Got out of Toronto in the snow and our arrival day in NYC was still pretty pleasant, but then,,, same temps as in Toronto, just no snow, but sun, and, icy winds. We arrived on Thursday and it took us only 1:45 hours to get from Newark Airport to 137th Street in Harlem, where we are staying with friends, by Airlink, train and subway. I think, this was a new record time! Besides some grocery shopping we didn't do much anymore on Thursday, also, because of the rain, but Friday was packed.
Started out with the Empire State Building, which offers a great new exhibition inside (pics above), before taking the elevator to the top. Good views from there are guaranteed when the weather is sunny:
On - via Herald Square and Macy's (pic on left) - to the Hudson Yards, a new much discussed development project on the Hudson River, above the old rail yards. It comprises a couple of high rises, a shopping center (high-end shops and a new Spanish food court), a soon-to-come obeservation deck (see pic below), "The Vessel" and "The Shed".
The Vessel opened in March of this year, is an artwork and architectural structure designed by the British designer Thomas Heatherwick. It resembles a honeycomb-like structure, which rises 16 stories and consists of 154 flights of stairs, 2,500 steps, and 80 landings. Visitors can climb the structure for free (but need a time-framed ticket) and from the top great views compensate for the climb and the icy wind.
Adjacent is "The Shed" (a temporary name), a multi-purpose building with galleries, a theater and other artistic venues as well as an adjoining plaza/park by Diller Scofidio + Renfro.
Hudson Yards is situated at the end of High Line Park which goes through different neighborhoods to the Whitney Museum in the Meatpacking District, to the South. We walked along, trees are growing larger and larger and crowds - bundled up - are growing, too. Saw a funny sculpture of # 45 on a historic house's rooftop:
World Trade Center Site - always a moving experience for people like us, knowing how it looked like before Sept. 11, 2001. On the pics: the main building, WTC 1, the Calatrava train station and the new graffiti wall.
We had a break in Brookfield Place - former World Financial Center - and, meanwhile a tradition, had Sprinkles cupcakes and coffee to warm up. After a subway ride and a stroll through Christopher Street (where the famous Stonewall Riots, a fight for LGBT rights took place) we ended in the West Village at E.A.K., a ramen restaurant, which we knew from last year. Enjoyed a hot noodle soup with pork belly there.
Though being tired, we still went to a poetry reading in Lincoln Center ,,, and it was fantastic! Peter had been skeptical at the beginning, but even bought the book at the end. It's been the presentation of an anthology of poems under the motto "What saves us. Poems of Amphathy and Outrage in the Age of Trump" with approximately a dozen of poets - all ages, genders and ethnicities - presenting a poem on stage.
Back "home" at our friends' place in Harlem late, but still had good conversation with them and other guests in the communal kitchen with a glass of wine.
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