New Jersey

On the occasion of a long tour in North America made together with three travel companions — to whose related itineraries I refer you — I reached New Jersey twice. The first time by ferry: having set off from Battery Park in New York we entered the territorial waters of New Jersey, docking at Liberty Island, an enclave of New York State surrounded by the waters of New Jersey that is home to the very famous Statue of Liberty. Since 11 September 2001 it has not been possible to go up the statue, so we prefer to enjoy it from the ferry, in practice observing it from New Jersey. From here we set off again to reach Ellis Island, the little island famous as the collection point for the immigrants who reached the U.S.A. crossing the Atlantic, today turned into a memorial museum.

The little island was the subject of a long dispute between the states of New York and New Jersey, but recently most of its territory was assigned to the latter. New York State retained a small percentage of territory located inland, in the area where part of the museum is situated. At Ellis Island, in the old red-brick building, thousands of emigrants passed through, coming above all from Europe, so much so that one can say that most of the inhabitants of the States have roots on this island. Here the emigrants were kept in quarantine before receiving permission to enter the country, and some were even turned back. In the large rooms the voices of the emigrants symbolically echo, their photos hang on the walls, and their poor personal belongings are displayed in the cases.

After visiting the museum we left Ellis Island and New Jersey by ferry to return to New York in the state of the same name. During the short cruise to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island we observed the urban sprawl of Jersey City, which faces the strait just a few kilometres away. Jersey City, although belonging to New Jersey, is in fact a district of the "Big Apple", which it also resembles very closely. A couple of days later we passed through New Jersey during the transfer from New York to Niagara Falls. We drove the New Jersey motorway in a car hired shortly before in New York. In practice we saw only countryside, and after a few hours we had already left the state to enter Pennsylvania, continuing our transfer towards Niagara Falls. (For information on New York and Niagara Falls see the New York State itinerary. For Pennsylvania see the related itinerary.)