Round The World and other travels
A frequent flyer's collection of trip diaries
This is: A Taste of the Deep South (2013)
Putting the 'New' into New York
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| ABOVE: Hotel room view towards Ellis Island in the bright morning sunshine |
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| ABOVE: Already our customary breakfast stop |
The weather forecasts had been true to their word: the day dawned as one of those gloriously clear and sunny New York City mornings. Breakfast was once again at Cafe Bravo, which was very much busier on this occasion - admittedly, we were somewhat later than previously! We were just about to take our food back to the hotel when a table opened up.
When we were ready, we rode the R train to 49th Street in the heart of Midtown Manhattan in order to get the day's carefully planned programme underway.
Rockefeller Center
As mentioned in the title, today's theme was going to be aspects of New York that were new - or at least, almost new - to both of us. In pursuit of the first of these, we began by walking the short distance to the Rockefeller Center and the former RCA building, home of the NBC headquarters and studios. The city was already looking fabulous in the morning sun. In fact, I remembered the RCA building well from my first visit to this city in 1985. The observation deck was the first place well above sea level from which my young eyes took in the jaw-dropping vista of the Manhattan skyline. I tried to repeat the experience on my second visit in 1989, only to find that the viewing facility had closed. Now finally re-opened and successfully marketed as Top of the Rock, it was once again a popular attraction. Too popular, actually - it may have been Sunday morning, but on this holiday weekend where people had already experienced some rotten weather, they had turned out in droves and the lines were huge.
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| ABOVE: New York City wide awake on a sunny Sunday morning | |||||
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| ABOVE: Making movies | |
| RIGHT and BELOW: Heading towards Tramway Plaza |
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Much as Bruce wanted to visit for the first time, and much as I longed to repeat that rapidly fading first experience of 1985, we decided that we had no desire to squander two or more hours of beautiful sunshine standing in a massive queue. It was time to move on.
A couple of blocks away in Park Avenue, we came across the interesting sight of a movie set, featuring upturned and otherwise damaged cars. Apparently they were going to be filming for the next two days, but we certainly didn't have time to stand around waiting for the action to start.
We
continued to walk north-eastwards towards the station for the aerial
tramway, located on 2nd Avenue at 60th Street, enjoying the
spectacular sight of so many buildings gleaming in the morning
sunlight. Along the way, I did a double-take when I noticed a wall
plaque, in the familiar Charles Rennie Mackintosh style of
lettering, for an organisation known as the American Friends of Glasgow School of Art.
Roosevelt Island
The next objective, definitely new to both of us, was to take the 'aerial tram' (cable car to Europeans) across to Roosevelt Island, in the middle of the East River. I remember considering this possibility during that first visit in 1985, but I decided - rightly! - that there were far more important things to see for a first-timer. I never did get around to thinking about it again. We were able to use our MTA cards to pay for the four-minute journey alongside what we're now meant to refer to as the Ed Koch Queensboro Bridge. Strolling around on this more-or-less central section of the narrow island was a rather odd experience. While not deserted, it was undeniably very quiet indeed, yet all the sounds associated with one of the busiest urban areas on earth were just a short distance away and drifted effortlessly across the water to remind us of where we were.
When we had seen enough, we found the island's subway station and made the long descent underground to catch an F train to Brooklyn via Manhattan.
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LEFT and BELOW LEFT: The aerial tramway to Roosevelt Island, which runs from 2nd Avenue alongside part of the Ed Koch Queensboro Bridge |
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RIGHT and ABOVE RIGHT: Walking around in the curious Sunday- morning calm of Roosevelt Island |
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DUMBO
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| ABOVE: Initial stroll in Brooklyn's hip new DUMBO district | ||
Next on the list was the once run down part of Brooklyn formerly known as Fulton Landing. Now thoroughly gentrified and downright trendy, it has been renamed DUMBO, an acronym standing for ... wait for it ... Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass. On leaving York St subway station, we quickly found ourselves directly under the approaches to the said bridge. The traffic noise was bearable, but the bridge also has four subway tracks and the trains made a shocking racket.
The proximity to the Manhattan and Brooklyn Bridges, with the world-famous Manhattan skyline in the background, made for some stunning views and it soon became clear that this was a popular Sunday spot. We found a suitable lunch venue, managing to squeeze onto a couple of empty bar stools in a very busy restaurant. The food was nothing special, but it fulfilled its purpose.
Re-energised, we took in the views from Brooklyn Park and presently boarded a passenger ferry for the short ride across to the historic South Street Seaport.
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South Street Seaport
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The South Street Seaport is a designated New York City historic district. The area was badly damaged by tidal floods caused by Hurricane Sandy in 2012, and had not yet fully recovered from the ordeal at the time of our visit. We had a look around the tourist trap known as Pier 17, not realising at the time that its days were numbered; only later did I discover that it was scheduled to be closed for complete redevelopment before 2013 had run its course.
Financial District
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It was then a short walk into the heart of Lower Manhattan and New York's world-famous financial district. The streets here are on a European scale and laid out in an irregular pattern. Combine this with some of the tallest buildings in the city and the effect is similar to walking through a maze of narrow canyons.
We soon found our way to Federal Hall and to the New York Stock Exchange on Wall Street. By the time we walked around the grounds of Trinity Church, we were within easy striking distance of the Marriott and a well-earned rest.
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Evening
In fact it could only be a short rest.
Duly freshened up, it was soon time to head out again for the third
and last of our big, final-night-in-town celebration dinners. We
rode the subway back to Midtown, had a couple of cocktails -
Manhattans, obviously! - and made our way to dinner in the Bar Room
of The Modern. (The restaurant is so-called because it's
part of the Museum of Modern Art and the room name was easily
explained by the presence of a large and comprehensively-stocked bar
along one of the walls.)
I could tell within seconds of arrival that this was going to be
another winner. I started off with spicy steak tartare served with a
quail's egg, and this was followed by Alsatian soup and then a main
course of duck cassoulet. Fabulous!
In what was fast becoming a habit, we decided to take a cab back to the hotel.