Reflections on New York
Underground railway system:
Filthy
Old
Very
confusing – even the locals say that they get confused
Few lifts
or escalators
No
‘Oyster’, ‘Myki’ or similar – have to buy a ticket for each trip
Streets:
No bins
Short
blocks
Mostly grid
system
Beautiful
gardens and large pots of spring bulbs
Buildings:
Wonderful!
Skyscrapers
everywhere!
Mixture of
neo-classical, Art Deco, modernist (skyscrapers)
So many of
them built as a remedy for the depression, giving thousands of men work.
Buildings
with much former glory now dwarfed by the skyscraper 
(Photo needs editing but haven't had time to do it)
9/11 Memorial:
Poignant
Moving
Unbelievable
number of names surrounding the two pools of remembrance
Wonderful
symbolism in the names of each ladder of firemen or squad of responders being
grouped together
Loved the Survivor Tree: it was found in the remains of
one of the towers, battered and bruised but still alive. It was nursed back to health and now stands,
a strong and healthy ‘phoenix-like’ symbol.
One World Trade Centre a beautiful building, standing proudly right next to the footprints of the former World Trade Centre buildings.
Brand new Oculus building, inspired by two doves released at the 9/11 site by the daughter of the architect. Photographs can't do justice to its beauty.
Statue of Liberty:
Wonderful
history, previously unknown to us
Great
symbol of freedom
Token of
the great affinity between France and USA through their shared history of revolution
Wonderful
irony that for the unveiling of ‘Lady Liberty’, no women were invited nor even allowed!
Very glad
we ignored the advice to just sail past on the Staten Island ferry – spend
about three hours there with an excellent audio tour
Wish we had
spent the whole day and also gone to Ellis Island to explore the Immigration
Museum
Brooklyn Bridge:
Could see
the potential but a disappointing walk as mist descended, covering the
buildings
Hundreds of
walkers and cyclists in both directions
Almost
compulsory to have a selfie-stick and to force everyone else to wait while the
selfies were taken!
Rockerfeller Building/Chrysler Building/Empire
State Building/Grand Central Station:
Three great
icons of architecture and industry
Beautiful
lobbies, each with their own distinct features
Rockerfeller
lobby – huge Swarkowski chandelier
Chrysler
lobby – beautiful Art Deco features: bookmatched marble walls, parquetry flooring,
lighting
-
Ceiling
featuring the zodiac and early aviation
Empire
State lobby – wow factor on first entering
-
Plaques
acknowledging three signs of the (1930s) modern world: heating, electricity,
masonry (Found the inclusion of masonry
interesting because the building is concrete and steel.)
View from ‘Top
of the Roc’ wonderful in the day and even better at night 
Times Square:
Times
Square: crowded, glitzy.
Happy we
have seen it but once is enough.
Most
expensive place in the world to advertise
Broadway:
We now ‘get’
Broadway – it is just basically a continuation of 7th Avenue and
contains, or is adjacent to Times Square.
Lion King a
wonderful production – unbelievable mechanics and special effects
Learned
that whether a Broadway production is ‘on Broadway’ or ‘off Broadway’ is nothing
to do with location but the seating capacity of the venue:
-
On
Broadway 500 +
-
Off-Braodway 100 – 499
-
Off
- off Broadway < 100
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