Friday 5 September 2003

We have breakfast again at Austin's Café followed by a second attempt to go up the  Empire State Building . The Weathermen were right; it is a bright and shining day. Clear weather means good visibility and low humidity. 

The building dates back to 1931 and has been an eye catching landmark ever since, despite the fact that the World Trade Centre's Twin Towers outflanked the Empire State in 1973. Despite the stock crisis of  1929  the building was completed within 14 months. In 1945 an airplane crashed into the 79th floor, killing 13 people. The building remained in tact. It has 103 floors and is more than 443 metres (1475ft) high (from its foot to the TV-mast) and the third tallest building in the world after the Sears building in Chicago and the Petronas towers in Kuala Lumpur. The entrance at ground level, with its posh shopping mall, was designed in Art Deco style. We have to buy our tickets in the basement where we also have our picture taken against the background of a wallpaper with the building.  We opt for a visit of the observation deck only ignoring the Skyride (a flight simulator) and the audio tour. The first elevator takes us to the 86th floor. Here we are guided through  the Photoshop (two pictures of us for $16!!) before the second elevator takes right up to the observation deck.  On top of the Empire State we are not disappointed. Although we have been here before on a previous visit, the view is again breath taking. The skyline lacks the  WTC of course with its Twin Towers! Today's view includes New Jersey and even Connecticut!

After the visit we head for City Hall. We have drink outside at a side walk café before crossing the  Brooklyn Bridge on foot. It is by far the best way to go to Brooklyn . From the bridge you have a splendid view over Manhattan, better than anywhere else. The best way to do it, is to not to turn round before you are half way and let the view take you by surprise. The bridge was finished in 1883 and replaced the ferries that connected rural Brooklyn with Manhattan until then. Brooklyn is just a neighbourhood, but more like a city in its own right with 2.5 million inhabitants. Once started as a Dutch settlement called "Breukelen" (named after a Dutch village by that name) it remained a collection of hamlets and farms. Not until Fulton started his steam ferry as a regular connection to Manhattan, Brooklyn started to develop rapidly. It was incorporated into New York City in 1898. Brooklyn itself consists of many neighbourhoods. We limit ourselves today to Fulton Ferry District and  Brooklyn Heights situated immediately to the right of the bridge on a hill overlooking the East River. 

When we come off the bridge we find ourselves on Cadman Plaza, a park surrounded by the ramps of the bridge. Next to the bridge is the Watch Tower building, the Head Quarters of the Jehova's Witnesses. We walk via Old Fulton Road towards the river. We stop at Grimaldi's, allegedly baking the best  best Pizza's in New York City in its coal brick oven. They only serve pizza. You choose the ingredients and the size of the pizza (large or extremely large). The pizzas are in fact very good and the service ever so friendly and no-nonsense like (no credit cards!) After lunch we continue towards the waterfront where we find the River Café. A prominent restaurant with river view. From this spot the ferries once left for Manhattan. Via Henry Street we climb up to Brooklyn Heights. We walk through the nice little streets (Middagh Street, Cranberry Street, Clarke Street) leading to and from the river. Here we see lots of brownstone town houses, once built for the middle and upper class who found Manhattan becoming too crowded or expensive in the late 19th century. Brooklyn Heights is still very popular among these groups. In Orange Street we find the Plymouth Church of the Pilgrims where Henry Ward Beecher once preached, a supporter of women's rights. His famous sister Harriet wrote  Uncle Ben's Cabin. Via Clarke Street we reach the Promenade or  Esplanade. The boardwalk - constructed over a expressway - along the  East River. Here you can stroll or sit on the benches and enjoy the unsurpassable view of Manhattan. To the left we see Staten island, the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. Right in front of us Downtown Manhattan and towards the right we see the  Empire State Building, where we just came from. After all this beauty we walk on via Pierepont Street to Montague Street. This is a pleasant shopping street with lots of café's and restaurants. It leads us to Borough Hall, the 'City Hall' of Brooklyn. Here we hop on the subway back to Manhattan.

We take the subway to Ground Zero, the empty scar in  Downtown Manhattan where - before September 11, 2001 - the World Trade Center stood. This time of year (it is early September) there is a lot of media exposure for the terrorist attack two years ago, claiming thousands of lives and completely destroyed the buildings. At ground Zero lots of effort is put into restoring the subway line and preparing the site for a new building by the architect Daniel Libeskind. The site is fenced off and there is a limited view of the "hole". There is quite a crowd here, but in reality there is not a lot to see here apart from a few plaques with the names of all the victims. 

We take the subway again to the West Village: to get a drink on Christopher Street to buy some T-shirts there. On 7th Avenue we  walk past the Actors' Playhouse, a theatre that has hosted a show called: Naked Boys Singing! for over five years! It is a musical comedy, featuring 10 (attractive) naked singing actors.

At night we have dinner with Charles and his boy friend Bas at the Mesa Grill on 5th Avenue (between 15th & 16th Street). Star Chef Bobby Flay was one of the pioneers for the subtle and eclectic Southwestern Cuisine in New York.  He has had a lot of following since. The food and the service are excellent. The spacious dining room is noisy, but it is not problem really. The fact that Flay is making a name for himself shows in the gift shop, where they not only his sell cook books, but also  T-shirts and baseball caps with the Mesa Grill's logo!

Upon leaving the restaurant we cast a look on the Empire State Building, today in green floodlights. The colours are not chosen by accident, but specified in a lighting calendar paying attention to all kinds of events, holidays and memorial days with a special colour (more info on the ESB website).

Saturday 6 September 2003

After breakfast at Austin's we take the subway North bound for a change. From Times Square we take the express line #2. Many subway lines have 4 tracks with express trains skipping lots of stops and "locals" stopping everywhere. Today we headed for the Cloisters and that is situated around 190th Street, quite a long way North, but with the express train it takes us only half an hour. From the 190 Street subway station we walk to the museum. . The Cloisters are an outpost for the  Metropolitan Museum of Art (MMA) housed in a kind of convent. The building consists of parts of convents and monasteries imported from France and Spain. The central cloister was bought from the impoverished monastery of  Saint Michel de Cuxa. The museum is beautifully set in Fort Tryon Park high above the Hudson River. The park was designed by Fredrick Law Olmsted jr., the son of the creator of Central Park.  George Grey Barnard started the museum in 1914 with his own collection. Later John D Rockefeller donated money to the MMA to enlarge the collection and buy the surrounding premises. He also bought some 280 acres of wood land across the river to ensure a permanent good view.  Barnard and Rockefeller bought more chapels and gothic halls and in 1938 the enlarged museum opened its doors. The cloister's collection consists exclusively of medieval art and notably the Unicorn tapestries from the Southern Low Countries (ca 1500) are well worth a look and quite famous. Downstairs is a Treasury with lots of religious artifacts. The walk through Fort Tryon Park to the Cloisters is beautiful. De views over the Hudson are impressive. We walk through the museum, enjoy the views and the walk through the park. After that we take a bus back to the subway station. 

We take the subway to 110th Street. We walk to Amsterdam Avenue & 112th Street where we visit the biggest church in North America: St John the Divine. It is an Anglican Church, but it also serves a general purpose in the city and is often used when visiting dignitaries are received. It is an impressive building, but because of its location so far uptown it is not busy with tourists. This part of  Amsterdam Avenue is not the most attractive either, but the church deserves a visit nevertheless. Construction started in 1892 with a Romanesque design, but in 1912 a new architect switched to Gothic. The work was stopped in 1939 and was not resumed properly until after 1980. Two thirds of the church have been completed, and there is still a lot to be done. In 1994 the church went bankrupt and the work could only be continued because of massive international fund raising. It will probably take until 2050 for the the church to be completed, thus becoming the biggest church in the world. The church has beautiful details and is certainly not built on the idea of bigger is better. The church does a lot for the local community and has a progressive attitude.

After the visit to the cathedral we walk from Amsterdam Avenue to Broadway (one block East). It makes a world of difference. Where Amsterdam is quite dull this far up town, Broadway turns out to be very lively and prosperous with lots of shops, restaurants and café's. We have lunch at a Belgian inspired brasserie called Le Monde (between 112th & 113th Street). After a fine lunch we take the subway to W80th Street & Broadway. Here we take a look at Zabar, nice word play on Bazar. It is a store carrying the broadest line of food from all parts of the world. A Mecca for gourmets and a sight in this part of town. The lower floor is for edible stuff and the range is incredible. The upper level is for kitchen utensils. Next to it is a small lunch café. v

After gazing a so much good food (and buying some of it) we take the subway again and head for Midtown in order to take a look at  Radio City Music Hall (6th Ave & 50th St). This  Art Deco gem of a  theater can be visited on a tour. The guide takes us through the beautiful Art Deco lounges, that have been recently restored to their former glory. We also visit back and on stage and get all the details on the sophisticated techniques used already back in the 1930s.  We also visit the private rooms of co-founder  - besides Rockefeller and RCA- , S.L. (Roxy) Rothafel, who lived at the theatre. Roxy set the standard for designing and programming theatres world wide and all across the world so called Roxy Theatres sprung up. The theatre was almost torn down in the 1970s, but the outcry that followed resulted in  it being declared a landmark. The theater originally started with a variety show featuring a chorus line called the Rockettes. These variety shows are still programmed regularly. During our tour one of the Rockettes shows some of her tricks like the high kick. Besides the set variety shows Radio City also stages other artists on tour and is also for rent for parties and congresses.  

Close to  Radio City Music Hall is the Rockefeller Center. a fine piece of city planning. A luxury shopping mall, restaurants and café's around a fountain and a huge golden statue of the Greek god Prometheus in front of the giant GE Building. The centre also houses a couple of NBC TV studios from where live TV shows are broadcasted daily like the Today show. In winter square turns into an ice rink and a giant Christmas tree is set up beside it. Right now there is a large side walk café. This time of year the US Open Tennis championships are held in New York at Flushing Meadows in Queens. One of the sponsors (American Express) has set up a giant screen in Rockefeller centre where you can watch the games live from specially set up stands.  Across from the Center on 5th Avenue is the famous fashion store Saks on Fifth Avenue.

After this we go home for some rest and a change of clothes. Tonight we go to Chelsea and have dinner at Cuba Café on Eighth Avenue, after which we dive into the Gay scene in this happening district.

Today was a sunny day with pleasant temperatures around: 25°C/77°F