Taxi!
The view from the hotel window! So many taxis, so much honking. Taxi drivers are the same everywhere, just a little more crazy here. We had one that got so angry with another driver he threw a paper cup out of the window at him!
New York from ferry
A 2 hour cruise around the bottom half of Manhattan was great. Despite the sunny day, it was very cold.
Ess-a-bagel
One of 2 bagel shops vying for ultimate bagel supremacy in New York. Very delicious. It is unusual to find it so empty. On weekdays the queue can be out the door.
A plain bagel......
...with corned beef, swiss cheese, tomato, lettuce and mayo. Fabulous, although a little hard to eat with the pound or so of corned beef! Must remember to ask for a little less next time.
Central Park
View of buildings from Central Park - when you're in the middle of the park, its hard to believe that you're in the middle of the city.
Top of the Rock
The night we went up to the top of the Rockefeller Building was a bit hazy, but sunny - so gave the sunset a misty sort of feel. Every day we've been here they've predicted thunderstorms & yet to see one. This was meant to be the worst day of the week. Makes our weather bureau look like absolute geniuses. The best bit of the Top of the Rock is the view of the Empire State Building.... not so good is that the Chrysler Building is partially obscured by one of the ugliest buildings ever.
180 degrees
In the other direction from the Top of the Rock is Central Park and Uptown area.
Ever changing gardens
I think you can get a brief glimpse of these gardens as part of the set of the Today show on NBC. Two days before there were tulips and 1.5m high trees, then we walked past & they had been replaced by this garden.
Turtles in Central Park
As it was such a gorgeous day, the turtles were sunning themselves on the rock.
Federal Reserve
There's gold under this here building! Its the Federal Reserve Bank & is also the gold vault for storage of gold by sovereign nations (other than the US) and corporations. Unfortunately no pictures were allowed inside....
NYSE security
At a lot of the major sites (eg Federal Reserve, World Trade Centre) there is a strong police presence, but this is the only place we saw cops with automatic rifles.
Little Jockeys
Your guess is as good as mine as we were off to the theatre & didn't have time to find out what the building was for.
If Times Square is like this on a Saturday night
...then imagine what is must be like on New Year's Eve. It was so busy, people everyone, every car in New York appeared to be trying to drive through the intersection, horns honking & sirens blaring. Its a requirement that you have a neon sign in Times Square, no matter what your business.
NYPD
Which explains the neon for the police in Times Square. A bit hard to take them seriously when it looks like a donut shop!
The Met
What a fabulous museum. This day was cloudy, with some possible drizzle (although the weather bureau had again predicted thunderstorms) and so the Met was pretty busy. This was the queue to buy a ticket, although it is couched as "suggested donation". There's so much to see here, that it would take days to see everything properly. There were some amazing collections of both antiquities and more modern art.
A relatively speedy cathedral
This one only took 40 years to build, relatively speedy in cathedral building terms. Its a beautiful cathedral.
The bull....
Sorry about the view, couldn't get near the front end - too many other tourists.
... and the bear
The bull now has a companion, the bear! He was standing 10m away from the bull, looking for tips. Not exactly sure what else the bear did.
Statue of Liberty
We'll be seeing this in closeup tomorrow when we travel to the statue and to Ellis Island.
Lady Liberty
The Statue of Liberty is huge! Her face is 8 foot high and waist 35ft wide. It took the US a year to raise enough money for the pedestal after this arrived as a gift from France.
Crowded Ferry
So much security to get out to Liberty and Ellis Islands - a security check in Manhattan and then another to get into the statue. On July 4th they will be reopening the crown to 30 people per hour. Security for this bit will be even tighter!
New York is a movie set
Saw this movie being filmed on the water front at Battery Point. Its going to be turned into an animated picture. The boy at the front is the star.
Commentary
Whilst sitting near the NYSE this guy was being interviewed by German TV. Based on some of his answers, it is a little clearer how the US got themselves into this mess!
A view of international and US territory
This photo was taken at the UN headquarters. UN is actually not part of the US - it is international territory. You can see the US in the distance - from the water's edge.
UN building
We got to go into the General Assembly Hall, but not take photos as they were having a meeting on international trade law. Ordinarily you'd be able to visit the Security Council Chamber, but its closed for renovations until 2012.
Hankering for piano music with your Macca's?
This is the only McDonald's in the world that has a grand piano and piano player - as well as table service! Needless to say its located near Wall Street.
Squirrel
What would a collection of photos from the US be without a squirrel photo?
Buildings
So many buildings and flags - here's a ground eye view!
Guggenheim
The inside of the Guggenheim Musuem which is currently hosting a major exhibition of the drawings of Frank Lloyd Wright, the architect of this building.
Manhattan Bridge
Located next to the more famous Brooklyn Bridge, it is very spectacular. They have a double layer, with trains running underneath the roadway.
Dumbo
Took this photo from the area called Dumbo (Down under Manhattan Bridge Overpass) - every area has to have an acronym - Soho, Noho, Nolita etc
Brooklyn Bridge
Looking towards Manhattan - despite the photo, it was actually really crowded.
Need to practice your golf?
Here's a good place to practice your swing when space is at a premium. The Hudson River is in the foreground.
View from Empire State Building at night
Amazingly no queues to go up the ESB. Looking towards the financial district.
Yum
New York Cheesecake & Hot Chocolate - yum. Pity about the cream from a can!
Atlas at Rockefeller
Atlas at the Rockefeller Centre
At Ellis Island
Depending on how you viewed this - either the flag was entirely visible or the photos were - or somewhere in between.
Fire hydrant
Not many of them are painted in the conventional colours - took me a while to find this one.
Frick Collection
The Frick Collection is one of the few museums that doesn't allow you to take photos inside - this is the garden at the rear of the truly magnificent house.
Disappointment
Was hoping to see Starry Night at MOMA (Museum of Modern Art) but it was out on loan. However it is a magnficent time travelling painting. Reading the sign indicated that it was going to be back on display before it had even left Europe! What a good trick.
MOMA looking in
Here is a view of MOMA looking into the sculpture garden.
MOMA flowers
Some spectacular flowers at MOMA - in the sculpture garden.
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