I love New York
It is my first ever visit to New York, and I now fully understand the “I love New York” brand. Only here for four days, but having a great time. Have caught up with some Kiwi friends in the Big Apple, and also made some new American friends!
This is what you see if you catch a NY taxi. You see your location on a GPS map, plus get the live news. Now that is cool – especially for someone like me whose brain wants to explode if stuck in a taxi with nothing to do.
I caught the train up from DC (definitely the way to travel if under five hours), and alighted at Penn Station.
My hotel is next to Times Square. Having seen it on the TV so much, it was cool to actually be there and just taking in the huge billboards, the screens and oh yeah the hundreds of free seats on the roads. It is the most vibrant place I have been to – absolutely humming. Would love to do a New Years Eve here.
This is at the New York City Information Centre in Manhattan. They have these giant interactive table displays with a giant map of New York. You touch the screen to see various places, landmarks and facilities and click the ones you are interested in. It then produces a customised map for you showing the locations you wanted, plus gives background one each of them. You can e-mail it to you (as I did above) or have it printed out.
I absolutely recommend to anyone doing the tourist thing in NYC to go to the Visitors Centre (the one at Bloomingdales) first and ask for Louise. Without doing a sell, she tells you all the stuff that you might want to do, can advise on where to buy things, and is just a superb Ambassador for the city – even though she is Chicago born. She has been out to NZ also, and loves Kiwiland.
The other reason you should go to the Visitors Centre first is you can buy tickets for stuff like the Statue of Liberty and Empire State Building in advance. This can save hours of later queuing.
This is the lower part of the famous Central Park. very relaxing – reading a book under a tree during a spare hour.
Not much to see due to the construction but this is Ground Zero.
This is now displayed at Battery Park in the Downtown. It used to be displayed in the foyer (or nearby) of the World Trade Centre and while battered and dented, survived miraculously.
This is the view of Midtown and Downtown from the Empire State Building. And if you think that looks big, consider this is just part of Manhattan, which is only a small (but the best) part of New York City.
If you wish to go up the Empire State Building, I absolutely recommend you get a ticket in advance, rather than queue for a ticket at the building. But be warned – even without queuing for a ticket, it can take close to an hour to get to the top. You queue over half a dozen times – the security queue, the ticket check queue, the stupid queue to have a photo taken even if you don’t want one, the queue for a lift etc. But yes it is worth waiting for.
This is the view towards Uptown and the Bronx. You can just make Central Park out towards the left.
Until you look down you forget how high up you are. Those other buidings are actually pretty huge but are dwarfed by the ESB. Up until 1971 it was the tallest building in the world, until the World Trade Centre was built.
It has been visited by 110 million people.
July 1st, 2009 at 3:07 pm
have fun david, a great city
July 1st, 2009 at 3:08 pm
’tis a great town NYC, Washington Square, around SoHo, NoHo and West Village are fun too!
July 1st, 2009 at 3:09 pm
I’m glad you enjoyed the recent pedestrianising of 6 blocks of Broadway through Times Square. If only we had the vision to do something similar to Queen Street here in Auckland.
July 1st, 2009 at 3:24 pm
David
As a long time resident I suggest, if you have a chance… that you attempt to get a ticket to one of the Broadway Shows. They do it better there than anywhere else I’ve ever seen (although the Melbourne Phantom of the Opera in late 1990 was damned impressive). Do try. Often you can pick up tickets to replace folks who have canceled.
This is STRONGLY recommended.
regards
BJ
July 1st, 2009 at 3:29 pm
Take the ferry ride around the Island if you have time and if you are flying out through Kennedy then splash out and take the Helicopter connection from the Wall st Helipad. The view is spectacular.
July 1st, 2009 at 4:40 pm
Great place to visit, not such a flash place to live.
I went and saw a Rikki Lake show live as part of the audience. Best comedy in town that was.
July 1st, 2009 at 5:10 pm
FWIW I rate the view from the GE Building (aka “30 Rock”) better than the Empire State.
July 1st, 2009 at 5:16 pm
Glad you have managed to make it to the Big Apple David…
Even better than a Broadway show is the David Letterman Show. Along Broadway from the Ed Sullivan Theater into the heart of Times Square they give out free David Letterman tickets (usually around 12:30 – 3pm most days that they do taping) I at first thought there was a catch but there wasn’t and the show was great and David when he was chatting to the audience before the taping said that there’s was the best show on Broadway where you don’t have to pay $$$…
I like the views from ESBDavid, I instead went up top of Rockefeller (Top of the Rock) as it was described by Nat Geographic as better and you actually get a decent view of Central Park but I will try ESB next time…
East Village kicks ass so pop down to East Houston St and Washington Square Park is fun as you hear drug deals going down near by…
July 1st, 2009 at 5:20 pm
NY is one of my favourite cities. I would also recommend, if you have time, heading upstate out of the city. Go north of Yonkers and into the ‘burbs and towns and you will see the place is just gorgeous.
July 1st, 2009 at 5:30 pm
What is even more amazing is that the Empire State Building was built from scratch in 13 months. These days you can’t even get a resource consent in 13 months.
July 1st, 2009 at 5:36 pm
New York is a fantastic city – just so much to see and do, no matter what you’re into. And the Metro makes it so easy to get around. I endorse the Broadway show recommendation (we got 1/2 price tix to Avenue Q last year, and loved it), and would add a plug for taking the Staten Island ferry (good views of the Statue of Liberty), heading to the Bronx for a Yankees game, having a squiz at MOMA, wandering Central Park, and also popping into a little gastropub called Nelson Blue – the first (and only) ever Kiwi-themed bar in NYC – it’s on Front St at the South Street Seaport, down near the Brooklyn Bridge. You get great views of the BB at night, specially imported Kiwi lamb, mussels etc on the menu, Speights and Steinlager on tap, and the Kiwi owner (Pauli) is a real character…
July 1st, 2009 at 6:33 pm
and that ‘gorgeous’ countryside is only about an hour out of manhatten..
..well worth hiring a car for the day..
..but in manhatten..walk..!
..the street/people is what makes it such an exciting/alive city..
one of my n.y. musical-moments..was james brown..at the apollo theatre..in harlem..
..all i can say is..
..whoar..!
(wilson pickett at the hard rock cafe..also gave the ‘tingles’..)
phil(whoar.co.nz)
July 1st, 2009 at 9:11 pm
Geez, I read this stuff and I look at the photos and I just scratch my head…I lived in London for seven or so years and that’s me done with big city stuff (from about seven weeks after I moved there). Auckland is plenty big enough for me…gotta go to Melbourne next week and I’m really not looking forward to that either…nowt so queer as folk as me old Yorkshire gran useta say…
July 1st, 2009 at 9:20 pm
Enjoy NY David, a wild spot, thriving city, some awesome food places on the many side streets… Found a very great Japanese resturant in the CBD, had fantastic food…
Enjoy…
July 1st, 2009 at 9:37 pm
Ah a truly breathtaking city. Did the same quick look around *again* about 5 weeks ago – gets better every time you go back! Also agree about heading upstate though if you get a chance.
And don’t forget the hotdogs :O
July 2nd, 2009 at 1:47 am
Try the Italian pizza over there David.
Like Cactus advised to me, they are really good.
July 2nd, 2009 at 2:13 am
Don’t forget the Tea Party Protest in Times Square, David
http://jammiewearingfool.blogspot.com/2009/07/tea-time-in-times-square.html
And will you be catching up with Uncle Helen?
July 2nd, 2009 at 2:43 am
Are you using a phone to take your photos? They’re looking a little fuzzy. Recommend The Olympus Stylus 9000 if you’re looking for a light point-and-click camera. Cheaper here in the US than back in NZ!
July 2nd, 2009 at 7:26 am
DPF – try going to the USS Intrepid museum. Great museum on a vintage WWII flat top (modified with an angled flight deck in the 60s I think). You can pretty much wander all over the ship. Brilliant.
July 2nd, 2009 at 8:32 am
So we can assume you’ll remember this affair.
July 2nd, 2009 at 1:55 pm
Just 20 mins longer than Amtrak and about US$80 cheaper, try the Chinatown buses $15-20 NY-DC for totally unique experience. The bus drivers are either wannabe comedians or psychopaths. Fellow passengers are either psychopaths or wannabe comedians. Megabus and Boltbus have free wi-fi. Depart On the hour and always on time unless they are pulled over by cops for speeding or crash.
July 2nd, 2009 at 2:29 pm
Lucky bugger, this years holiday is a day trip to the tavern in down town Rahotu.
July 2nd, 2009 at 2:31 pm
Go to the Lower East side and one of the old style Jewish kosher delis for real lox and bagels.
Uptown a great deli is Zabars on the Upper West Side
if you are of a literary bent a drink at the Algonquin Hotel is fun.
July 2nd, 2009 at 2:38 pm
rakaia george..
equating london with new york..
..is like equating whangarei with sydney..
phil(whoar.co.nz)
July 2nd, 2009 at 2:41 pm
aahh!!
..’downtown rahotu..!’
…aahh!!..the memories..!
phil(whoar.co.nz)