Final day in New York

We had made arrangements to meet Thomas at the Guggenheim on Sunday morning at opening time. We took the subway 7^th avenue and 83^th street and walked a little on Park Avenue to see how the other half lives. I half expected to be crushed by a giant Monopoly token.

Next we crossed Madison Avenue with it’s wonderful old fashioned urban living feel. Apartments over stores. The Guggenheim is built where 86^th street meets Central Park and creates a wonderful contrast to the faux-baroque apartment buildings next to it.

The Guggenheim with Central Park behind it.

We arrived to a significant line up outside the museum. It turned out to be the last day of an exhibition of works by Maurizio Cattelan, an Italian sculpture and known prankster of the art world. This artist had never had all his works shown in the same place at the same time, and has made a career out of bucking convention. He did not want his works to be simply displayed in the traditional exhibition spaces of the museum, and so they suspended all his works in the center space of the corkscrew gallery that constitutes the museum main space. It was very effective.

A hundred pictures would not be enough!

We walked around this spectacle with our mouths hanging open and after listening to the introduction we forgot completely about the free audio guides hanging around our necks.  It was best just to use our own imagination to try to figure out what this was all about. Many pictures were taken, and many more could have been taken.

Once outside we pass by the Shake Shack on the way to the subway station, and decide to have a burger for lunch. We need one of these in Ottawa “stat”! Juicy burgers, quick service and quite the expansive menu. We spent some time showing Thomas the pictures we took the two previous days and had downloaded to the ipad.

Once in the subway again, Thomas pointed out a rat scurrying on the tracks, but luckily I did not see it. Zero to hysteria in 2.5 seconds! I don’t do well with rats. Thomas explained us why so many of the lines run over the same section of track (once all separate companies) and why the older lines are so close to the surface. (dig and re-cover technique). The I beams are pretty worn looking! The older stations are decorated in gorgeous mosaic work, which even when damaged still evoke this wonderful early 20^th century feel.

Subway station mosaic

On our trek to MOMA (the next stop) we saw these gorgeous spheres on top of a church building and had to go check it out. It turned out to be the oldest synagogue in New York, although it is not the original building. Shortly after that we found ourselves on 5^th avenue again.  Thomas pointed out the new UNIQLO stores, a Japanese clothing store which has a very large and well organized but simple selection of fashionable clothing. There was no time to go in, but we had seen more of these stores on our exploration. I wonder how long before they will be in Toronto or Montreal.

At one point we saw the Waldorf Astoria Hotel at about 10 blocks down the street. This famed hotel was the result of combining two hotels competing in a family feud between William Waldorf Astor (Waldorf hotel) and John Jacob Astor (Astoria Hotel). The feud was astutely navigated by one George Boldt, who in merging them founded the Waldorf Astoria Hotel, the first hotel ever to offer room service. He also left us Boldt Castle in the Thousand Islands, but that is another blog post some other day. Right next to the hotel is St-Bartholomew’s Church. This Byzantine inspired building is another stop that unfortunately had to wait for another visit.

St-Batholomew's with the Waldorf Astoria behind it.

Just a little further along we ran into the absolute last thing we expected to see in New York.  A genuine piece of the BERLIN WALL!. You can’t help but walk up to it and touch it. Nearby a man was having a cigarette and confirmed that it is a real piece of the Berlin wall. He sounded bored, like he has confirmed this for many incredulous tourists. He was in a white short sleeved shirt and white pants, and I assume he worked in a kitchen, because it was around freezing and a biting humid wind cut through our clothes bun he said he wasn’t cold…..yet.

 An unexpected piece of history.

Once inside MOMA we used the coat check and made our way to the top floor. The next hour became an almost incessant repeat of the same remark. “Oh that’s here!” I saw many great and well known pieces by Cezanne, van Gogh, Picasso, Klimt, Monet, Sissly, and so many others that I have seen in books and art courses. The lower floors contained less familiar stuff, and made me realize I should have taken an audio guide after all. There was also an old fashioned airport schedule board and a Smart Car!

Now a museum piece....how old am I?

On the 2nd floor there was an exhibition by Croatian feminist artist Sanja Ivekovic. The art was clearly of great socio-political value, but at this point I was so saturated after two museums that unfortunately I absorbed only a very small portion of it, which was a huge pity. As with Maurizio Cattelan,I resisted buying the book just to have it.The last exhibition we visited was Diego Rivera's murals, also under appreciated due to sheer saturation. Dammit dammit dammit!

We  walked from MOMA back to the area of the hotel where around the corner there is also the InternationalCenter for Photography, and the photographer wanted to at the very least check out the bookstore, so Thomas and I waited and chatted on the bench in the hallway. Two nice books were acquired. After that we sought refuge in a Starbucks to warm up, chat and rest the legs. We then dropped off the books at the hotel, and went for dinner at the Heartland brewpub on 43rd street just a few doors down from the hotel. They serve a pretty decent glass of beer, brewed on the premises, and a tasty New York striploin steak. (My favourite!)

We said goodbye to Thomas and took our tired legs to bed.

On Monday morning we made our way through a throng of New Yorkers heading to work (all carrying coffee) back to Penn Station through the garment district. We entered Penn Station from a different entrance and we saw Madision SquareGarden over top of it. The oldest arena in the NHL and site of many famous concerts including The Song Remains the Same. It is actually round.

On the return journey we took seats on the left side of the train again, so that we can get a view of the other side of the track. The landscape was grey and dominated by thick low hanging clouds. 

George Washington bridge

Hudson river under very low clouds.

Now what could that have been?

Once in Syracuse we retrieved the car and put the foot down. We made it home  in a record two and a half hours.

As seen on TV: New York pt II

On Saturday morning we enjoyed the hotel’s complimentary continental breakfast in Rick’s Café. In case there was any doubt about where they got this idea, there are pictures of Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman in the place, and right off the café is a courtyard called the Blue Parrot courtyard. Sometime during the night it had started to snow heavily, and there was already a good layer accumulated on the tables and chairs. The photographer was bummed about the conditions and the impact it will have on his art.

 The blue parrot courtyard

We decided not to take the organized tour we were planning to take. We had not actually booked yet because the website showed plenty of seats left, but the 90 minute cruise around Ellis and Liberty Islands seemed like a bad idea in those conditions. So instead for our first taste of New York, we picked some landmarks to go see on our own instead.

Outside we found thick sticky soggy snow, and no sign of it letting up. Good thing I brought my ugly winter boots after all, the ones I can walk hours and hours in. The painted sidewalks in Times Square become incredibly slippery when covered with snow. The photographer almost fell on the first few steps. We bought subway cards and took the trains to the Flatiron Building.

The flatiron building: like a ship's bow.

This very iconic building is located at the south end of MadisonSquare. There were not many people on the street yet and a lone city worker with a snowplow mounted on a pickup truck was trying to clear the sidewalk around Madison Square Park. He was right in the best spot to take pictures, so a weird tug of war ensued where he constantly was trying to guess where the annoying tourists wanted to be next. The park looked like a fairy tale with the undisturbed snow on the benches, branches and statue.

From there we moved on to Gramercy park. The park is the subject in many stories and this is the only privately owned park in New York. If you rent one of the apartments around the park, you get a key to the park. There was no one in the park that morning, an all the snow was still undisturbed. Birds were singing like mad as if it were spring even though the snow was falling steadily. It felt unreal.

Gramercy Park: off limits

The one thing I wanted to do in New York was have my picture taken with the Statue of Liberty in the same frame. There was little chance of this in the thick snow, but we got in the subway anyway and made our way to Battery Park anyway. The cold at the water’s edge is biting and penetrating, and the statue is barely visible in the thick snowstorm. The photographer does his best and gets an interesting silhouette. 

She's there, you just have to look!

Nearby is the American Merchant Mariners Memorial. This piece of sculpture must look very different at low or hight tide. I have no idea which one it was at that time. The sculpture is eerily realistic, especially in this weather with the whitecaps on the water and the rocking dock.

Merchant Mariners Memorial

Near the ferry offices is an old round red stone building, clearly from an earlier period and restored, which I went to explore. Inside I found ticket booths, washrooms and colonial style cannons, as well as pigeons hiding from the cold. On the other side of the structure I found  a plaque indicating that Castle Clinton was part of the defenses of Manhattan going back to the Dutch period.

Next we came across the sphere, a sculpture that stood at the world trade center for many years and was damaged in the attack of September 11, 2001. An eternal flame burns in front of it. 

World Trade Center "spere"

By that point we were thoroughly chilled and hopped back on the subway and made our way to our next stop, which was supposed to be the United Nations. We got off the subway at Grand Central Station. Of course it is impossible to go through that place and not gawk at it. The size, the grandeur, the architecture, the people, the energy! And the food court!  We settled down at a counter that sells crepes and gelato. An excellent crepe filled with mushrooms and blue cheese hit the spot, and a cup of coffee re-warmed the carcass. After a few more pictures and a faraway look at the apple store, we head back outside. 

 Main hall Grand Central Station

A few blocks away is the United Nations building. The parking lot entrance was under construction, and none of the flags were raised. Across the street is Isaia’s text inscribed on the entrance to UN way. We strolled back to the station area on this street and then made our way pst the Chrysler Building with it’s gargoyles and art deco details.

A different entrance to grand central station took us through Grand Central Market, at which point I said I wanted to move to New York! Cheeses, cold cuts, cakes, teas, fruits and vegetables were displayed in the most tempting manner. Who needs restaurants? We could easily have eaten fresh crusty bread and cold cuts for dinner in the hotel room that evening. Yum!

At this point we both had wet socks that needed to be changed, and we got back on the subway to the hotel. On the way we passed by the main branch of the New York library. Again something else to see. I think it has been cleaned recently, because nothing in a city with that much traffic is that clean without help.

After putting on some dry socks and giving the footwear a blast of the bathroom’s blow dryer we head back out and take the subway to W 59^th street at 5^th avenue. When we got upstairs we found ourselves right at the south end of central park, and with a great winter view. We did not enter the park, this is something to be left for a trip in better weather.

Central Park's south end.

Just nearby is the Plaza Hotel, and across the street is our next stop. FAO Schawrtz is hidden behind the glass cube over the second apple store we saw in a few hours. I only had to peek down to see how much bigger this is than the one in Ottawa. Inside FAO Schwartz greeters dressed in fancy livery greet the customers. This is truly toy extravaganza, and we only stayed long enough to get a basic idea. (They have a Hello Kitty department!) Of course we have a glance at the huge floor piano, but lots of kids were dancing on it.

Once back outside we went for a walk on 5^th avenue. It’s like walking inside In-Style magazine. All the brands I normally see in print are represented there. We pass DeBeers, Van Cleef and Arpel and finally Tiffany’s. No picture, because I did not have a coffee and a pastry with me. (And by the way, the book is better than the movie!) The only store I chose to go into was Saks. After a few minutes one of their goons (oh, excuse me, sales persons) looked at my salt stained winter boots and made a face. And I mean the kind of face that mothers tell their kids not to make because if the clock strikes etc…How absolutely unprofessional! We only toured the main floor where everything I actually looked at was over $ 1200!

Across the street is St-Patrick’s Cathedral. It was covered in scaffolding, something that is becoming a running joke since our 1997 vacation in Europe. Where ever we go, they are doing restorations! Inside we were thrown out again almost immediately, this time it had nothing to do with my boots, but there was about to be a wedding. I found it an impressive but inhospitable looking church.

Once back outside we got back on the subway and went to the Empire State Building for the last essential photo opportunity of the day. On a future visit we’ll try to get to the top. This time it was enough to admire the details put in the building. Close by is Radio City Music Hall, and a few blocks further we find a souvenir store where they sell New York hoodies for a price we like. 

Empire State building.

The unexpectedly we happen upon the Rockerfeller skating rink, with a fountain going right next to it, as if it is May. (Around here they are drained in October sometime.) Across from the GE building is another impressive fountain working just normally. (Is that polar ice or grey goose in there? I did not try.)

Skating right next to a working fountain!

After that we walked back to the hotel to freshen up and have dinner with Thomas and his parents at Trattoria Dopo Theatro. Upon arrival we are led to the back of the restaurant and down a set of stairs into the basement. We figure out that we must actually be under the next door neighbours at this point, but in the restaurant’s wine cellar, tables are setup, and after 30 seconds you forget that you are in the basement.  We have an enjoyable evening with excellent food, but unfortunately the waiter has no sense of humour, and apologises each time one of us makes a joke.

After all this walking we slept like logs that night.