The night we arrived in New York was the 2nd night of the transport strike in 2005 so the hour or so drive from JFK to our hotel took well over 3 hours. If we hadn’t been so tired and jetlagged it would have actually been a fantastic introduction to the city. We actually passed our street – 56th St – not long after we got into the city itself but as it turned out we were the last of about 10 drop offs so we ended up going almost all the way to Downtown and back up the west side before it was our turn to get out.
The first ‘introduction’ to New York though was the sight of the Chrysler Building rising up over the horizon and from that moment is was “WOW ! We’re actually in NY !”
I’m going to limit the words to make room for the pics but a few points to make would be –
Walking – we walked pretty much everywhere with ease and complete feeling of safety. The streets are very easy to navigate and while the subway is a good way to get around you appreciate it so much more to be in amongst the crowd.
Crowds – There are people everywhere. We were supposedly there in the ‘off season’ but even some of the locals were commenting on the unusual number of people in the city.
Queues – Lots of people = enormous queues! 2 of the things we intended to do we go up the Empire State Building and take the ferry to the Statue of Liberty ….. Think again ! The line for the ferry stretched for over half a kilometre and the line for the Empire State Building was much the same – and this was before 9am !
Top of the Rock – After giving the Empire State away as a bad joke we decided to go up to the observation deck in Rockefeller Plaza. There was still a queue here but nowhere near as long and discretely hidden a few floors up so you. This turned out to be a far better choice anyway because the Empire State Building is actually in the view from here.
Squirrels – if you have a thing for cute furry animals head to Madison Square Park in the Union Square area …. There are squirrels everywhere and they are a lot more friendly and inquisitive than they are in Central Park.
Xmas – if you are there at Xmas time and you intend to eat Xmas dinner at a restaurant advertising a “Traditional Xmas Menu” make sure you check exactly what they mean by that. We booked into the VERY expensive hotel restaurant for Xmas dinner – something we were really looking forward to after spending the full day strolling around Central Park - only to find it was the exact same menu we had chosen from a couple of nights before ….. Traditional Xmas Menu can = the usual menu the restaurant uses at that time of year – just at a more highly inflated price.
Tipping – We were very lucky where this was concerned. Considering everything we did during our time there we managed to avoid most of the usual ‘tip required’ things. Best to read up on the tipping customs before you go because coming from a culture where it is generally discouraged it can be a shock to see how important it is elsewhere ….. People have been known to be chased down the street by their waiter for not leaving a ‘suitable enough’ tip.
Carnegie Deli – We went here on the strong recommendation of a colleague at work. This is one of the homes of corned beef sandwiches that would stop your heart. There always seemed to be a line to get in and once you were inside the service was ….well …. Shit! They literally throw the food, and drinks, on the table in front of you …. And when it’s time to go the waiter points to where you go to pay the bill and where you leave the tip... “Pay there, tip there” … no “thank you for coming”, “hope you enjoyed your meal”, “kiss my arse” …. Nothin’!
Coffee – If you love coffee be prepared – they do not know how to make coffee here. I was so desperate for a good coffee by the time we left I would have happily eaten Nescafe straight out of the jar by the spoonful
The first ‘introduction’ to New York though was the sight of the Chrysler Building rising up over the horizon and from that moment is was “WOW ! We’re actually in NY !”
I’m going to limit the words to make room for the pics but a few points to make would be –
Walking – we walked pretty much everywhere with ease and complete feeling of safety. The streets are very easy to navigate and while the subway is a good way to get around you appreciate it so much more to be in amongst the crowd.
Crowds – There are people everywhere. We were supposedly there in the ‘off season’ but even some of the locals were commenting on the unusual number of people in the city.
Queues – Lots of people = enormous queues! 2 of the things we intended to do we go up the Empire State Building and take the ferry to the Statue of Liberty ….. Think again ! The line for the ferry stretched for over half a kilometre and the line for the Empire State Building was much the same – and this was before 9am !
Top of the Rock – After giving the Empire State away as a bad joke we decided to go up to the observation deck in Rockefeller Plaza. There was still a queue here but nowhere near as long and discretely hidden a few floors up so you. This turned out to be a far better choice anyway because the Empire State Building is actually in the view from here.
Squirrels – if you have a thing for cute furry animals head to Madison Square Park in the Union Square area …. There are squirrels everywhere and they are a lot more friendly and inquisitive than they are in Central Park.
Xmas – if you are there at Xmas time and you intend to eat Xmas dinner at a restaurant advertising a “Traditional Xmas Menu” make sure you check exactly what they mean by that. We booked into the VERY expensive hotel restaurant for Xmas dinner – something we were really looking forward to after spending the full day strolling around Central Park - only to find it was the exact same menu we had chosen from a couple of nights before ….. Traditional Xmas Menu can = the usual menu the restaurant uses at that time of year – just at a more highly inflated price.
Tipping – We were very lucky where this was concerned. Considering everything we did during our time there we managed to avoid most of the usual ‘tip required’ things. Best to read up on the tipping customs before you go because coming from a culture where it is generally discouraged it can be a shock to see how important it is elsewhere ….. People have been known to be chased down the street by their waiter for not leaving a ‘suitable enough’ tip.
Carnegie Deli – We went here on the strong recommendation of a colleague at work. This is one of the homes of corned beef sandwiches that would stop your heart. There always seemed to be a line to get in and once you were inside the service was ….well …. Shit! They literally throw the food, and drinks, on the table in front of you …. And when it’s time to go the waiter points to where you go to pay the bill and where you leave the tip... “Pay there, tip there” … no “thank you for coming”, “hope you enjoyed your meal”, “kiss my arse” …. Nothin’!
Coffee – If you love coffee be prepared – they do not know how to make coffee here. I was so desperate for a good coffee by the time we left I would have happily eaten Nescafe straight out of the jar by the spoonful
The Chrysler Building - this was the sight that greeted us
as we drove into the city - clearly not the same night though
due to the lack of grid locked traffic !
ESB from the Top of the Rock Observation Deck
View of Central Park from Top of the Rock
Line for the ferry to the Statue of Liberty -
WINNER of the longest queue in NY !
Lady Liberty through the smog from Battery Park
And from the air .... well, when you can't get on the ferry
what else do you do but take a helicopter ???
Yankee Stadium
Central Park and Upper East & West Sides from the air
Ground Zero - not exactly 'haunting' as I had heard but most definitely sombre
World Trade Centre Globe which used to stand in the forecourt of the complex - salvaged from the ruins and place in Battery Park
The Trinity Root - was cast from the roots of a sycamore tree
which used to stand in the grounds of the Trinity Church on Wall Street.
It was destroyed when the WTC collapsed
Flat Iron Building - a location used in many many movies -
and something that BJ REALLY wanted to get some good
photos of was covered in scaffolding while we were there .......
........ as was the Guggenheim Museum !
........ as was the Guggenheim Museum ! Another building BJ REALLY wanted photos of.
Ah well..... it's not like we walked over 40 blocks to get there !
Entrance to Madison Sq Garden .... Which oddly enough is round - and had no gardens ! :-)
Radio City Music Hall ..... Radio City Stage ...... Radio City Rockette ...... we met a real one but this one was less plastic !
Upper East Side at Sunset - looking over Jacqueline Kennedy Reservoir in Central Park
More in the next entry ........
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