Goodbye New York

I didn't have too much planned for my last full day in New York.  I thought about going to a baseball game, but tickets were priced at close to $60 for decent seats.  So I decided to go to the Metropolitan Museum of Art instead.  They have a suggested ticket price of $25, but to make art more accessible to the masses, they use a "pay what you can" price.  I paid $10 for my ticket & spent about 4 hours inside the museum.  They had a nice collection of Van Gogh paintings along with paintings of many other well known artists.

    Van Gogh - Wheat field with cypress painting.

After the museum visit, I headed over to Times Square for a final visit & to get some dinner.  Afterwards I found a sports bar nearby to watch game 7 of the NBA finals.  I have been a Cleveland Cavaliers fan since the mid 1970s, so there was no way I was going to miss this game.  The crowd in the bar was split 50/50 between fans of the two teams.  I was glad to see the Cavaliers win the series & to bring home the first major sports championship to Cleveland in 52 years.

I headed over to the bus station after the game to catch the bus back to New Jersey.  I was a little worried when the doors to the area that I needed to go were locked & several buses were out of service.  Luckily I was able to find the right bus & I got the second to last seat on it.

There is a lot of competition on the NYC-Charleston airline route, so I was able to get a cheap ticket ($95) a few months ago for a direct flight back home.  My flight was at 2:00 pm, but I left very early for the airport since there have been delays of 2-3 hours going through security this summer.  I got lucky & when I arrived at LaGaurdia airport there was only a short 10 minute wait to get to the terminal.  My flight home was uneventful except for a screaming kid in the row behind me & we actually arrived there 40 minutes early.  I got picked up by an Uber ride a few minutes after I contacted them & was home 20 minutes later.

It was great to be home after being on the road for 2 months.  I really appreciate my friend Steve checking on my place while I was away.  I had a very enjoyable trip & feel fortunate to be able to travel for such a long period of time.  Now I just needed to sort through 8 weeks of mail.

Times Square

I had known Times Square primarily as the place where they have the ball drop to celebrate New Year's Eve.  I also knew that it was place where a lot of tourists gathered when they visited New York.  My hotel was located only a few blocks from Times Square, so it was a good spot to enjoy some free entertainment by doing some people watching after dinner.

There are all sorts of "entertainers" there including costumed characters, people playing music, panhandlers, & topless women (with body paint).  There have been a few problems with the "entertainers" getting in fights with tourists over demanding tips.

http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/nyc-crime/times-square-free-hug-thug-bugs-slugs-tourist-article-1.2635192

http://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/Times-Square-Task-Force-Topless-Women-Costumed-Characters-322433762.html


Here are some of the photos that I took of Times Square.

New York City - Part 3

I started my 3rd day in NYC with a run in Central Park.  I took the subway to a stop near the Central Park reservoir & did a 4 mile run in the park along with another mile or so back to the hotel through the city streets.  Today was my check out day from the hotel, so I left my luggage in storage for the day before checking into my Airbnb room later that day.

I found out that instead of spending $18 plus about 3 hours to visit the Statue of Liberty, that I could take some of photos of it from the Staten Island Ferry (which is free & a 1 hour round trip).  I took the subway down to the ferry station in Battery Park.  A majority of the people on the ferry moved to the side that would pass by the Statue of Liberty.  I was able to get a decent spot on the boat & with the help of the long zoom lens on my camera, I got some nice shots of lady liberty.

After the ferry ride & a walk around south Manhattan, I headed to Central Park to see more of the park & also stopped at the Trump Tower before heading back to the hotel to pick up my luggage.  Walking through the lobby of the Trump Tower reminded me of Moscow.  There were big unwelcoming security guards dressed in suits all over the place.

The Trump store which is near the Trump bar & the Trump restaurant.

After picking up my luggage at the hotel, I headed to the bus station two blocks away.  The bus ride to the Airbnb place I was staying in New Jersey was only 20 minutes.  I normally rent an entire apartment when traveling, but in New York that would have cost $150+, so renting a room in a house for $55/night was a reasonable compromise especially since I planned to spend most of my time sightseeing.  The owner of the place that I was renting was a very nice lady originally from Poland who moved to the USA 30 years ago.  The room was nice, had a comfortable bed, & air conditioning.

The owner told me about a great spot to take some photos of the Manhattan skyline that was only a short bus ride away.  The place is called Old Glory Park & it is on a hill overlooking the Hudson River & New York City.  Here are few of the photos that I took that night.  You can see Times Square (H&M building), the Empire State building, & the Freedom Tower (next to the old World Trade Center location).

   The Freedom Tower is the tall building in the center with the antenna.

New York City - Part 2

On my second full day in NYC, I started the morning with a 6 mile run along the pedestrian path of the Hudson River.  It is very scenic & there were lots of other runners & cyclists getting in their morning workouts.  After another big breakfast, I headed on the subway down to Brooklyn to walk over to south Manhattan on the Brooklyn Bridge.

It was a nice morning to be outside since it was sunny with mild temperatures.  There is a wooden pedestrian walkway on the top of the bridge which has great views of south Manhattan.  There were plenty of people out walking on this Friday morning.

After walking to Manhattan & back on the bridge, I headed to a park near the base of the Brooklyn bridge.  I was able to get a nice photo of the Brooklyn bridge from the shoreline.

My next stop after the Brooklyn bridge, was Central Park.  This was a place I always wanted to visit after seeing it during the broadcasts of the NYC marathon which I had watched since the early 1980s. Here are a few shots from the park.  I went there for a run the following morning.

When I was researching places to visit in NYC, I wanted to find the best place to get photos of the Manhattan skyline from the top of one of the skyscrapers.  Unfortunately it costs $32 to go to the top of any of the following places - Freedom 1 tower, Empire State Building, or Rockefeller Center.  I decided that Rockefeller Center had the best views plus had a top deck with no glass so I would be able to get some good photos if the weather was cooperative.  I booked a ticket online to go up about an hour before sunset.

The elevator ride up to the 67th floor to the "Top of the Rock" was very quick.  You had the option of looking at the skyline from two lower observation decks with a protective glass or the top observation deck with no glass.  There were plenty of people up on the top level with most only interested in getting selfies instead of taking photos of the skyline.  My plan was to get photos of Manhattan before and after the sunset, so I staked out a pretty good spot along the wall to take my photos.  I finally figured out how to take panoramic photos with my ipad & got panoramic photos of both north & south Manhattan.

Central Park & northern Manhattan.

South Manhattan with the Empire State building in the center.

Here are some more of my photos before & after the sunset of Manhattan.  Even though it was expensive to visit the "Top of the Rock", it was worth it since it was a great opportunity to get some memorable photos.