on travel, boosting opportunities for migration. We also saw how the movement of the business cycle can effect the magnitude of the entry of immigration as many who came to the US had fallen to be a victim of cyclical unemployment. We left the island feeling more connected to the roots of the states. We were able to see the impact of how US immigration was a big part for the development of the country as well as the city of New York. 

On the way to the United Nations we were able to witness the very powerful memorial for the victims of 9/11. Seeing the water going down to the earth made us imagine the collapse of the twin towers and the lives stolen. 

After witnessing the thought provoking monument, we spotted Central Station which we had only seen in movies  
and tv shows before. After another photo shoot, we had a New York lunch and made our way to the UN.

In the wake of the UN General Assembly a couple of weeks ago, the MathsEcon group visited the UN building in New York. After a rigorous hour long security check, followed by some jumper related shenanigans. We finally got to enter the building where all the big decisions are made. The halls of the UN are decorated with beautiful pieces of artwork donated from the 193 members states and we fortunately managed to catch sight of an ongoing conference regarding the persecution of Myanmar’s Rohingya population in progress where diplomats from all over the world deliberated the best course of action. Our tour guide brought us to the different conference rooms, ranging from the economic and social conference room to the grand general assembly, where Donald Trump delivered a speech a few weeks ago. We quizzed our guide in some of the functions and ambiguities of the UN and once we’d found out all we needed to know, we were ready to end the great visit. 

We then made our way back towards Times Square for some much needed retail therapy before meeting for dinner at Planet Hollywood. 

By Katherine L & Ezra O