Blogs from New York, United States, North America - page 17

http://www.heygo.com 22nd February - Madison Square Park Madison Square Park, a true urban park is nestled in the heart of Flatiron between Fifth & Madison Avenues between 23rd & 26th Streets In 1624 New York City was founded & in 1686 The area now known as Madison Square was designated as an urban public space and used mainly as a hunting ground. In 1839, a farmhouse located at what is now Fifth Avenue and 23rd Street was turned into a roadhouse, it was renamed "Madison Cottage", after the former president. The roadhouse was the last stop for people traveling northward out of the city, or the first stop for those arriving from the north; visitors were encouraged not to sleep more than five to a bed. The body of General William Jenkins Worth is buried in ... read more

http://www.heygo.com 14th February - Valentine’s carriage ride - Central Park The carriage tour of Central Park dates back to the opening of the park to the public in 1858. Frederick Law Olmsted designed Central Park’s curving drives to offer beautiful vistas, best viewed from a carriage, at every turn. Soon, people without horses of their own discovered that the best way to see the 843-acre park was to hire a horse-drawn cab for a trip past its many attractions. In 1863, the first exclusively tourism-based carriage rides were offered for a fare of 25 cents a passenger. Not sure how much the 25 minute ride cost this evening but all courtesy of Aaron & Patrick our New York virtual guides. There are 68 licensed horses with 4 stables in New York, although some owners keep the ... read more

http://www.heygo.com 9th February- Penn Station The original building was completed in 1910, enabling direct rail access to New York City from the south for the first time. The station contained 11 platforms serving 21 tracks. The original building was one of the first stations to include separate waiting rooms for arriving and departing passengers, and when built, these were among the city's largest public spaces. The huge building had Doric columns, 150-foot ceilings and was shaped from the same stone as the Coliseum. Archive photographs of the interior show high vaulted spaces, with light pouring in and illuminating the building's numerous elegant features. Passenger traffic began to decline after World War II, and in the 1950s, the Pennsylvania Railroad sold the property and shrank the railroad station. For decades Penn Stat... read more

http://www.heygo.com 30th January Grand Central Station - NEW YORK. Another virtual tour to New York, this time to visit the iconic Grand Central Station but before we entered we had the chance to view The Jewel in the Sky, The Chrysler Building. The project for the Chrysler Building began as a collaboration between architect William Van Allen and contractor William H. Reynolds. Van Alen’s original design was containing a decorative ‘diamond’ crown, showroom windows that were tripled in height and topped with a 12 story section of glass corners. His designs proved to be too expensive and a bit too advanced for Reynolds’ tastes, who sold the design and lease Walter Chrysler. Chrysler saw an opportunity in the project. The east 42nd street area, once glamorous in the time that The Grand Central Station was completed, ... read more

17th January Dumbo District & Brooklyn Bridge Dumbo, a neighborhood whose name is an acronym for Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass Dumbo's cobblestone streets and converted Brooklyn warehouse buildings are the backdrop for independent boutiques, high-end restaurants and trendy cafes. Near the waterfront, St. Ann's Warehouse, in a former tobacco factory. The north end of Brooklyn Bridge Park features historic Jane’s Carousel as well as picturesque views of the Manhattan skyline. One interesting point was how the cardboard box was created. Like many discoveries, the box came to be only after a careless mistake. Scottish-born entrepreneur Robert Gair owned a paper bag factory in Manhattan. One day in 1879, a pressman accidentally cut through thousands of small seed bags, instead of pressing them. Following the accident, Gair, who moved headquarters ... read more