Last day in NYC

 

Our last day in NYC. Had to leave our "home away from home" (photo further below) around 1 pm, but, still had a wonderful breakfast with the very hospitable owners of the place. In the morning we only explored Harlem - no long subway trips anymore! Especially, we wanted to check out the highly gentrified area around 125th Street. 

More and more modern buildings, fancy (brand/chain) stores, closed old "black shops". What's left so far are the street vendors with their essences, scarfes and caps, electronics, etc. Street scene is changing, especially here, not so much where we stayed, in 149th Street, Sugar Hill / Hamilton Heights.

Mobile Barbar Shop

Murals on Powell Jr. Blvd.

 

 

at Penn Station, waiting for train to EWR

Out in the sticks,,, Long Island

Traditionally, we go on a (private) excursion with our Brooklyn friend Dom, a professional tourguide and true Brooklynite, when we visit in NYC. Since we have already seen quite a bit in the Borough of Brooklyn, we decided to explore Long Island's Nassau County a little further this time.

So, we took the train (LIRR) in the morning at Penn Station to Mineola, a town east of Queens, on the island, where our friend picked us up with his car. On we drove, feeling like suddenly being transfered to "another world": idyllic, quiet, very "elite". First stop: the Planting Fields Arboretum (left & below), a huge State Historic Park with some historic buildings and green houses. 

 

 

 

Bayville is located on the beach, almost "Caribbean", though the beach is mostly "off limits" for regular visitors. Views towards Connecticut, and, many shells! We circled Centre Island, with humongous mansions, surrounded by large parks, on the water. Prominent people like Billie Joel or Rupert Murdoch live on this exclusive peninsula.

Oyster Bay - a quaint historic town with a marina and ,,, a brewery, the Oyster Bay Brewing Company, which had Happy Hour! The town is known of housing Theodore Roosevelt and family. 

We enjoyed the harbor and marina in Glen Cove afterwards, before we headed west again, with a dinner stop at Hildebrandt's, a classical diner/ice cream/soda shop before it took us quite some time to get back into the city. Heavy traffic, crazy, but we had a beautiful day in a different world with friends!

Elevated experiences

 Boy, time is always too short in NYC!!! Trying to catch up,,, just the highlights of the last days,,,

Wednesday: SUMMIT One Vanderbilt (left), closeby Grand Central Terminal. This pretty new observation deck in Midtown is all about mirrors and immersive experiences. On three different levels, people lie down on the ground to take pics (of themselves), play arround with shiny balls and admire installations. There are two glass ledges 1,100 feet above Madison Avenue, too. 

Frankly, we liked the views of New York City (though, all through glass) best! From the wrap-around terrace outdoors, views go up to 80 miles! Measuring 1,401 feet (ca. 420 m), One Vanderbilt is the tallest commercial skyscraper in Midtown Manhattan, and, though it's a little lower than One World Observatory (WTC) and The Edge (on photo below),  views are worth standing in line a couple of times despite of time-framed tickets.

Installation

View towards Hudson Yards and The Edge

East River & Chrysler Building (right edge)

View south, with Empire State Bldg (right)

View West (Hudson River)

 

 

 

 

 

View North (Central Park)

  

On we went to Bryant Park and the Public Library (photo right), then strolling through SoHo (below) and ending up at Strands, our fav bookstore, with used and new books in one and the same shelf.

Here is a detail of Grand Central Terminal, with Chrysler Building in the background and the inside of this gorgeous historic railroad station.

 

The wooden escalators of Macy's (below) - haven't seen such thing before,,,

Dinner tonight was in NYC’s first Filipino-Spanish tapas restaurant on the LES: 87 Ludlow - after drinks in the Gugu Room nearby. Inspired by the Spanish influence on Filipino culture and food, the menu features tapas like Oyster Sisig, served in a hot mini skillet with a quail egg on top or Sardines with Ikura.

New York - Nature and Commerce

Sun out and warmer. Early start to get to the AMNH - American Museum of Natural History. This huge museum got an addition recently: The Gilder Center. Spectacular architecture, which reminds of Spanish architect Gaudi -  with new exhibition galleries, an "Invisible World Immersive Experience" and an insectarium, butterfly vivarium, and floor-to-ceiling collections displays on four floors. Also, we re-visited some of the old exhibition halls: the new Halls of Gems and Fossils as well as the Dinosaurs Halls.

New Gilder Center

Tyrannosaurus rex

Northwest Pacific Indian Exhibition

Gilder Center exhibitions

"Vivarium" (Butterflies)

Invisible World

Dakota Building

After the AMNH which is located directly at Central Park, we went for a stroll through this huge park. View from The Lake towards the skyline was with its stick-like skyscrapers, and, below, the Dakota Building where John Lennon and many other stars live(d). Closeby, in Central Park John Lennon got a memorial, which is always crowded.

 

 

Next stop: Times Square, always busy, always crazy, always packed with people from all over the world. Lots of traffic and the impersonators (gone during Covid) are back, too.

The Museum of Broadway celebrates Broadway's  history with hundreds of rare costumes, props and artifacts. We were sceptic at the beginning, but it was a nicely presented exhibition, as a timeline, highlighing one or two musicals of every period. On several levels it gave a good overview over NYC Broadway's theater history in general, about famous musicals and how people work to get a musical on stage.

"Wicked"

"Hair"

Last stop: Moynihan Train Hall - opposite the existing Penn Station (underneith Madison Square Garden), in the "courtyard" of the Post Office Building, serving Amtrak and LIRR. From there we took the subway back to Sugar Hill/Harlem to get ready for dinner at Rua (Thai Food) in Smith Street in the Brooklyn's Cobble Hill neighborhood. Long time on the train, but food was worth the effort!