[SpecialK]

I made it. Left So Calif 10 PM, arrive JFK-NY 6 AM, no real sleep. That, plus being up at 4 AM yesterday thanks to my noisy neighbors means I'm pretty beat :-)
It's a misty gray day :-(
Did the AirTrain-Long Island Railroad trip to Penn station, then walked to Grand Central terminal via a McDonalds Big Breakfast, arriving exactly on time for the 9AM audio tour of the terminal. Nice building.

Took the subway (with a 7-day pass) downtown to the City Hall area. It tried to drizzle slightly, but I left my jacket off as I was hot and sweating due to the humidity I guess. Walked around the area killing time waiting for the DUMBO (Down under the manhattan bridge offramp) walking tour at 11:30AM. About 30 of us walked across the bridge, and checked out the neighborhood in Brooklyn. That was a 2-hour adventure, not counting the return crossing.

Subway back to Grand Central, then walked to Times Square (ho hum) and on to The Port Authority Bus Terminal (PABT) one of the largest if not the largest of its kind, to get my $3-shuttle to Toys R Us which is a block or so from the Super 8 in North Bergen where I am staying. The guy missed the stop so I had a few extra blocks to walk - with some massive blisters.

I have not checked my schedule but I originally planned to check in (done) drop my backpack that I have been carrying all day (yay) rest up a bit and return to NYC for some evening activity..

However, I'm pretty bombed so I think I will order some dinner for delivery, and just hang out tonight. I think I was going to do thge Empire state bldg, but with a gray sky it would not have been to good. I could probably do Madame Taussauds wax museum instead, but I'm beat.

I think I got a couple good shots today, but I won't likely be posting much till I get back,

Stay tuned ...

[SpecialK]

Consulting my ticket stubs...

NBC Studio Tour. It was OK. Saw a trio of studios, including the one used by Saturday Night Live. Two audience members (including th e 11-year old birthday boy) later performed a "commercial intro" and "weather report" with teleprompters and green-screen. No photos allowed...

Top of the Rock was the observation floor or Rockefeller Center.

Next block up to...

Radio City tour. Nice lobby and other architectural bits. Triple stage elevators are original and have only needed routine service since the 20's or so. Photos allowed except of the main auditorium.

Subway and short walk to The New Museum. A bit too abstract or avant garde (i,e., weird, for me :-)

Subway and walk to the Empire State Bldg. Hmmm... almost a 2 hour line going up. They confiscated my mini tripod in the security check area. Upgraded to the 102nd floor observation deck. The 86 floor is the "regular" observation area, and in fact has a better view because there is only wire cross bracing to keep you from jumping over the edge, with lots of open area for the camera lens. The 102nd floor is completely enclosed by glass in various stages of scratch and smudge. Another line getting down, though not quite as bad as we could take 6 floors of stairs at the top to cut down the elevator jam. Had to retreieve mini mini tripod from security. Guy asked what color, I naturally said silver (it happens to be blue...) He had about 8 or 10 of the things, and almost didn't give it to me because I said the wrong color (I've not used it in more than a year, and when I look at it in the case I see the top screw and black lock ring...)

Also did the Sky Ride which is in the EPS building. Sort of a simulated helicopter ride around NYC and in the river. It was OK.

Madame Tussaud's wax musem was awesome, but I ran out of steam near the end.

All of the entry fees were covered by the New York Pass, except the $17 upgrade to the upper obso deck.

Nice thing about new blisters is it almost makes you forget about the old one.

[SpecialK]

Almost sunny today, until laft-afternoon drizzle.

Took my first bus ride today. Lots of traffic on a workday. Took the hop-on hop-off Water Taxi from Pier 84, Stayed on at the first stop, then got off at Battery Park, and walked to the 9/11 memorial, There is a square sunken waterwall at the location of each former tower. Name of the victims are raised up on the brass ledge around the square. There is a particular tree that survived the ruins and after some time at a nursery - where it survived a lightning strike - was replanted where it was found.

Stayed onboard the next 2 stops, then we went out to the statue of liberty. Had a better view from the boat than people on the island, Huge lines for the tour onto the island, which I've decided to pass on.

After returning to Pier 84, I decided not to take different 3-hour boat tour, and debated going to the Intrepid air/space museum, or go the the UN building. Decided on the Intrepid as it was just a few hundred yards up the road and it had some history recovering space capsules, etc. Walked there on my blisters to find it was closed today for a special event.

So I took my second bus ride from one side of Manhattan to the other and went on the UN tour, After, I walked back the the Chrysler building to check out the lobby - sweet. Figured the subway would be faster than the bus at rush hour, so I ducked in the subway next door to catch the shuttle to Time Square, This is probably one of the bigger stations and I think I walked two blocks underground to get the the correct platform. Ouch. Found Planet Hollywood in the north end of Times Square to get my 3-trip hop-on hop-of busses that I must use in 72 hours.

Probably will be wet weather the next two days.

[SpecialK]

Got into town relatively early - had to kill 30 minutes waiting for the first Hop-on Hop-off bus to take the Uptown/Harlem tour.

Walked around Columbus Circle. Went into the lobby of the Hearst corporation. Nice escalator bisecting a waterfall. Saw the globe and Trump Tower, some statues, including Columbus.

Walked around the exterior of the Lincoln Center, which houses the Metropolitan Opera, and Philharmonic Symphony.

Went to Strawberry Fields, saw the Imagine mosaic, and the Dakota apartments where John Lennon was shot. Luckily I was leaving as a field trip of children arrived.

Wandered around the exterior of the Cathedral of St John,

Got to Grant's Tomb too early, so I only saw the exterior.

Saw the Museum of the City of New York, which was so-so. Had a nice 22-minute movie about the development of NYC through the years, but the art exhibits were good and bad. But even bad art is art. Had a nice strawberry-banana-granola parfait in the cafe for a little energy.

Caught the regular bus down to the Guggenheim. Nice architecture but the art was hideous. The 5-story ramp of art consisted of crumpled car sheet metal and bumpers. Three would've have been fine, not fifty. The was a small wing of mostly-French paintings, which was pretty nice. I bailed pretty quickly.

Continued with the regular bus to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Huge. Saw Roman statues and pottery, and Egyptian ditto. Dogs were running hot and I did not feel like wandering any more. Waited around for a bus, regular or otherwise, but it was not happening. The potential bus area was clogged by an endless string of taxis. Finally walked a block or two down to a better area, and eventually got a bus to 42nd Street, and walked over to Times Square.

Had a fajita platter at Baja Fresh for a late lunch, the hung out at Times Square waiting for the Night Lights Bus tour. I people-watched for an hour or so, then we got intermittent light drizzle. I still had more than a hour to kill, so I called it a day and bailed back to the hotel. I will do the Downtown tour and Night Lights buses tomorrow.

[lammie200]

Lived there for almost all of my 20's. Everything that you describe brings back great memories. Living there is much different than visiting there, though. Think roaches! Haha, have fun

[LFLee]

Hm... SpecialK, u r from So California., which has a Madame Tussaud's wax musem in LA.??... ^^

[SpecialK]

I have not seen any roaches, only a few subway bums. There is a M.Tussaud's somewhere in So Cal, I'm guessing Hollywood, if not next to Disneyland.

Got the early DownTown hop on Hopoff bus. It was raining, so except for a couple blocks, I was the only passenger...Not much hopping in the rain.

Got off at Battery Park, which is like a shoreline and boat tour hub. Saw Trinity church and a couple famous deceased people. saw the brass bull statue swarmed by Japanese tourists who were pretty organized in rotating in and out for their photos. Walked down Wall St (the bull is at one end), saw the Stock Exchange exterior and Federal Hall, site of George Washington's swearing in.

Figured correctly that the weather would keep the crowd down for the Statue of liberty and Ellis Island tour. Yesterday I decided I would pass on it because of the long lines. Today it was almost a straight walk up, so I was back in less than 2 hours I think.

After asking someone for directions (infernal guide book!) I saw the Skyscraper museum, then back on Wall Street for the Museum of American Finance.

I sort of double-hopped the subway around City Hall and went up to the Flat Iron building. Perhaps not surprisingly, the pointy end has a small "art gallery" sponsored by Sprint sticking out of it...Next block up was Madison Square Park (not the garden) which was interesting, including the abstract animal sculptures that would emit sounds or music when touched.

The Museum of Sex was supposedly closed today, so I made my way back to the bleachers at the north end Times Square to kill some time waiting for the Night Lights bus. Took that tour, which was not really night, and did not have much lights. Still entertaining views, though. Oh, the museum of sex was open after all...

Tomorrow should be the 3-hour boat tour, Grants Tomb interior, St Johns church tour, and the Intrepid air/space museum.

[RioRico]

Don't miss The Cloisters.

[SpecialK]

Don't miss The Cloisters.

That's already on my list for tomorrow. Went by it today on the 3-hour around-Manhattan boat tour :-)

I actually did the 4 things on my previous post.
They were setting up dining tables in the main area of St John's cathedral for a fund-raiser for St Luke's hospital, so a few highlights were from a distance. Still nice. The guide was bit long-winded and the hour tour went about 90 minutes. The other guy and I bailed then, but I think the Korean woman taking notes may have stayed.
Q: Who's buried in Grant's tomb? A: Nobody. He's not buried.
Did not do the Growler submarine tour at the Intrepid because a) I needed to get the bus and connect to the subway to make the St John's tour, and b) I'm sure my camera bag was verboten as were other general items.
Has some sun today so the late-afternoon boat tour was pretty photogenic. Could have used about 50 more millimeters a couple times.

Got 2 slices of pizza and a can of Canada Dry ginger ale for $2.75. Does not quite make up for the over-priced stuff I've normally been snacking on.

[SpecialK]

Cloisters museum was great. Artwork and architecture from 1400-1500s, in a park setting.

Natural history museum was like most of them - OK.

Belvedere castle was fun and free, and got me into Central Park.

Had to choose between Carnegie Hall tour (no photography) or the Transit museum. Did the transit museum, which among the smaller exhibits had about a dozen renovated old subway cars downstairs in a decommissioned-but- functional subway station.

Went to Coney Island, but not much was going on with the rides. No doubt it is more active on the weekend.

Still firming up plans for tomorrow, my last full day.

[cajun0518]

Looking forward to your photos as I am also scheduled to visit NY before the end of the month

[SpecialK]

Looking forward to your photos as I am also scheduled to visit NY before the end of the month

I hope to have some up about the middle of the week. I'll post in the Post Your Pix area, I guess.

I've shot almost 3,000 images. Many are dupes, such as in low light where focus or blur may be an issue - like at the wax museum, etc. I hope to be around 2,000 after the first chimp, and get it down to 1,500 keepers.

Today was essentially my last full day of activity.

Went to the Conservancy Gardens, about the size of a football field with landscaped gardens, some statues and a couple fountains. Had planned to hit the museum of sex, the old Watson house near the tip of Manhattan, the Brooklyn museum and Brooklyn botanical gardens, plus try to see some of Greenwich Village. At the Conservancy gardens, I decided to forego the Brooklyn museum and Brooklyn botanical gardens, which would involve some dexterous navigation and a lot of time. Felt much better about the plans - I can only do so much art and plants.

The museum of sex was three floors, mostly interesting - including a Picasso drawing, and other art - erotic and otherwise, some film clips including oldies with Mae West innuendo, celebrity porn clips (I did not see Paris Hilton, however), and a store.

Made my way downtown to the Watson house, which is a couple hundred years old, nestled in front of skyscrapers. Figured I walk around, generally toward the South Ferry landing. The walk happened to go by the helicopter tours. It was a perfect warm blue-sky day, so I did the 15-minute Liberty Tour which went to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island, then up the Hudson from the tip of Manhattan to about Central Park, and back. Short but sweet. I'm pretty sure I will not have as many keepers as I'd hoped for one reason or another - mostly vibrating helicopter.

Started heading uptown, stopping at Bleeker St in Greenwich Village. I never really found the village but I did get to Little Italy and Chinatown.

I only have one event tomorrow - a Jet Blue airplane flight, but I will try to get in some Penn station on the way.

[Medium FormatPro]

I've shot almost 3,000 images. Many are dupes, such as in low light where focus or blur may be an issue - like at the wax museum, etc. I hope to be around 2,000 after the first chimp, and get it down to 1,500 keepers.

Would you state that you used your Pentax K-5 for about half of those photographs??

If you could also eventually post perhaps five of your best pics of the general NYC trip; and also mention where you may have though that the K-5 and outfit would not have been the best option??

[SpecialK]

Would you state that you used your Pentax K-5 for about half of those photographs??

If you could also eventually post perhaps five of your best pics of the general NYC trip; and also mention where you may have though that the K-5 and outfit would not have been the best option??

I only brought the K-5, so it was my only option for all the pix:-). My longest FL was 70mm, but only a couple times did I wish I had something longer. As mentioned above I will need a day or two to weed through it to pull the better ones. I will be posting in the Post Your Photos section. I'm afraid there will be more than 5 pix, but I will likely group them by theme or location, like I have in the past :-) I might do a top 5 or top 10.