Sunday, 5 January 2014

New York day 2

The next day was going to be a pretty busy one for me, so I got up early and headed out around 8. Unfortunately I hadn't had the best night's sleep - New York is crazy loud at night and drivers honk their horns way too much for it to be meaningful in any way, which ultimately just makes them honk longer and, somehow possibly, louder. Round the corner from my hotel lived the neighbours from hell: Engine 54, Ladder 4, Battalion 5. Four or five times during the night the fire engines were called out, and seemed to do nothing but sit in traffic with their sirens going non-stop right outside my window. New York firefighters have been held up as incredible inspirational heroes for the last 12 years, and with good reason, but to me that night they were just bastards.

Hot dogs are easy to come by in New York, and there aren't many things that feel as authentically American as picking one up from a street vendor. I was anticipating something awesome, the best hot dog I'd ever had perhaps, but a New York hot dog is just as plain, small and disappointing as a UK one. That was gone within 20 seconds and I promised myself something a bit more substantial once I'd ticked the first thing off my sightseeing list, which was a thing I had definitely been looking forward to.

30 Rockefeller Plaza is a 70 storey art deco slab that stands as the centrepiece of the Rockerfeller Center. It has the second highest Observation Deck in New York and was the setting for the famous Lunchtime Atop A Skyscraper photograph, often incorrectly attributed (possibly just by me) to the construction of the Empire State Building. Side on, there doesn't seem anything remarkable or characteristically recognisable about its blankly monolithic form, but standing end-on to it from the plaza shows off its strikingly slender, tiered art deco architecture. The art deco styling continues inside the Mezzanine area, all dark sculpted pillars and moody marble, totally different to the bright, optimistic atmosphere you might expect if you've ever seen an episode of 30 Rock.

30 Rockefeller Plaza



The elevator makes the 70 storey trip up to the Observation Deck in around about 30 seconds, and the clear ceiling gives both an exciting and unsettling view of the elevator shaft as you're launched skywards, watching the blue LED lights marking each level whip past at frightening speed. At the top, on the 70th floor, you can see the entire length of Manhattan from either side of the Observation Deck, and, if you're a total nutcase, down to some of the rooftops below. Thankfully, due to the plexiglass barriers that keep you a little back from the edge and the gothic gargoyles that block the view, you can't see straight down the 850 feet to the street below. Otherwise some poor hapless pedestrian would've been getting a faceful of vomit.






It may not be as famous as the observation deck of the Empire State Building, but then you can't see the Empire State Building from the Empire State Building, and so 30 Rock probably gives you the best, most iconic view of the city. And, as I had arrived at opening time, there were very few people up there so I could take my time and enjoy a totally unobstructed view of every part of the city. I asked a lady to take a picture of me in front of the skyline, but she inexplicably decided that the Empire State Building looks best with me blocking it. I spent about 40 minutes up there before I started to freak out about being up so high and decided to head down. Back to the Mezzanine level, I went to the Potbelly Sandwich Shop (definitely somewhere Liz Lemon frequents) and sat munching my roll in the plaza before heading off to the next thing on my checklist.

My sandwich view

Apparently he doesn't work there :(

Ellis Island, home to the former immigration station of New York, is still closed due to the damage it sustained during Hurricane Sandy, which is unfortunately something I really wanted to visit. Thankfully Liberty Island has reopened, so at least I was able to take the ferry and visit the statue. It is incredibly striking up close and, if you listen to the immigrant testimonials and ignore the rest of the simperingly dramatic content on the audio tour, is quite an emotional experience. Afterwards I hung out in a bar in Battery Park for a while, enjoying the sun and a couple of pints of some local IPA. Another emotional experience.






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