Welcome Week Review

Tuesday, August 26

East Village Walking Tour

While the East Village Walking Tour was not an official Global NY! event, it was a great opportunity for all Goddard residents, as well as Global NY!ers, to explore the beautiful East Village, most of which is created on reclaimed river. It is an area renowned for its history of immigration and dynamic social movements. We took in - amongst other sites - La Plaza Cultural, Astor Place & Cooper Union, the East River Promenade, Little Tokyo/St. Mark's Place, Little Ukraine and Tompkins Square Park.


Wednesday, August 27
Screening: The Godfather, Part II

To prepare for our trip to Ellis & Liberty Islands, we held a
screening of "The Godfather, Part II", the Oscar-winning sequel about the Corleone mafia family. We enjoyed the images of immigration in Robert DeNiro's portrayal of Vito Corleone, who came to the US from Sicily via Ellis Island. Vito's story provided a great example of the struggles most immigrants faced - in their home country, getting through Ellis Island, and establishing themselves in NYC.


Friday, August 29
Ellis & Liberty Islands

So, when you're in New York City and you want to see monuments to immigration, symbols of America's "Melting Pot", where do you go? THE STATUE OF LIBERTY, of course! And Ellis Island! So that's what we did. It was an enjoyable day trip to experience first-hand the path of immigrants coming in from Europe in the late-1800s, early-1900s. Students were able to draw upon the East Village Walking Tour and "The Godfather, Part II" to more completely understand the importance of monuments in creating, preserving and promoting the timeless GLOBAL character of NYC.