So here's the long version of my NYC trip:

Brookhaven Labs is near the Shirley-Mastic station of the Long Island Rail Road, but there aren't any trains between 8AM and 1PM, so I had to drive 10 miles down the highway to Patchogue (pronounced "patch-ig"). From there I rode an express bus to Babylon station because they were doing maintenance on the track. If I had known, I would have just driven down to Babylon, which is only about 30 more miles down the road. At Babylon, I finally got on a train to Penn Station in downtown Manhattan.

My first stop was to take the subway down to Ground Zero. It was pretty intense staring at the huge concrete hole in the ground where the World Trade Center once stood. And it's hard not to tear up in St. Paul's chapel across the street. The have preserved inside some of the memorabilia people left at the site those first few weeks, like pictures of missing loved ones and firefighter patches.

Since I was downtown, I decided to walk down Wall Street. It was narrow and pretty boring; just a bunch of stuffy banks.

By now it was 1PM, so I decided I had time to visit the Metropolitan Museum of Art. It's by Central Park, so it was a long subway ride. The museum is a few blocks away from the subway station, so I got to walk past Park Avenue highrises and ladies walking their stupid fluffy dogs. The Met was pretty cool, and frickin' huge. There are so many cool things there, but I limited myself to European Painting, American Painting, and some Modern Art. I walked past a lot of old furniture, which is something you don't see much in art museums. They have a bunch of Picassos (who I still don't get), and I was really impressed with the Rembrandts and Vermeers. I wish there were more people today who could paint like that. There was a Matisse exhibition, but I didn't go 'cause I don't care about him. One the roof they had a special installation by Sol LeWitt that is supposed to be a modern take on the New York skyline. I heard one stupid high school girl say "You know what would be cool? Take a picture of that with this in front." That being the skyline, and this being the artist's skyline. And I'm thinking "duh!"

By the time I was finished with the tiny part of the Met I allowed myself to peruse, it was time to head over to the East Village and the Giant Robot store. Then I ate at a local dumplings place. They had the best, freshest, veggie dumplings I've ever had. I recommend that anyone over in that part of the city definitely try this place.

After dinner, it was time to start heading back to Penn Station. It's relatively close to Times Square, so I decided to swing by there instead and walk to Penn Station. Let me tell you, Times Square is fucking intense, with all those neon lights and video screens staring you down. It's worse than Las Vegas because it's basically one big enclosed area rather than a long strip. There I saw MTV studios, and people from Comedy Central were out trying to get an audience for a new show they're taping. Alas, I didn't have the time!

Back in Penn Station, it was a little confusing to figure out which train to take out of there, unlike coming into the city where there's only one train on one track. But I got it and headed out to Babylon. When we arrived, the conductor called it the end of the line, I went down to find the bus to take me back to Patchogue, but there weren't any busses. Then I realized that I must transfer to the other train at the station, but when I got back up to the platform it was just pulling away. So I had to wait an hour for the next transfer to come by. That pretty much sucked. I got back to the lab at about 11PM. It was a pretty full day.

For anyone interested in costs:
One way from Patchogue to Penn Station (off peak) = $9.50
One way from Penn Station to Patchogue (peak) = $13.00
One day "fun pass" for the subway = $7.00
Student admission to the Met = $7.00