Brooklyn,
New York City, Wednesday, May 5, 2005, 10:10 am
Hello from New York City (2) - Exploring Mid-Town
Manhattan
Since our plane landed nice and early we had virtually a whole
day left to explore yesterday. The weather was pretty nice, quite
sunny when we started, although it clouded over a little and was
a little on the cool side, it never got much above 15 degrees Celsius.
Around noon time we hopped on the Q subway line, which is literally
5 minutes from our bed and breakfast, and we made our way into Manhattan.
The subway actually emerges at the Manhattan Bridge and we got a
good look at the Brooklyn Bridge and the south-eastern tip of Manhattan.
We decided to get off on Times Square, figuring that this would
be pretty good place to start exploring NYC. Times Square, with
all its neon advertising signs, and promotional displays is something
else. The sidewalks were totally full of people strolling and tons
of promoters were handing out flyers for broadway shows, comedy
shows and other entertainment events. There is so much advertising
in the Times Square area with lights and displays blinking everywhere,
that the individual advertisements actually started to run into
one another in my mind, probably not the effect the advertisers
tried to achieve. Indeed, the hustle and bustle in this area is
huge and can get a little overwhelming.
Neon lights galore at Times Square
We strolled around that area for a while, and walked by Rockefeller
Center, although we did not get to explore the whole complex. Then
we tracked down Grand Central Terminal and walked through this grandiose
historic train station which opened in 1913. There are over 100
commuter train platforms at Grand central and they all run off a
glorious central concourse.
The famous Chrysler Building.
The east side of Grand Central opens out almost straight onto the
Chrysler Building, and considering that I am a huge fan of Art Deco
skyscrapers, I had to go inside this 1929 masterpiece. As a tourist
you can only access the lobby, but the central area with its ceiling
mural and the authentic Art Deco elevators (and their doors covered
in wood marquetry) are definitely worth a little detour.
Then we snaked our way up towards Central Park, mostly on Lexington
and Fifth Avenues. We walked by the (apparently just closed) famous
Plaza Hotel and into the south end of Central Park, a masterpiece
of landscape design and 850 acres of much-needed recreational space
by the famous landscape designer Frederick Law Olmstead. We only
explored the south end, including the Dairy and Sheep Meadow and
headed out onto Central Park West with all its stately apartment
buildings, including the Dakota Building, in front of which John
Lennon was shot in 1980. The Strawberry Fields hillside garden was
dedicated to his memory.
The Dakota Building.
Everything is blooming here right now, and New York City is definitely
a few weeks ahead of Toronto in terms of the horticultural cycle.
Something was in the air, and I had to sneeze about a hundred times,
and by the end of the day we both had to pick up some allergy medication
since we were both battling major hayfever symptoms.
Then a brief hop on the subway later, we popped up again in Greenwich
Village, a beautiful neighbourhood of brownstone townhouses and
took in the ambience. We ended up at a nice little restaurant on
7th Avenue, called "Pennyfeathers" where we had a beautiful
dinner in an enclosed porch so we could take in the street life.
A couple of subway rides later we came back to our temporary home
in Brooklyn where we dropped into bed exhausted from all the walking,
trying to catch up on a bit of rest for the next day.
Useful books for travel to New York City:
Related articles:
"Hello from New York City (1) -
First Impressions of the Big Apple"
"Hello from New York City (2) - Exploring
Mid-Town Manhattan"
"Hello from New York City (3) - Brooklyn
Bridge, Ground Zero, Downtown"
"Hello from New York City (4) - Staten
Island and a Random Act of Violence"
"Hello from New York City (5) - A
Local Expert Takes Us Through Queens"
"Hello from New York City (6) - Checking
Out Coney Island and Harlem"
"Hello from New York City (7) - Prospect
Park & Washington Square Park"
Here is my New York City budget accommodation guide - small
hotels.
Here is my New York City budget accommodation guide - hostels.
Here is my New York City budget accommodation guide - bed
and breakfasts.
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