New York 2010 Day 2 Part 2: Staten Island Ferry, Battery Park, Empire State Building.
The short lunch break was held at Elevated Acre. A nice place between the skyscrapers at the waterfront with a look across the East River to Brooklyn and the two bridges. You can see the small, elevated patch of green in the middle of this picture.
You also have a good view of the heliport where helicopters constantly start and land shuttling those who don't have to care about money to Lower Manhattan.
Then we were heading to the very Southern tip of Manhattan to take the Staten Island Ferry for the 25 minute ride to the borough of Staten Island.
Looking back at the ferry terminal.
A nice look at Lower Manhattan with the World Trade Center missing on the left. The best thing about the ferry? It's free. Hard to believe for someone coming from "socialist" Europe. The ferry operates 24-hours a day, with the highest number of boats departing during the rush-hours in the morning and early evening.
A passing ferry. You can spot Ellis Island on the left. I'm omitting better pictures here from the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island since they will better fit on a later day.
Arriving at Staten Island.
Unfortunately, there's not much to do on Staten Island itself. But you have a good view of Downtown Manhattan in the distance to pass the time until you take the next ferry back. You can spot the Statue of Liberty on the left.
Verrazano-Narrows Bridge that connects Staten Island and Brooklyn. Its centre span is about 1300 metres long making it the largest suspension bridge in the world when it was completed in 1964. The towers are more than 200 metres high. Crossing the bridge by car currently costs you $11.
Back in Manhattan we headed back north along Battery Park. This is part of the East Coast Memorial honouring servicemen who died during World War II.
A brave woman who waited between the fountains until the water was turned on again to get her picture taken.
Some performers who entertained the crowds at Battery Park. When we arrived they were already setting up their final routine, jumping over five volunteers. But before that they collected donations from the audience. Which dragged on a bit but went along with some entertaining comments encouragement.
And then it was time for the jump.
Nobody was harmed and they received a round of applause and took a bow.
May the real Statue of Liberty please more forward.
Castle Clinton at Battery Park. It was briefly used as a fort after it was built at the beginning of 19th century.
There's not much to see there besides a few cannons.
Building along the park called 1 West Street.
The Sphere that once stood at the plaza between the World Trade Center towers. It got severely damaged during the attacks but its basic structure is still intact. It now serves as a memorial to the victims of 9/11.
A look from the side reveals that it's actually two buildings.
Walking north along the Hudson (picture is looking back).
It's a very nice walk, everything's green, very inviting for a stroll.
You then reach the World Financial Center with the Yacht Harbor at the river front.
A closer look at one of the towers of the World Financial Center.
The Winter Garden Atrium.
From the inside of the Winter Garden you have a good view of Ground Zero and all the activity that's taking place. You can follow the construction progress online via live camera.
In the morning we were standing on the other side. The building on the left is One Liberty Plaza.
200 West Street, the new global headquarters of Goldman Sachs, now commonly referred to as the Vampire Squid. You can see the roundly shaped left part of the building lurking between the two WFC towers a few pictures back.
The Verizon Building, headquarters of the telecom company.
By then it was late afternoon and we took the subway back north. We decided to stop by at the Empire State Building. The original plan was to visit the ESB one day early in the morning, hoping that at that time lines would be relatively short. But since it was such a sunny day we thought we'd give it a chance, fully expecting that we'd have to come back on another day but at least becoming acquainted with the area.
We went right inside the building, and much to our surprise the lobby was practically empty, so we went up to the second floor for the security check where we also only found a relatively short line. We then were able to skip the longest line where you have to purchase the ticket thanks to the fact that we already had bought ours at home via internet (valid for two years after purchase, highly recommended once you know you'll visit).
And then we walked up the stairs for about an hour.
Just kidding. The elevator only goes up to the 80th floor and then you can choose between using the stairs or waiting until another elevator takes you up the remaining six levels. We chose the stairs. So all in all we were very fortunate. Compared to waiting periods often exceeding two hours, going up was almost a breeze.
When I went outside I was at first briefly in a slight state of shock. It had been sunny all day but somehow I missed that some clouds had gathered and the air had become a bit misty. But as you can see the view was still spectacular. And the sun still broke through for short periods of time, creating some nice pictures, aided by a bit of post-processing to sharpen the contrast.
As you can imagine, I took about a gazillion pictures. Here's a selection.
View north-west, the Times Square area. The New York Times Building on the far left, the one with the antenna in the middle is the Condé-Nast Building, the asymmetric highest one with antenna the Bank of America Tower. Also, Hudson River and a glimpse of Central Park on the right.
View north-east. Bear Stearns tower and the Metlife Building in the front. Bloomberg Tower and the Citigroup Building in the shade in the back.
Further north-east. Chrysler building, Trump World Tower and the UN Building along the East River on the right. Also, Queensboro Bridge.
View east across the, well, East River. The small river arm in the middle separates Queens and Brooklyn. UN Building on the left.
View south Downtown where we spent much of the day. If you click on the picture for the bigger version you can spot the Statue of Liberty on the right, and the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge on the left in the distance. In the front in the middle, the famous Flatiron Building.
A look up. No King Kong. (Line courtesy of padawansguide.)
A few facts about the building: With a height of 380 metres it was the tallest building when it was completed in 1931. After the destruction of the World Trade Center, it's once again the tallest building of New York. But it will be exceeded by the planned new building at the WTC site. The main observation deck is on the 86th floor at a height of 320 metres. There's another one on the 102nd floor that costs extra. The top antenna is at 443 metres.
View north in the direction of Central Park. The big building right in the middle is the GE Building at Rockefeller Center.
View west. The round building peeking out on the left is Madison Square Garden.
A look from above at Macy's Department store, still claiming to be the biggest in the world. It's the sponsor of the popular Thanksgiving Day Parade.
And a closer look at the Flatiron Building. The green spot on the roof of the building in the front is a restaurant/bar. But you have to adhere to their dress code and are subject to their whims before you are allowed to mingle with other smug elitist fools.
When we headed back down, a line had formed in the previously empty lobby.
It stretched outside onto the street. Confirming that it's very difficult to time the length of the queues.
And this marks the end of the first "action-packed" day.
For previous travelogue entries, just click on the tag.
You also have a good view of the heliport where helicopters constantly start and land shuttling those who don't have to care about money to Lower Manhattan.
Then we were heading to the very Southern tip of Manhattan to take the Staten Island Ferry for the 25 minute ride to the borough of Staten Island.
Looking back at the ferry terminal.
A nice look at Lower Manhattan with the World Trade Center missing on the left. The best thing about the ferry? It's free. Hard to believe for someone coming from "socialist" Europe. The ferry operates 24-hours a day, with the highest number of boats departing during the rush-hours in the morning and early evening.
A passing ferry. You can spot Ellis Island on the left. I'm omitting better pictures here from the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island since they will better fit on a later day.
Arriving at Staten Island.
Unfortunately, there's not much to do on Staten Island itself. But you have a good view of Downtown Manhattan in the distance to pass the time until you take the next ferry back. You can spot the Statue of Liberty on the left.
Verrazano-Narrows Bridge that connects Staten Island and Brooklyn. Its centre span is about 1300 metres long making it the largest suspension bridge in the world when it was completed in 1964. The towers are more than 200 metres high. Crossing the bridge by car currently costs you $11.
Back in Manhattan we headed back north along Battery Park. This is part of the East Coast Memorial honouring servicemen who died during World War II.
A brave woman who waited between the fountains until the water was turned on again to get her picture taken.
Some performers who entertained the crowds at Battery Park. When we arrived they were already setting up their final routine, jumping over five volunteers. But before that they collected donations from the audience. Which dragged on a bit but went along with some entertaining comments encouragement.
And then it was time for the jump.
Nobody was harmed and they received a round of applause and took a bow.
May the real Statue of Liberty please more forward.
Castle Clinton at Battery Park. It was briefly used as a fort after it was built at the beginning of 19th century.
There's not much to see there besides a few cannons.
Building along the park called 1 West Street.
The Sphere that once stood at the plaza between the World Trade Center towers. It got severely damaged during the attacks but its basic structure is still intact. It now serves as a memorial to the victims of 9/11.
A look from the side reveals that it's actually two buildings.
Walking north along the Hudson (picture is looking back).
It's a very nice walk, everything's green, very inviting for a stroll.
You then reach the World Financial Center with the Yacht Harbor at the river front.
A closer look at one of the towers of the World Financial Center.
The Winter Garden Atrium.
From the inside of the Winter Garden you have a good view of Ground Zero and all the activity that's taking place. You can follow the construction progress online via live camera.
In the morning we were standing on the other side. The building on the left is One Liberty Plaza.
200 West Street, the new global headquarters of Goldman Sachs, now commonly referred to as the Vampire Squid. You can see the roundly shaped left part of the building lurking between the two WFC towers a few pictures back.
The Verizon Building, headquarters of the telecom company.
By then it was late afternoon and we took the subway back north. We decided to stop by at the Empire State Building. The original plan was to visit the ESB one day early in the morning, hoping that at that time lines would be relatively short. But since it was such a sunny day we thought we'd give it a chance, fully expecting that we'd have to come back on another day but at least becoming acquainted with the area.
We went right inside the building, and much to our surprise the lobby was practically empty, so we went up to the second floor for the security check where we also only found a relatively short line. We then were able to skip the longest line where you have to purchase the ticket thanks to the fact that we already had bought ours at home via internet (valid for two years after purchase, highly recommended once you know you'll visit).
And then we walked up the stairs for about an hour.
Just kidding. The elevator only goes up to the 80th floor and then you can choose between using the stairs or waiting until another elevator takes you up the remaining six levels. We chose the stairs. So all in all we were very fortunate. Compared to waiting periods often exceeding two hours, going up was almost a breeze.
When I went outside I was at first briefly in a slight state of shock. It had been sunny all day but somehow I missed that some clouds had gathered and the air had become a bit misty. But as you can see the view was still spectacular. And the sun still broke through for short periods of time, creating some nice pictures, aided by a bit of post-processing to sharpen the contrast.
As you can imagine, I took about a gazillion pictures. Here's a selection.
View north-west, the Times Square area. The New York Times Building on the far left, the one with the antenna in the middle is the Condé-Nast Building, the asymmetric highest one with antenna the Bank of America Tower. Also, Hudson River and a glimpse of Central Park on the right.
View north-east. Bear Stearns tower and the Metlife Building in the front. Bloomberg Tower and the Citigroup Building in the shade in the back.
Further north-east. Chrysler building, Trump World Tower and the UN Building along the East River on the right. Also, Queensboro Bridge.
View east across the, well, East River. The small river arm in the middle separates Queens and Brooklyn. UN Building on the left.
View south Downtown where we spent much of the day. If you click on the picture for the bigger version you can spot the Statue of Liberty on the right, and the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge on the left in the distance. In the front in the middle, the famous Flatiron Building.
A look up. No King Kong. (Line courtesy of padawansguide.)
A few facts about the building: With a height of 380 metres it was the tallest building when it was completed in 1931. After the destruction of the World Trade Center, it's once again the tallest building of New York. But it will be exceeded by the planned new building at the WTC site. The main observation deck is on the 86th floor at a height of 320 metres. There's another one on the 102nd floor that costs extra. The top antenna is at 443 metres.
View north in the direction of Central Park. The big building right in the middle is the GE Building at Rockefeller Center.
View west. The round building peeking out on the left is Madison Square Garden.
A look from above at Macy's Department store, still claiming to be the biggest in the world. It's the sponsor of the popular Thanksgiving Day Parade.
And a closer look at the Flatiron Building. The green spot on the roof of the building in the front is a restaurant/bar. But you have to adhere to their dress code and are subject to their whims before you are allowed to mingle with other smug elitist fools.
When we headed back down, a line had formed in the previously empty lobby.
It stretched outside onto the street. Confirming that it's very difficult to time the length of the queues.
And this marks the end of the first "action-packed" day.
For previous travelogue entries, just click on the tag.