A trip to New York City

Jay's one-day trip to New York City - July 28, 2001

Next, I got lost. I thought Wall Street and the financial area of town would be easy to find, on the map it looked easy to find. It wasn't. Even though the street system is easy to understand with numbered avenues one direction and numbered streets the other direction, the southern part of the island is more important, so the streets and avenues get names like Wall Street, Liberty Street and Avenue of the Americas. But, in any case, after a few attempts I found myself in front of the NYSE on Wall Street. Workers were laying some cable and there were a number of security officers in the area, overall not that exciting since there's no trading on a Saturday. I also stopped by the World Trade Center, but wasn't impressed at the set of buildings.

Next, I decided I should go up the island to Midtown. I got a Taxi (no easy task...I went to a hotel to find some open ones) and in a bit I was at the Empire State Building. After a few lines, a few dollars and more than a few minutes I was riding in an express elevator to the 80th floor! What did I encounter there? A floor entirely dedicated to a set of lines where people wait for another elevator to go up seven more floors to the observation deck. I was not amused. But, I eventually made it to the "top" (at least as far as a ticket will get you) and took some neat views of the city.

I started walking towards what I thought was Rockefeller Center and found Times Square. Good enough for me. I bought a few items from the NASDAQ gift store (I felt sorry for them, with the recent drops in tech stocks) and then walked around the "square" which is actually more like a triangle and not very spacious.

Next I thought I would go to Central Park. Notice I said thought, since my feet abruptly told me that wasn't the best idea. So, I convinced myself it wasn't too big of a deal to miss a big park in a big city and headed towards Rockefeller Center.

In Rockefeller Center I saw the Today Show set through a few panes of glass and the NBC store, where I bought a few items (supporting the GE-owned network). I then stopped by St. Patrick's Cathedral where by coincidence 5:30 pm Mass was about to start. After Mass I stopped back through the center of the plaza and saw the Associated Press Building, not much to see on the inside. A security guard and a bunch of elevators...fun.

At this point the sun was "setting" early due to the skyscrapers that blocked out the evening sun. So, I went back to Broadway along Times Square and headed down the famous street to 42nd and over to Grand Central Terminal. I caught the 7:50 pm train and was back in Brewster, NY at 9:08 pm. There, the shuttle from the Sheraton Danbury kindly picked me up and delivered me back to the hotel in Connecticut, where I slept...for a long time. Of the 160-some photos I took during the NSOL (Non-Statue-of-Liberty) portion of my trip, I've posted 21 of the better ones below. Thanks for reading and stopping by.

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A sailboat in the harbor.

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Down on Pier 16, another sailboat in the harbor - this one's a bit bigger.

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The Brooklyn Bridge with Manhattan in the background.

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Same people, same bridge, a bit further down.

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It's tough to show the structure of the bridge since the supporting cables and substructure complicate the view, but they also offer some neat opportunities for photos.

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Another Brooklyn Bridge view...

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Wall Street...pretty boring on a Saturday.

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There's even a street sign to prove it!

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The Building of the Empire State, it didn't look tall from the sidewalk, but 87 floors later I changed my mind.

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Like I said, still a pretty tall building.

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A major reason for waiting in line for the Empire State Building was to see the Chrysler Building from above, I really like the architecture of the building.

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Chrysler standing amongst the other buildings.

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A GE building with Central Park in the background. I don't think this is THE GE building, since from what I remember Rockefeller Plaza was further to the south.

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A view from the Empire State Building observation deck.

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Sometimes people look awefully silly at tourist attractions.

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For some reason, everyone's ignoring the Chrysler Building in this photo (colorized since I wanted to stress the structure of the photo).

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Ok, not that the folks back home don't want to see the street below, they just don't want a close-up if you drop the camcorder.

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A New York taxi speeds past the NASDAQ "marketsite" in Times Square as the sun reflects off a nearby skyscraper.

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The plaza with the statue and winter ice rink is much smaller in real life.

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I honestly have no idea who this lady is, but her wedding was just ending at St. Patrick's Cathedral in NYC and a big crowd of people were excited she was there and taking photos, so I thought I had better take one. If you have ANY idea who she is, let me know.

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An angel carving in St. Patrick's Cathedral along the altar.