The Big '30' in the Big Apple

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Wednesday 9 February – Tony’s 30th Birthday

We woke up at St Christopher’s Inn in Hammersmith at 5am after arriving gone midnight. Tony’s first ever dorm experience and his face wasn’t too happy in the morning. He did bless me for bringing the earplugs but sometimes peoples snoring is just far too loud. My main issue is the pain I’m still suffering from my arm that is apparently made out of chalk! The plaster cast isn’t too comfortable to sleep in either.

We made the 30 min journey to Heathrow, Tony still completely clueless about where he was going; somewhere in Europe was the assumption.

When we arrived I told him to go to Check in Zone A. We were stood at F so he had a long way to go and couldn’t see Zone A. We got to B and we run out of Zones, until he peered round the corner and saw the Virgin Atlantic desks, still not quite sure, ripped open the wrapping paper which had a Lonely Planet guide of where we were going. New York!!! I love that I can make a 30 year old man cry!! Ha ha…. Ok not quite but he was completely lost for words!

After a very comfortable flight & Tony still not finding any words…. we arrived at JFK! We took the AirTram & Long Island Rail Road into Manhattan where Tony got his first glimpse of the New York skyline. This was my 5th time but I think I was still just as excited.

Stepping out of Penn Station right outside Madisson Square Gardens, seeing the Empire State Building with yellow taxi’s whizzing past blasting their horns followed by a FDNY Fire Truck come rushing by was a lot for Tony to take in. Welcome to the greatest city in the world. Obviously the 1st thing to do on your 30th birthday on your 1st day in NYC is dump your bags at the hotel and go to a bar. A couple of buds later, Tony was loving his first NY bar experience, meeting new people and chatting to the locals. Well up until he found out the New Yorker we’d been spending the afternoon talking to had lived there for 20 years but was actually from Basildon. Sometimes the world is just too small and there is no escaping Essex!

After a few drinks we took a walk to Times Square, just as jaw dropping as the first time I saw it. We then went back to our room to get ready to celebrate his birthday. We went to a rooftop bar called 230 Fifth. Had really nice food & great cocktails whilst looking out the window to panoramic views of Manhattan. You can then go up to the top floor which is outside, it is heated and they do supply robes and blankets but with -10 temperatures they weren’t very effective and we weren’t outside for long. After a couple of hours here we then head to the East Village to find it surprisingly quiet for a City that never sleeps. At the barman’s recommendation we took a taxi to Bleaker Street in the Village to find many busy bars. Although due to new laws, the city does sleep, at 4am which I suppose was just as well as we had been up for 29 hours. We got to bed about 5 and unbelievably was up at 9am for a whole day of taking in the sights. At this point I was hating how enthusiastic Tony was about seeing everything, I just wanted sleep.

We found the best diner to have breakfast in. Pancakes, bagel, waffles & ice cream, sausage, egg, bacon… you name it we had it. Perfect way to start the day. We then started the 5 mile walk to downtown, walking through Chelsea, Greenwich Village, NoHo, SoHo, Little Italy & China Town. Still unbelievably cold but it was a beautiful day. I told Tony we needed to head to the Pier for 3.30 as I’d booked a River Boat Cruise. We started walking down the docks and he saw a helicopter and commented on the poor sods that were going up in it. I just laughed, nervously, and walked past the heliport, but then just as we past it, I did a u-turn and started walking in, producing the 2 helicopter tickets out of my bag. I’ve never seen Tony look so green, and I still only think he agreed to do it to save face. We got there at 3.30 to book in for our flight at 4pm. As we were checking in, she told us we would be going up in 5 mins. Then it was I who turned green. I was not prepared for that.

It was a truly frightening experience mixed with one of the best things we’ve ever done. It was a 20 min ride from Downtown Manhattan past Brooklyn around Ellis Island & Statue of Liberty, down the Hudson River with the whole of Manhattan to the right and New Jersey to the left, passing Central Park and heading right the way up to the Bronx to fly over the Yankee Stadium to then come all the way back down again. Incredible.

We head back to the room for a well deserved nap before heading off to Ellen’s Star Diner. The greatest diner with Broadway stars as the waiting staff singing to you as you eat. I have come here every time and I still love it and Tony wasn’t disappointed either. We walked around Times Square for a bit before heading back about midnight to defrost and sleep, as we were up early again the next day.

We took the subway to Brooklyn and walked around the Heights and Promenade. Amazing skyline photo opportunities. I love Brooklyn, this is where I’d like to live if I was here. We went to Dumo to get views between Brooklyn & Manhattan Bridges before walking over the Brooklyn bridge. Hard to believe I was there nearly 3 years a go and the start of my year long trip. We walked back through to downtown before turning the corner to the only place in New York where you look up and see blue sky and not a skyscraper. Yes, we were at Ground Zero. It’s just so eerie seeing the big space there. The new buildings are well and truly underway but they still aren’t at the height that was once there. Hard to believe its 10 years this year. Still a very emotional place with 1000s of visitors. We walked through Wall Street and went on the Staten Island ferry to get the free ride past the Statue of Liberty and then jump back on the return ferry. What a good way of getting a great free skyline view. We took the subway to Rockefeller Centre & Radio City and in true cheesy tourist style went to Planet Hollywood on Times Square where Tony found his hand twin in Bruce Willis. Exhausted again by 11pm, we went back to the room.

Saturday in New York, busy everywhere we went. We got up very early and went to the Empire State Building, we then walked up 5th Avenue until we got to The Plaza and Central Park and took the subway up to Harlem. Tony really wanted to find a record shop to buy a vinyl but after walking around for 30 minutes feeling rather uncomfortable, we where informed that music had died in Harlem and all stores had now closed. What a very sad thing, but now we had this information we scurried back to the subway and got the hell out of there. We got off at the Dakota building where John Lennon was shot and reflected on our 9 months spent in Liverpool living just minutes from his home and now here we were. We walked through a very iced over snowy central park, it looked beautiful. Although I won’t deny that I was desperately missing it how it was the last time I was here, 35 degrees and enjoying a picnic. After quite a brisk walk through central park as it was freezing we were supposed to have a browse through Bloomingdales but were distracted by an Irish bar, for 1 pint of course. 1 that turned into several as we sat for a good few hours talking to the bar staff, always a good idea as this is the 2nd time we’ve been given drinks on the house just for sitting chatting to people. We did unfortunately have to leave as we had sunset tickets for the Top of the Rock; otherwise I think we could have comfortably sat there all night. It was well worth leaving though as we got to the top floor of Rockefeller just in time to see the sun setting over Manhattan. What a beautiful site although does get spoilt with just how cold it is, especially 80 floors up! We went back to the room for a little nap before heading out to the East Village for Saturday night in New York. I had pre-booked tickets for Biffy Clyro at the Gramercy Theatre. A very intimate gig of about 600 people. They were fantastic, wasn’t a huge fan before but now I’m hooked. The gig finished quite late and we went to Bleaker St but after grabbing some food we just couldn’t keep our eyes open so head back for a rest before our last day in NYC 

Final day and I get a pass to go and do some shopping. But not before seeing Grand Central Station for Tony to relive scenes from Carlito’s Way. Then I was let loose in Bloomies & 5th Avenue. By the time I had zero’d our account and Tony had took me for a valentines trip to Tiffany’s for a gorgeous necklace it was time to get Tony the biggest sandwich he had ever seen in his life (a joey sandwich) and let him experience the world famous cheesecake from Lindy’s. What a perfect end to our 5 days in the big apple. Something we are both very certain on is that we will be back… only this time in the summer months.

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