New York City, New York

Dates visited: July 24 - 26, 2022

By Marty

This is actually Part 2 of the previous post. We stayed in the "New York City North / Newburgh KOA" for eight nights. New York City "North" is 76 miles north of mid town Manhattan!

From this KOA we explored Woodstock and the Hudson Valley, as you saw in the previous post. We also went into NYC for a quick three night visit.

 Ferries on the New Jersey side of the Hudson River

Taking the Beast into NYC was a non starter. For that matter, I didn't want to take Little Red in either. Instead we drove about 90 minutes to Weehawken, NJ and took an eight minute ferry ride to Manhattan. Piece of cake!

The first order of business was lunch at the Lexington Candy Shop: "An Original NYC Luncheonette"!

Opened in 1925 the luncheonette has been owned and operated by the same family for three generations.

The restaurant hasn't been renovated since 1948 (part of it's charm I suppose...) and has been used in the filming of a few commercials, some Kojak episodes, and Robert Redford's "Three Days of the Condor".

After lunch we visited the Metropolitan Museum of Art, just a few blocks from the Lexington Candy Shop. I tried to get a photo without a dark blue sedan in it, but it was either the sedan or multiple buses and taxis...

Winslow Homer's work was on exhibit at The Met. I could tell you that I've always admired Winslow's work or I could be honest and tell you that his name was only somewhat familiar to me and that I think I've seen the painting below before.

Here is what the Met says about Winslow Homer:

Winslow Homer (1836–1910) chronicled some of the most turbulent and transformative decades of American history. He developed his distinctive artistic vision in a crucible of struggle, creating emblematic paintings that illuminate the effects of the Civil War (1861–65) on soldiers, formerly enslaved people, and the landscape. Turning to charged depictions of rural life, heroic rescues, and churning seas, Homer continued to grapple with themes of mortality and the often-uneasy relationship between humans and the natural world. Close study of his art reveals a lifelong preoccupation with conflict and uncertainty as well as persistent concerns with race and the environment.

 

The Gulf Stream

From the Met:

In Homers epic saga set along the Gulf Stream, a Black man faces his possible demise on the deck of a distressed boat, while threatened by sharks and a waterspout. This painting is the culminating expression of various deeply personal and universal themes that Homer explored across his career, particularly the conflict between humans and the natural environment. Completed at the dawn of the twentieth century and during what historians have called the nadir of race relations in the United States, The Gulf Stream is also rich with geopolitical implications. Homer acknowledged the expanded imperial ambitions of the United States beyond North America with the addition of key elements. Splayed across the ship's deck are stalks of sugarcane - the Caribbean commodity central to the economy of empire and directly linked to the swift ocean current of the title, which enabled its trade, and the devastating history of transatlantic slavery. Homer interweaves these complicated narratives in a painting that confronts human struggle, personified by a stoic survivor, against the relentless power of nature.

You know who crossing the you know what...

This is a very impressive and gigantic painting. You wouldn't know how huge it was from this photo had I not included Mark Zuckerberg's kid to give you a sense of scale.

One could spend a couple of days at The Met. We had limited time in the City so we only spent a couple of hours.

Look who I bumped into across from Central Park!  Where is Abraham Lincoln, or somebody like him, when you really need him!

The Blue Note Jazz Club in Greenwich Village. Note that entrance awning is cleverly shaped as a piano (sans the legs)!

 

The Blue Note is one of NYC's top rated jazz clubs. We were treated to a really impressive set by The Bad Plus in an intimate setting. These guys are so good they can play with their eyes closed!

 

 

Janell did all of the research and planning for our three days in NYC, and boy did she nail it! We attended the Blue Note jazz club, a comedy club, and the Jackson Browne concert at The Beacon, along with some great dining and other NYC experiences. 

We have been to NYC a few times previously so this visit did not include many of the popular attractions (Times Square, Statue of Liberty, 9/11 Memorial, Empire State Building, Central Park, etc..)

 

We didn't go there, I just thought it was creative branding for a bar that is below street level

Little Island

Little Island, opened in 2021, is a 2.4 acre public park constructed at the former Pier 54 location on the Hudson River. British Cunard-White Star line operated their trans-Atlantic ocean liner voyages from Pier 54 between 1910 and 1935. Pier 54 is where the Titanic survivors disembarked after their rescue and where, in 1915, the Lusitania began it's fateful voyage. The pier had been derelict for decades before Superstorm Sandy finished it off in 2012.

The park cost $260M to construct and was fully funded by billionaire Barry Diller and his wife, fashion designer Diane von Furstenberg. The couple pledged another $120M to maintain the park and pay for programming over the next 20 years.

Here is a CBS piece about the park which includes some good images of the park under construction and upon completion. You can watch the 6 minute video or read the text:

 

CBS piece on Little Island 

 

 

There are over 350 species of flowers, trees and shrubs and a 687 seat amphitheater on the 2.4 acre park

 

 

 

The steel arch at the foot of the Little Island entrance remains from the Cunard-White Star building.

One block east of Little Island, running adjacent to 10th Avenue, is the High Line, a 1.45 mile long linear park that features over 500 species of plants and trees. The people and greenery that you see in this photo are 30' above street level. 

The High Line, known initially as the "West Side Elevated Line" was constructed in 1934 as an elevated rail line to carry freight trains laden with meat, dairy, and produce to lower Manhattan. Prior to constructing the elevated tracks the freight trains ran on street level tracks which created dangerous conditions for pedestrians, such that 10th Ave became known as "Death Avenue". By 1910 more than 540 people had been killed by trains. 

 

By the 1960's train use dwindled due to the transition to trucking. In the 1980's train traffic ceased completely and demolition of the elevated train tracks was only a matter of time.

By 1999, after decades of disuse, and demolition still pending, a thriving garden of wild plants had taken over the structure. This natural "garden" inspired the community to "think different" (as Steve Jobs might have said) and the concept of an elevated linear park was the result. By 2009 the first section of the High Line opened to the public. 

To see historical photos of the freight line and it's evolution into an elevated linear park check out the History link from The High Line website:

High Line history

 

 

The architecture along the High Line is quite interesting. Each time we walk the High Line (this is our third time since 2012) there are more new buildings, more people, and the vegetation is more developed (I am ducking under tree limbs now). The High Line is a tremendous success as a public space: 8 million people (locals and tourists) visited the High Line in 2019.

At the northern end of the High Line is the 28 acre Hudson Yards mixed use development. The modern buildings you see are the 'Eastern Yard' portion of the development. The first office tower opened in 2016. The buildings rise from a platform constructed over the West Side Yard (a storage yard where the Long Island Railroad engines and cars while away the time each day between the morning and evening commute hours.)

 

The cars and engines that you see are in the 'Western Yard' portion of the development. These tracks will be covered in a few years by a second platform from which will rise seven residential towers, a grammar school, and other buildings. 

The project when complete is projected to cost $25B (yes, 'B' as in 'Billion'), making it the most costly private development ever in the U.S.

 

The architectural centerpiece of Hudson Yards is the 'Vessel', a staircase consisting of 154 interconnected stair flights, 80 landings, and 2,500 steps spiraling to a height of 150 feet. If you look again at the photo above this one you will see the Vessel in the center of the photo amongst the high rise buildings. 

 

The Vessel, at an estimated cost of $200M, opened to the public with no admission charge in March, 2019. However, it has been closed since July, 2021 after four suicides occurred since its opening. It is not known when, or if, the attraction will be open to the public again.

 

This photo is looking up from the ground floor of the Vessel, which is still open to the public

The Shed is a 200,000 sq. ft. arts center for visual and performing arts in Hudson Yards. The retractable steel shell rolls out to cover the plaza to the left, creating a larger space protected from the elements. The steel shell weighs eight million pounds!  The entire structure cost $475M to construct, of which  NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg donated $75M.  Nothing is cheap in NYC!

Check out this one minute video to see the 8 million pound shell rolled out to cover the plaza:

We popped into Macy's Herald Square to pick up a few things. This is the Macy's headquarters and flagship store which, at 1.25M sq. ft., is the largest department store in the U.S.

And it was the setting for this classic Christmas film. We made a mental note to watch 'Miracle on 34th Street' when the holiday season rolls around.

There were a variety of unique and clever chess sets displayed in the store window

Washington Square Park in Greenwich Village

The Empire State Building visible through the Washington Arch

The park is very lively day and night!

 

 

California doesn't have a monopoly on gorgeous sunsets! 

 

Who doesn't like a good back rub?  Not just a good one, but the BEST one!

The Comedy Cellar in Greenwich Village is reputedly the top comedy club in NYC and, some say, in the country. Their very strict rules for attendees include requiring that you put your smart phone (or smart watch or camera) in a sealed envelope during the show. Our best guess is that they want the comedians to be able to try out new material without concern that it might show up on social media.

NYC subway stations, as a rule, are NOT this modern. This one happens to be the World Trade Center station which was reconstructed after the 9/11 attacks.

 

The Oculus crowns the transit center. The transit center, which incorporates a Westfield shopping mall, is the fifth busiest transportation hub in NYC. The complex, constructed for the tidy sum $4B, was completed in 2016.

We didn't ride the Staten Island Ferry, but we walked past the terminal! We have never taken the Ferry but it's free to ride (yes, free!) and offers spectacular views of NYC and the harbor. We're keeping it on the list for a future visit!

 

Ed Koch Queensboro Bridge

 

We took the subway to Roosevelt Island, in the East River between Manhattan and Queens.

Roosevelt Island is 2 miles long and quite narrow. We walked halfway down the west side where we were treated to Manhattan views, including the Chrysler Building, and up the east side where we were treated to Queens...

The Smallpox Hospital opened on Roosevelt Island in 1856. It was the first hospital in the country dedicated to treating smallpox. The building was converted to a nursing school in 1886 and abandoned in the 1950's.

We had a fun ride back to Manhattan on the Roosevelt Island Tramway.  You can see the tram car on the left just above the bridge.

A birds eye view of 1st Avenue from the tram

I learned a few months ago that Jackson Browne would be playing at the iconic Beacon Theater on my 65th birthday. I'm a big fan of Jackson so we scheduled our foray into NYC around this concert. Jackson did not disappoint!

If you or I were playing at the Beacon this is about how many people would be there for the show. For Jackson it was a full house (for the first of four concerts at the Beacon that week.)

 

 

We all know this as an Eagles song, their first single, but did you know that it was co-written by Jackson Browne and Glen Frey? In 1971 Glen Frey lived in the apartment above Jackson in LA. Glen heard Jackson working on the song and later asked Jackson, his friend, about it.  Here is what Glen Frey said:

From American Songwriter website:

Frey continued, “I told him that I really liked it. ‘What was that, man? What a cool tune that is.’ He started playing it for me and said, ‘Yeah, but I don’t know – I’m stuck.’ So, he played the second unfinished verse and I said, ‘It’s a girl, my lord, in a flatbed Ford, slowin’ down to take a look at me.’ That was my contribution to [the song], really, just finishing the second verse.”

 

The view from the ferry as we head back to our car in Weehawken, NJ.