New York Visit

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Created on Tuesday, 01 June 2010 18:30

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I went to New York last week for work and since I had to fly in to JFK and then on to Rochester, I spent the weekend in New York City before taking the connecting flight. It was my first time to the city so it was a blast exploring all of the places I'd only heard about or seen in movies!

I arrived on Saturday afternoon and took a shuttle to my hotel, Park Central, which took longer than anticipated. I hadn't eaten anything all day but a buttermilk spice muffin for breakfast and a few cookies and blue chips on the flight, so I really wanted to eat when I got to the hotel. I also wanted to try and catch a Broadway show that first night and I had planned on hitting the TKTS booth just a few blocks away after my arrival, but it was so late that I decided to try and get a ticket at the door. I quickly walked the 13 blocks to the theater and waited for a cancellation. At the last minute, I got an orchestra seat and then grabbed the only food available, a box of chocolate covered cashews, to hold me until the end of the show. Michael Dameski did a wonderful job singing and dancing as Billy and Elton John's score is fantastic.

I ran down to the corner during intermission to grab a chicken skewer from a street vendor. Very tasty but didn't do much to fill me up. After the show I walked around Time Square a bit but my shoes were new and were really hurting my feet. I headed back to my hotel and veered left onto Broadway rather than right onto 7th without realizing it until I saw the Late Show sign. Cool! I knew I hadn't passed it on the way down the block. I headed over to 7th Ave. and found the Carnegie Deli right next to my hotel. I ordered my favorite corned beef sandwich with turkey, cole slaw and Russian dressing. It was enough to feed my entire family! I told Abe he should have come on the trip since his vacation was last week, but he didn't and consequently missed out on the big sandwich.

The next day I had a reservation for a Statue of Liberty/Ellis Island tour at 2PM, so I thought I would explore Central Park, get a bagel at Ess-a-bagel and hit the shops on 5th Avenue, which were close to the hotel. Best laid plans yadda yadda... I started walking toward the park and realized that all the streets toward 5th were blockaded. I envisioned another bomb scare but a policeman told everyone it was just a parade. I went into the park and figured I would come out somewhere past the parade route and then head over to 5th. Central Park is really beautiful this time of year, very shady and green! I came out of the park around 68th St. and lo and behold there was the parade route stretched up and down the street as far as the eye could see, with no way to cross over.

I figured that since I was so far beyond my intended shopping area that I would just head over to the candy store Eva requested I visit. I had to backtrack to 60th to cross the Salute to Israel Parade which had begun. I called Eva for the address of Dylan's Candy Bar and the Tuck Shop, where I wanted to get an Aussie pie and headed that direction. The candy shop was close and I had fun taking pics and shopping for Eva.

I thought the Tuck Shop was just a few blocks up at 68th and 1st Ave but I couldn't find it anywhere. I called Eva again and realized that the shop was not at 68th and 1st but 68 1st Street, which is basically at the corner of 1st St and 1st Ave. haha Not even close. No pie for me and by this time I was starving, so I grabbed a hot dog at another corner vendor and headed back to the hotel to drop off the candy and figure out the subway route to the Liberty Ferry. During my walk I had 2 people approach me to find out if they had to pay for parking on a Sunday. Beats me!  I hit the parade route again at 56th St. and had to backtrack to 57th to cross over. By the time I made my subway exit near Battery Park, I had ten minutes before the tour. While checking out the map posted on the subway entrance, 3 different people approached me to get directions. I sent 2 of them to Greenwich St. and the 3rd asked where Macy's was located. Without hesitation I said, "34th Street". "Are you sure?", he asked? "Miracle on 34th Street", I replied. He felt really stupid and headed for the subway. And what's with all the questions, do I look like a New Yorker?

I went through airport style security to board the ferry to Liberty Island. It was a surprisingly slow day, so there were no crowds and I had plenty of time to look around. Climbed quite a few steps just to get to the top of the pedestal, where there was a great view of Manhatten. Ferry'd to Ellis Island next and walked the same halls as millions of immigrants to America. Did you know that doctors at the island were so adept at identifying medical conditions among the immigrants that they conducted what was known as the six second physical?

I walked up to Ground Zero from Battery Park and then over to Wall Street. It was Sunday so it was pretty quiet in the financial district. I picked up a replica of the Charging Bull for Abe. When you are at our house, make sure you read the little plaque on it's pedestal. It's a riot!

I decided to try and find the Tuck Shop one more time. Took a cab through Chinatown and past Mulberry street. Upon learning that I was a newbie to NY, the cabbie was very helpful and gave me a guided tour of the area. I made it to the Tuck Shop (finally!) and enjoyed a delicious traditional Aussie beef pie as I walked from 1st/1st to the Empire State Building at 34th/6th. There were few people at this landmark, as well, which made it easy to view the city from all sides of the building. Beautiful view. It was funny listening to the comments around me. One visitor was trying to figure out what the 'big green thing' was in the center of upper Manhatten. Um...Central Park? I realized that my tennis shoes were not the best ones I could have chosen for walking many miles in one day, so I walked another block to Macy's and  toured the store a bit while shopping for new shoes. Wrong time of year as it would have been nice to visit the store Santa. haha The new shoes were great, but I already had blisters from the other shoes, so I took the subway back to my hotel. I had just enough time to eat a traditional NY style pizza and get back to my hotel for the final episode of Lost. My response at the end: Are you kidding me?!

In the morning I took the Subway to the Upper West Side to H&H Bagels (where Kramer worked on Seinfeld - he was on strike for 12 years) and Zabar's for coffee with milk. Very good! I had one more Subway trip on my card which was all I needed to get back to my hotel and wouldn't you know it, the gate stuck and I had to buy a whole new 4-trip card. There were no singles available at that Subway station. If anyone is going to NYC in the next year, you can have my unused Subway rides. I stored my bags for a few hours and finally went shopping on 5th Avenue. I only bought a few items at FAO Schwarz but it was fun looking. Walked around Rockefeller Center and back through Time Square before taking the most horrendous ride of my life on an airport shuttle back to JFK. I survived (barely!) to grab my connecting flight to Rochester and work, where life was much more relaxing. I spent the next four days in a training class along with some guys I've worked with for years but never met. They were great fun and introduced me to Five Guys Burgers, a nice crepe restaurant at the Erie Canal, an upscale biker bar, Lake Ontario and Bill Gray's while I was there. I also enjoyed Abbot's Frozen Custard and Friendly's. I need to double-up on my cycle classes for a while to make up for it!

It was a great trip. I learned a lot about the new platform I will be working on, had a lot of fun during my off hours, and read a million books on the plane (I still need to write reviews). I'd love to make another trip to NYC sometime but I'll need to win the lottery first. :D