A Quick Tour of New York City

New York City is the kind of place where you can spend your whole life and not see everything that can be seen (or experience everything); much like London. So, I won’t pretend to have experienced the full gamut of what N.Y. can offer in the four days I was there. However, I did manage to get the basics covered…

NY Public Library

Built between 1902 and 1911, the New York Public Library (NYPL) is one of the US’s largest non-profit, privately managed non-lending library systems. And, like the Empire State Building it has appeared in many a popular film; Peter Parker gets dropped off in front of it in Spiderman, it’s the subject of a haunting in Ghostbusters, and was hit by a tidal wave and then buried in snow in The Day After Tomorrow. Instead of showing the outside of the library and the inside seating areas (see Ghostbusters if you want to see this), here is a shot of one of the many beautiful ceilings.

Grand Central Terminal

According to Pamela Skillings at About.com: “Underneath Grand Central Terminal, there are secret networks of underground tracks, steam-pipe tunnels, and storage areas. Hidden in these underground depths is a train platform with a secret entrance and an elevator straight up to the Waldorf-Astoria hotel.”

“President Franklin D. Roosevelt reportedly used this as his private entry into New York City – a way to get from his train to the hotel without being bothered by reporters. Unfortunately, you can’t currently see this secret passage for yourself. The door to the secret elevator is welded shut.”

This photo has nothing to do with the secret passageways — but is taken close to the Whispering Gallery.

Times Square

Times Square is everything you expect it to be: busy, bright, loud, packed and an excellent place for pick pockets to hang out. We were here for roughly five minutes and even that was too long; we passed through on our way to a chic Martini bar (Martinis are truly a N.Y. must).

Apparently, Times Square used to once be considered a dangerous neighbourhood filled with adult shops, mob bosses and rampant crime — only in the last decade has the image changed.

Brooklyn Bridge

The Brooklyn Bridge is always a safe tourist destination — it’s long, it’s interesting and you can see most N.Y. landmarks from varying angles. Just make sure you stay on the proper side of the walkway — or you’ll get run over by a cyclist.

Here’s the bridge from the Brooklyn (Fulton) Ferry Landing, which is close to Grimaldis and the Brooklyn Ice Cream Factory.

Statue of Liberty

Finally, what’s a quick tour of New York without the Lady Liberty. If you want to see the Lady up close and personal you need to have a reserved ticket so you can wait in line to be searched, x-rayed, poked and prodded; as a national monument the statue is a terrorist target. We ixnayed the Liberty Island tour and instead opted to do a harbour tour from the Fulton Ferry Landing. It costs $20 for a day pass and is worth every penny.