New York City - My Take On The Big Apple

-
Hotel Bellclaire
A market just around the corner on Broadway
We stayed at the Hotel Belleclaire near 77th Street and Broadway during our Easter weekend getaway.  It is a cozy boutique style hotel with smallish but comfortable rooms. It is well situated near a subway station and a great jumping off point to just about anywhere in the city. 

If you preferred not to venture into the downtown area you could shop to your hearts content in the immediate area as well as take walks in Central Park, just three blocks from where we stayed in this Upper West Side hotel.

Main lobby of the Empire State Building
 One of my personal favorite stops was the Empire State Building. Waiting time was less than 20 minutes and the trip to the 80, then the 86th floor was no more than a few minutes. A great way to see grand vistas of the city. The rain that day did not dampen our spirits but made for so-so photography.

Apparently the new World Trade Center will have an observation area on the 102th floor but I don't think anything will touch the awe of the stately skyscraper from the 1930s.

Closer view of the Statue
I suppose every tourist has to see the Statue of Liberty but honestly having been to Liberty Island once, I have no desire to return.

Unless you can get into the statue itself, all you can do is wander around the pedestal.The fact there is no interpretation center for the casual visitor to the island blows me away.

Sure there is a museum in the pedestal but it takes a six months wait to get inside.

I think I captured the beauty of the statue on this fine spring day.
Statue of Liberty

Top view of the World Trade Center
 I tried not to get all the standard shots of New York and think this variety of shots illustrates our stay.
Wall Street area
 I have to say that the 9/11 Museum was worth the three hour wait time. It is spell-binding and truly captures the event on that tragic day in just the right way. The photo below shows a set of steps from the original WTC building that were preserved for time immemorial.
9/11 Museum
 New York has a large variety of restaurants with no shortage of places to eat at anytime of the day or night. The Chipolte is an example of the many chains but the food is good and the price is right.
Good eats at a decent price

The Dakota
 We were literally five minutes from the Dakota the famed spot where singer John Lennon was killed.
 An iconic view of the downtown area showing the new World Trade Center taken from Liberty Island

 A church curiously sandwiched between two skyscrapers. I wonder what happened here.
Times Square at about 11pm
 Times Square does not disappointed. It is a real experience day or night. Of course at night it is lit up in a spectacular fashion..
Another shot of Times Square
 It is in Times Square that you can meet 20,000 of your friends at just about any time of the day.
Interesting fact about Tesla
 Nikola Tesla no doubt Inspired the luxury Tesla automobile.
Performing in a subway station
 Lots of performers in the subway stations. This fellow was very good. I left him some money.
Scary parking rates. Exotic car; $1000 a month to park it.
 My guess is that having a car in New York is a luxury. Parking would be problematic.
NYSE
 We walked through Wall Street and visited Tiffany's. Finally another short of the recently completed World Trade Center. All in all a great time. The weather was very good and springlike but for one day of drizzle. Worth another trip. Hell yes! But we would see it differently next time. We never did go on the carriage ride in Central park for example.
World Trade Centre

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Seth Thomas Round Top Mantel Clock

-
Image
Seth Thomas Dome clock I wrote about this clock a few months back and at that time it was only running for a couple of days. I was pretty happy with my purchase since I had picked it up at a junk / antique store just about a 1/2 hours drive from here. It has, in fact been running wonderfully for several months now. It's a bit idiosyncratic in that despite being an 8-day clock it does not like being wound right down because the count wheel for the strike gets confused and strikes the hour on the half hour instead. Could be it needs some adjustment. Keeping it wound without it stopping has proven to work. It also ticks quite loudly but it is in our dining room and certainly not intrusive in that location. It has been oiled and seems to runs just fine. The walnut case is in excellent condition and a good rubbing with Murphy's Soap has virtually restored the cabinet. I make it a point not to redo the clock finish if it has minor nicks and scratches. I have an assortment of ...
Read more

Seth Thomas Gothic Beehive Mantle Clock

-
Image
Seth Thomas Beehive Mantle clock circa 1928 This is a Seth Thomas Gothic beehive mantle clock. The face has Henry Birks & Sons inscribed on it and obviously the company contracted the clock out to Seth Thomas at that time. The movement is an 89AL which was used in a variety of clock between 1922 and 1928 so I would put this clock at around the 1928 period. There is a little plaque inside the back access door giving the reseller location which in this case is Amherst, Nova Scotia. I has been running all day now and I am just waiting to see whether it gains or loses time. I will know in about 24 hours. The beat is good but the clock chimes the hours on the half hour which is obviously not supposed to happen. It means a minute hand pin adjustment once I know that the clock can run steadily. As is typical of these old clocks there was a lot of dirt and grime on the finish. Rather than take the dramatic step of refinishing the clock it is far easier to take a good cleaner, in my...
Read more

Photography Rant – Is It A Rant Or Just Some Observations?

-
Image
Panasonic G6 with 45-175mm zoom On my last holiday trips outside this country I was surprised to see so many people using cell phones to take photos. Perhaps I shouldn’t be surprised, the world of technology is changing and changing very rapidly. I was also equally surprised to see so few people using cameras and most of what I saw were larger DSLRs (I am a mirrorless user myself). Some were even using their iPad which in and of itself is rather amusing to watch. Cell phones have virtually hosed the lower digital camera market and must be a blow to the bottom line of camera companies who saw much of their profit in these small entry level cameras go out the window in recent years. So, along comes the cell phone, the new Kodak Instamatic.  If you are into a phone contract as most people are you might as well take advantage of as many features of the phone as you can and that includes taking photos and immediately posting them for all the world to see. Cell phones have o...
Read more