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Published: November 24th 2010
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Midtown
The streets of Mid Town East around 6AM after just arriving to Grand Central Station No other city in the United Stated is more iconic than New York. New York is awesome! This city meets your expectations, exceeds them and surprises you all in one. The streets are lined with tall buildings, running together like an endless wall. There's history in the old style turn of the century buildings, with their stone facades mimicking a more romantic period of time. The buildings, their magnitude and presence are unfathomable unless there.
Then there are the people of New York. Most are either bankers or tourists. People are either very excited to be in New York or slightly crazy from having been there too long, and this gives the place a sense of character. When you walk around the city, there always seems to be something happening, someone to look at or someone doing something interesting. They say it’s the city that never sleeps…with cab drivers flying past you, people on the go and food carts at every corner. All of this energy gives the city its intensity of life, from the hustle and bustle of Wall Street to the quirkiness of LES. It's one city you'll never forget.
Time Square:
After a red eye
Time Square
soaking it all in... yes... from Long Beach to JFK, a rocky night of sleep and dropping off our bag at our hotel we were off. The morning was a tad chilly but we were energized. We headed to Time Square and the Broadway Theater District to soak up the atmosphere. Somehow, flat images of Times Square in a magazine or on TV don't do it justice. Despite being nearly 7 in the morning Time Square was brilliantly illuminated. Everywhere you look there's something going on. However, we were surprised to find not many people in the streets…it was almost eerie. It's amazing what a huge difference there is here from morning to night. At night the square lights up like a big city should. You really feel like you’re in the middle of it all, in the middle of New York and the center of the world. After wandering around a bit we stopped at this hole in the wall tiny Cuban restaurant for some breakfast. It was surprisingly good and super cheap total bill $10 for two people with coffee too.
Highline Park:
After doing research online I really wanted to walk part of the "High Line", which is a section
Time Square
Together at Time Square at the crack of dawn. of elevated, disused railway track which is in the process of being turned into a lengthy footpath. It is located in the Meatpacking District. Although we did get lost trying to find it we eventually joined it at one end and walked only a small section. It was great to be able to walk without having to worry about traffic, and see New York from a different perspective. The standard hotel also is hovering over a section of it. It’s quite a site, with great modern architecture. After a small walk down the path we found some steps which took us back to street level. Overall the high line was average...definitely neat but fell short of my expectations.
Top of the Rock:
Viewing New York City from Top of the Rock's open air deck is an ABSOLUTE must. It toped my list of favorite things we did. Located in Rockefeller Center, 70 floors up, you get a close up view of the Empire State Building, Chrysler Building and Central Park (just to name a few). The views of the skyscrapers are spectacular! I was captivated by the skyline. It was pretty surreal to have a 360 degree panoramic
view with clear skies. The weather was beautiful too which was icing on the cake. I think in the end we were there for well over an hour just marveling at the buildings as we stood there identifying them and snapping tons of photos.
The Wall Street Experience:
I highly recommend this tour not only to people who work in the finance industry, but anyone that visits New York!! NYC is the banking capital of the world and to get an inside look at where the "bankers" work is truly an awesome opportunity. This walking tour lasted about two hours and covered many important financial institutions and historical sites in the Financial District. Our guide's name was Tom and having worked for Goldman Sachs in the marketing department, he was extremely knowledgeable about the financial crisis and history of New York's Financial District. He breaks down the financial crisis of 2007 piece-by-piece and gives the average person insight and perspective into the banking industry. We visited the NYSE, the former JP Morgan building across the street, famous bull, AIG, Federal Reserve, Ground Zero, a cool restaurant with a ginormous vault as a door, an old historic church, and
High Line
A nice shot in front of the Standard Hotel in the Meatpacking District. Goldman Sachs. Tom's dry humor and wit kept me on my feet and wishing the tour lasted all day. Definitely a MUST if you come to New York.
Central Park
The only place we visited twice while in New York. The park is overwhelmingly big. You need more than just one visit to cover the sheer size and different parts of the park. The first thing we noticed while walking through the park were the trees. Filled with a variety of different trees, it was amazing to see the different colors. While walking through the park, many leaves were falling from the occasional burst of wind which truly felt like I was experiencing the change in seasons. We found a secluded area of benches just past the Bethesda Fountain. It was nice to lay down and hear the sound of the trees brushing up against each other. The occasional local would trot by on their daily run. With only a jacket on, we were extremely lucky with the 60 degree weather! Our custom brazilian sarong came in handy while laying out under the sun. It was nice to people watch and soak up the park's atmosphere.
LES
or Lower East Side
An awesome place to go out at night. The streets are bustling with people and there are bars, lounges, pubs, and clubs everywhere! We started the night at a cool lounge and ordered some sliders and drinks. After befriending a French banker, he recommended we go to a local speakeasy down the street. Upon arriving to the location, there was on a gate and a security guard. He let us through and we walked down a stairs, through an alleyway, up another set of stairs. We arrived at huge door, opened it, and wha-la a huge bar with early 1920 wallpaper and furniture. The alcohol was served in coffee mugs which was pretty cool. From there, we ended up at a hole-in-the-wall Cuban Salsa restaurant which was going off.
Overall, New York was amazing. There is an energy about the city that is indescribable. A buzz that can only be explained by walking the streets and taking the train. It's a cosmopolitan urban metropolis that everyone should experience at least once in their lives. Fortunately for us, the weather was perfect, the hotel was centrally located (50th and Lex), and the things we did
and places we visited were once in a lifetime experiences. GO NEW YAWK!!!
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