It’s called the Melting Pot of the world…the Financial Capital. The home of the Statue of Liberty and the Empire State Building. The Big Apple. The City that Never Sleeps. Batman’s Gotham. A city I had grown up being fascinated about and had always wanted to visit and work out from the time my grandmom had visited it and told me stories about it. As it’s said in Urdu, ‘Shukr Alham Du Lillah’ (Thank You, God) that I got a chance to visit this magnificent city and was suitably awed by it from the 1st moment i stepped out of the PATH onto the streets of Manhattan. I find it apt to describe it as the ‘Centre of the Universe’! A snapshot below upon some of the things I managed to squeeze in during my time there…(in random order of preference)1. On top of the ESB (Empire State Building): A friend said what’s in it…would you pay over $30 to look at buildings from the roof? And I thank God I thought it was worth to.
Choose a sunny day…and definitely a day visit over a night visit. It’s a study in perceptions…that you could be so high up and look down upon the ant-life below.
West-side – Right up you see the circular expanse of Madison Square Gardens…beyond which you get to see the entire expanse of New Jersey across the Hudson…from the posh Newport area with the GoldMan Sachs HQ on the south-eastern side to the expanse of rest of jersey city northwards heading off to rest of upstate NY too (maybe a shade of the Palisades Park).
East Side – Queens borough on the left side and Brooklyn on the right side. Before that you will see the UN HQ right on the river-edge and the Roosevelt island beyond it bang in the middle of the river. And loads of flights headed for JFK or La Guardia.
North Side – Unmissables: Chrysler building, PanAm building (now MetLife) and then – Central Park. The vast expanse of Central Park resplendent in the color of the season…green, deep jades, red or white. Jackie Onassis reservoir sparkles in between that. Further up you see the entire borough of the infamous Bronx – pretty safe from this distance. On a good day, they say you could see upto Massachusetts from here.
South Side - …and my fave direction. Right in front you see the Flatiron district with it’s flagship building The Flatiron, the Credit Suisse clock-tower and the serene Madison Sq Park. Further on you see the bustling Union Sq Park region & the Village. Further down – the southern tip of Manhattan – the financial district with it’s glass & titanium sparkles in the sunlight and tapering into the peninsular-tip…the Brooklyn bridge rises on the south-east side and the tiny Statue of Liberty holds sway over the South-West side…Whatever anyone says – don’t ever rob yourself of this view over the NY skyline…it’s worth it!
Round off the experience with a visit to the Rockerfeller Center and the Bryant Park skating rink.
2. Day at Central Park: Grab a camera and just go. Arrive such that you can get a share of bright sunlight and approaching dusk. Subjects abound - for you to click upon or to gaze upon.
I star
ted from the famous 72nd street entrance made famous after the most-famous Beatles and his mindless assassination right outside it…walk through the ‘Strawberry Fields’ and the homage paid to Lennon year-in & year-out from fans around the world. You could get on the documentary channel of some foreign channel wa
xing eloquence abt Lennon & the Beatles. The you see the Calcutta-rickshaws (the cycle drawn one), the myriads of bridges, the water bodies, people lazing all around in various moods contrived by the human kinds…artists, health enthusiasts, tourists, vendors…and the views all around.3. Brooklyn Bridge walk + Pizza @ Grimaldi’s: A Must-Do. From the southern part of Manhattan near City Hall across the City Hall Park get onto the bridge. It’s pedestrian-friendly and more bicycle-friendly so look out for those. You get a quarter up the way and the Lady Liberty becomes visible on your right…before that obviously you have a ringside view of the majestic skyline. Some parts of the bridge are covered
in corrugated sheets and you feel thankful for them and the railings at times as the wind is so hard.And if you do make this trip there is a tradition you just cant forgo – Pizza at Grimaldi’s on the Brooklyn side (http://www.grimaldis.com/). Stand in the queue for an hour if required – but pls don’t miss the pizza there. Yes, it’s literally un-missable. The taste and smell will linger for weeks and you will keep craving it at random times. I am doing so while I’m writing this.
4. Carnegie Deli - http://www.carnegiedeli.com/home.php
At 55th street and 7th Avenue. Thanks to Kakish & Reshmi for taking me to this gastronomic spot in the middle of Manhattan. Usual queue should not deter as it’s definitely worth the wait.
Close your eyes and go for the Woody Allen – a smorgasbordic creation of corned beef & pastrami, and the famous gherkin pickles! …And go for anything else if you have the tummy for it after that...the roast tongue comes highly recommended. Even if their cheesecake comes with high ratings, my vote goes for Mr. Allen out there. See if you can convince them to post your snap on their walls too 5. Times Square!! : Any day in the evenings you feel like you got nothing to do – this is one f the best mood-lifters in town. The neon will dazzle you the 1st ti
me…and every time after that. Its as if the universe comes together over here – everyone’s talking, walking, eating, dancing, looking, laughing, selling! Head to any pub and ure gonna strike a conversation with someone across the world in 10 mins flat…be choosy about who you wanna head back home with There are dozens of those stand-up comedy shows on offer…research any one and just go for it…you will hardly be disappointed. Better to buy the tickets at the venue rather than from the street-peddlers. Spend some time watching those super-athletic street dancers…they’re awesome! Get a portrait or a caricature done from the street artists. And no – you really don’t need to shell out dollars for the weirdo sitting with the sign ‘Need Dollars for Weed’!
What I missed: A broadway show. Need to tick it off next time.
6. Watch a Yankees game at the Yankees stadium: Courtesy – my mate Booboo Behari! A
cquired tickets from his colleague…even treated me to the game. NY Yankees vs Boston Red Sox at the new Yankees stadium at the Bronx! 3 ppl – 2 Indians & a Brit – none of who has any idea of what baseball is all about -troop to the stadium in the Yankees wrist-bands & lending their support voice with the masses. Understanding the game, watching through series of balls & strikes, munching on hot-dog & beer, screaming at the home run and celebrating the Yankees win completes the experience. Oh – did I forget to mention returning from the Bronx at 1:30 AM at night?7. Watch a game at the Madison Square Gardens: Another day – another American sport. Major difference being – venue is the famed Madison Square Gardens…home to some of the major sporting spectacles of the world including most of the major heavyweight boxing title defenses. Well…we didn’t go for a boxing match, but an equally violent sport as per my opinion – Ice-Hockey!
We watched the NY Rangers vs the St. Louis Blues…needless to say lent our voice of support for the Rangers. Was glad to view 2 of those famed ice-hockey free for alls apart from the numerous bone-shattering dashes against the fibre glass boundary wall! NY lost to St Louis…but we had our money’s worth!
8. Wall St & the Bull: I always had a fascination for the Bull. Guess being
a Taurean had something to do with it. And that it lays reign over the Financial epicenter of the World (dunno for how long though)…Go to Wall St….the NYSE building is really impressive. And then wait for your turn to hang from the Bull’s horn or rub the Bull’s balls (supposed to bring the investors luck) along with varied travelers of the world.
9. Liberty Isla
nd & Ellis Island: One of the must-dos. Take a ferry either from the NJ side or NY side and do the Ellis Island, Statue of Liberty stop. Ellis Island is where the immigrants first landed when the
y came to the Promised Land and kept in quarantine till they were cleared. Wonder how they must have felt at seeing the Lady Liberty when after so many years and viewing so many things – I was still pretty awed by it! If you wanna go up on the pedestal of the Lady, buy your tickets online or you gonna get stuck like me to circumbulate around the pedestal structure. Me & Kakish doing the Patel trip…afternoon well spent.10. Travel interstate in a car: Got together with a bunch of mates and decide to drive from NY to Boston. Took us around 5 hrs or so after an early morning start from Edison, NJ where we had camped for the night. Did contain some pit-stops in between to refuel on coffee to counter the numbing cold outside. Colors of falls retreating into winter as you drive down NJ, NY and right across picturesque Connecticut into the erudite state of Massachusetts. All the more enjoyed when Bhangra booms from the car audio all the way through!
11. And for #11 & stuff…either I gotta be real drunk to write about it…or I need to be real old to write about it! Since I ain’t none yet – will hold onto these yet away from public consumption! But 1 thing I will say – tougher to get a friendlier place than NY…so party hard guys!
