Because of the time difference, the 5 hour flight from LA to New York seemed to take up my entire day. After touching down in JFK at about 17:30, I didn’t reach my hostel until nearly 21:00. It’s a great hostel though there are 10 people in my room and it ain’t that big! Plus, the lockers in the room seem to be bust. After dumping my stuff, I headed straight for the subway and went to Times Square.
A real feast for the eyes, and wallet, I nipped into TGI Friday’s for a cheese steak thing. Fattening but tasty. Didn’t leave much of a tip though as the service was awful and the place was more than a bit grubby. By now I was knackered so I went back to the hostel, checked my email, and headed for bed.
Next morning I headed to Battery Park to get a ticket for the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. It was the hottest day of the year in NYC - reaching 40C - and I was feeling it. Before getting on the ferry we all had to pass through security - the type of security you would expect at an airport with x-ray machines and metal detectors - a visible reminder of 9/11.
The boat across was pretty nice. I could see the Narrows bridge, Brooklyn Bridge and Jersey City as we made our way to Liberty Island. I was beginning to feel like I was a cow being herded such was the way we got off the boat and along the jetty! I had bought an audio ticket so I could learn some more about the island so I grabbed the headphones and followed the little voice in my ear…
The Statue of Liberty is mighty impressive. Plenty of photo ops and the audio tour was very enlightening. Did you know the insides were designed by Eiffel and that it nearly ran out of funding? After leaving Liberty Island it was a short trip to Ellis Island - the sorting office for the immigrants in days of yore! The air conditioning was very much welcome!
After returning to Manhattan, I made my way to Ground Zero. A great big hole in the ground and a very humbling experience. From here it was a short subway ride to Wall Street and the JP Morgan building and the NYSE. My Downtown Manhattan tour continued after a McD lunch to see the Woolworth Building and City Hall from “Spin City”. Walking past the start of the Brooklyn Bridge I ended up at the courts, then Chinatown then I just wanted to sit down! I gave up the sight seeing and headed back to the hostel. In my room I met Lewis and Kate from somewhere English who had taken career breaks and gone travelling for their honeymoon and planning their next stop - Las Vegas.
Next day, after my free bagel and tea breakfast, I headed north to Columbia Heights and the University of Columbia. As I made my way up Broadway, I passed Tom’s Restaurant from Seinfeld! As I walked through College Walk, I was reminded of Columbia’s place in Hollywood - Spider-Man, Ghostbusters and The Sopranos all sprung to mind. Someone stopped me and asked me if I knew where the Law School was as he was on his way for an interview - I must not look very touristy!
Enough of education, I want to climb to the skies! I headed to the Rockefeller Center and the “Top of the Rock” - a better view than the Empire State some say. The views were incredible. It was another scorcher of a day so the visibility was a bit hazy but I could still see for miles around. You get a real sense of the sheer size of New York when you look down at it! I got lunch in a sandwich shop at the Rockefeller Center on 6th Avenue before checking out the outside of the Radio City Music Hall then going shopping.
You can’t come to Manhattan and not want to shop. Due to the heat, I was sweating profusely so I made for Macy’s - the world’s largest department store - to buy some wristbands. Continuing my quickstop tour, I made for Madison Square for a view of the Flatiron building - another symbol of New York and the home of the “Daily Bugle”!
From there, a short stop at Carnegie Hall, before Grand Central Terminal. Possibly the grandest and shiniest train station I’ve ever seen! More name-dropping coming: saw the Met-Life building, Citigroup Center and the Waldorf Astoria Hotel before heading to Lexington Avenue and 59th Street - home of Bloomingdale’s.
Eager for a brown bag of my own, I headed to the menswear department and purchased a Ralph Lauren polo-shirt in the sales for only $50. A walk past many other buildings and shops brought me back to 5th Avenue - the world’s most famous shopping street. I had managed to break my earphones so I went into the Apple store on 5th. Accessed through a glass box with the apple logo at street level, this underground store was full of gadgets - mostly in that Apple white colour. After finding the earphones and surfing for free on the iMacs and MacBooks, I joined the checkout queue where I was approached by a salesman who took my credit card and charged me there and then with my receipt emailed to me - genius!
Continuing my walk down 5th, I nipped into NikeTown where Celtic tops were again in prominence - excellent. Passed Tiffany’s and Trump Tower on my way to the flagship Abercrombie & Fitch store. The four storey store with blinded windows is staffed by only the most beautiful retail workers! The day finished by getting the shuttle from Grand Central to Times Square then home before heading North for Canada the next day.