A visit to New York City
We had been pondering what our next "adventure" should be, and at the same exact time, Chelsea expressed an interest in possibly attending the New York City Fashion Institute of Technology. We discovered that we had a bunch of Hilton Hotel points that we could use, and we decided that we would make a trip to New York City.
A bit of map research showed that we could stay at the Jersey City Hilton Double Tree and be only a short walk from a PATH Subway Station, which would provide us with direct access to various stops in the city.
- Manhattan is the most densely populated of New York City’s 5 boroughs. It's mostly made up of Manhattan Island, bounded by the Hudson, East and Harlem rivers.
- The world’s richest individual church parish resides in Manhattan, valued at $2 billion.
- If the entire world had a population density as that of Manhattan, it would fit into a single country.
- 740 Park in Manhattan is currently home to the highest concentration of billionaires in the country.
- Central Park, which opened to the public in 1858, became the first landscaped public park in an American city.
- When building the World Trade Center in 1968, 1.2 million cubic yards of material was excavated from the site. Rather than dumping the spoil at sea or in landfills, the fill material was used to expand the Manhattan shoreline across West Street, creating Battery Park City at the southern end of Manhattan.
NYC from our Hotel Window
To amplify my previous statement about the view from the Doubletree hotel, these images of New York City were taken from our hotel room window. Great view of the Big Apple eh?
Hopped onto a PATH subway, and rode under the River to the World Trade Center site, which at that time, was under construction. This was a somber moment remembering how that tragedy was shown on TV, but now they are rapidly constructing a new building.
Watching the Construction
We were watching all of the construction crews working below us, cleaning up the World Trade Center site to prepare it for the new One World Trade Center whose top will be 1,792 feet above the city streets.
Quick Facts: This is the building also known as 'Black Rock', it is the headquarters of the CBS Corporation. Located at 51 West 52nd Street at the corner of Sixth Avenue (Avenue of the Americas), the Eero Saarinen designed building opened in 1965. It is 38 stories and 490 feet (150 meters) tall with approximately 872,000 square feet (81,000 m2) rentable of space. The interior and furnishings were designed by Saarinen and Florence Knoll.
NOTE: Above information is from Wikipedia,
click here to view that Wikipedia Page.
POST EDIT NOTE: After Viacom acquired CBS in the year 2000, there were several attempts to sell this building, it was finally sold in 2021 to Harbor Group Investments (HGI).
The first Trinity Church building, a modest rectangular structure with a gambrel roof and small porch, was constructed in 1698, on Wall Street, facing the Hudson River.
Quick Facts: Trinity Church is a historic parish church in the Episcopal Diocese of New York located near the intersection of Wall Street and Broadway in the lower Manhattan section of New York City, New York. Known for both its location and endowment, Trinity is a traditional high church, with an active parish centered around the Episcopal Church and the worldwide Anglican Communion in missionary, outreach, and fellowship.
This 7,100-pound sculpture stands 11 feet tall and measures 16 feet long. The oversize sculpture depicts a bull, the symbol of aggressive financial optimism and prosperity, leaning back on its haunches and with its head lowered as if ready to charge.
Quick Facts: Charging Bull, which is sometimes referred to as the Wall Street Bull or the Bowling Green Bull, is a bronze sculpture that stands in Bowling Green in the Financial District in Manhattan, New York City. Originally guerrilla art, installed unofficially by Arturo Di Modica its popularity led to it being a permanent feature.
NOTE: Above information is from Wikipedia, See our link below to the Wikipedia Page for the "Charging Bull".
The southern tip of Manhattan, Battery Park. Jeremy is looking across the Hudson River at the Statue of Liberty on Liberty Island in New York Harbor.
Quick Facts: The relatively modern Battery Park was mostly created by landfill starting from 1855, resulting in a landscaped open space at the foot of the heavily developed mainland of downtown Manhattan. Skyscrapers now occupy most of the original land, stopping abruptly where the park begins. On State Street, the former harbor front and the northern boundary of the park, a single Federal mansion, the James Watson House, survives as part of the Shrine of Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton; until the 1820s, the city's stylish residential district was north of this house, between Broadway and the Hudson River.
Always something going on in Battery Park; In the first (left) image, we had stopped to watch these guys perform, they were very good. Yep, you could say that their "goal" was to collect money from the crowd - but - they were talented and disserved whatever they collected!
And in the second (right) image (just around the corner) another group of entertainers. They were not near as talented as the other crew, but their ability to walk on stilts was impressive.
Always be Observant !
We were looking around at the crowd watching these entertainers, and we spotted Morgan Freeman. No, we did not shout out his name or run over and ask for an autograph!
As our daughter was going to graduate high school and she was very interested in fashion design, we scheduled a visit to the Fashion Institute of Technology on 27th street between 7th & 8th Avenues. This image is the David Dubinsky Student Center at 340 Eighth Avenue between 27th and 28th Streets.
The staff there were very friendly and we were given an interesting presentation & tour of the facilities.
Click here to go to their website.
We decided to start our exploration by taking the subway to the Natural History Museum, because it is one of the largest natural history museums in the world. In Theodore Roosevelt Park the museum complex comprises 26 interconnected buildings housing 45 permanent exhibition halls, in addition to a planetarium and a library. The museum collections contain over 34 million specimens of plants, animals, fossils, minerals, rocks, meteorites, human remains, and human cultural artifacts as well as specialized collections for frozen tissue and genomic and astrophysical data, of which only a small fraction can be displayed at any given time, and occupies more than 2 million square feet (190,000 m2). The museum has a full-time scientific staff of 225, sponsors over 120 special field expeditions each year, and averages about five million visits annually.
Since there is a subway station at 81st street & Central Park West, the Museum is easy to get to and it is directly across the street from Central Park.
After our Museum of Natural History exploration, we walked through Central Park to 5th Avenue, turned south, and walked down to the Public Library building at 476 5th Avenue - just a few blocks north of the Empire State building.
The New York Public Library is the second largest public library in the United States (behind the Library of Congress), and fourth largest in the world.
Quick Facts: The Stephen A. Schwarzman Building, commonly known as the Main Branch or the New York Public Library, is the flagship building in the New York Public Library system and a landmark in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. The branch, one of four research libraries in the library system, contains nine separate divisions. The structure contains four stories open to the public. The main entrance steps are at Fifth Avenue at its intersection with East 41st Street. As of 2015, this branch contains an estimated 2.5 million volumes in its stacks.
NOTE: Above information is from Wikipedia, click here to view the Wiki Page.
Empire State Building: Looking East
We took the Empire State Building tour, and the view of the city below was incredible! This is looking east, towards the East River. That bronze colored building is 3 Park Avenue, a mixed-use office building and high school located at East 34th street & Park Avenue, that was built in 1973.
Empire State Building: Looking South
As I was saying, the view from the top of the Empire State Building is just amazing. This is looking south, that is the East River on the left.
Empire State Building: Looking Up
Looking up from the Empire State Building Observation 102nd floor observation platform, you can see where King Kong climbed up to the very top.
NOTE: If you did not understand the "King Kong" reference, click here to read the movie plot summary on IMDB.COM.
Empire State Building: Looking Down
Looking down from the Empire State Building Observation deck. If you are even slightly bothered by heights, this might not be a good view for you ! The observation decks are located at the 86th and 102nd floors - the 102nd one is just about at 1,250 feet above street level.
After our Empire State Building tour, we descended to ground level and decided to walk about the Manhattan area. You can see by the crowds that it is obviously a week day lunch time!
The diversity of stores here is amazing; clothing, books, souvenirs, Starbucks, Walgreens, luggage, etc.
Shopping in Manhattan: Click here to view a Google Search Results list for shopping in Manhattan.
Could there be a more famous name than this? Radio City Music Hall was built on a plot of land that was originally intended for a Metropolitan Opera House. The opera house plans were canceled in 1929, leading to the construction of Rockefeller Center. The new complex included two theaters, the "International Music Hall" and the Center Theatre, as part of the "Radio City" portion of Rockefeller Center.
- Just Traveling Thru Travel Planning Tips
- New York City History on the 'Wikipedia' Site
- New York City Article on the 'Wikipedia' Site
- New York City Article on the 'Britannica' Site
- Things To Do in New York City on the 'US News & Travel' Site
- Things Every Visitor Should Do in Manhattan on the 'Thrill List' Site
- Google Search Results list for "places to eat in Manhattan"
- Things to do & see in Manhattan on the 'Timeout' Site
- Google Search Results list for "Hotels in Manhattan"
- Things to do in New York City on the "Get Your Guide" site
- Amazon Search Results list for "New York City"
- Youtube Search Results list for "New York City"
- Our New York City Image Gallery
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