Lorna's Travel Blog: New York City

I flew in from London via Kuwait airlines - planes very old (still have ashtrays) but service was great. It was easier me to get through US immigration than British immigration. I spent the night in a hotel and met Janet's plane from vancouver the next morning -- all went very smoothly.

Our apartment

Our street

We rented an apartment for six days in the Chelsea area of NYC on 19th between 7th and 8th. Great apartment and great location.

New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous urban agglomerations in the world. The city is referred to as New York City or the City of New York to distinguish it from the State of New York, of which it is a part. A global power city, New York exerts a significant impact upon commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and entertainment. The home of the United Nations Headquarters, New York is an important center for international diplomacy and has been described as the cultural capital of the world. NYC has a population of 8.3 million people (one quarter of Canada's population).

Located on one of the world's largest natural harbors, New York City consists of five boroughs, each of which is a county of New York State. The five boroughs—The Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan, Queens, and Staten Island—were consolidated into a single city in 1898. New York is the most densely populated major city in the United States. As many as 800 languages are spoken in New York, making it the most linguistically diverse city in the world.

Miracle on 34th street - this is where Macy's and the Empire State Building are located

First stop was the Empire State Building including the virtual ride. Some wonderful views of the city. Did I mention there is a heat wave here - everyday is over 95 and feels like over 100 with the humidity!

The Empire State Building is a 102-story skyscraper located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, at the intersection of Fifth Avenue and West 34th Street. It has a roof height of 1,250 feet (381 meters), and with its antenna spire included, it stands a total of 1,454 ft (443.2 m) high. Its name is derived from the nickname for New York, the Empire State. It stood as the world's tallest building for 40 years, from its completion in 1931 until construction of the World Trade Center's North Tower was completed in 1972. Following the September 11 attacks in 2001, the Empire State Building was again the tallest building in New York (although it was no longer the tallest in the US or the world), until One World Trade Center reached a greater height on April 30, 2012. The Empire State Building is currently the third-tallest completed skyscraper in the United States (after the Willis Tower and Trump International Hotel and Tower, both in Chicago), and the 22nd-tallest in the world (the tallest now is Burj Khalifa, located in Dubai). It is also the fourth-tallest freestanding structure in the Americas.

The Empire State Building is generally thought of as an American cultural icon. It is designed in the distinctive Art Deco style and has been named as one of the Seven Wonders of the Modern World by the American Society of Civil Engineers. The building and its street floor interior are designated landmarks of the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission, and confirmed by the New York City Board of Estimate. it was designated as a National Historic Landmark in 1986. In 2007, it was ranked number one on the List of America's Favorite Architecture according to the AIA. There are 6500 windows and 20,000 people work in this building!

Views from the Empire State Building:

Chrysler building in the middle

Central Park in the middle

Statute of liberty from a distance

Flatiron building built in 1902

Brooklyn bridge from a distance

Next off to grand central station 'the world's loveliest station'!

Grand Central Terminal (GCT) — mistakenly called Grand Central Station, and often shortened to simply Grand Central—is a commuter rail terminal station at42nd Street and Park Avenue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, United States. Built by and named for the New York Central Railroad in the heyday of American long-distance passenger rail travel, it is the largest train station in the world by number of platforms: 44, with 67 tracks along them. They are on two levels, both below ground, with 41 tracks on the upper level and 26 on the lower, though the total number of tracks along platforms and in rail yards exceeds 100. The terminal covers an area of 48 acres (19 ha). Grand Central Terminal is "the world's number six most visited tourist attraction", bringing in approximately 21,600,000 visitors annually.

Off to Time Square

It is just crazy walking around this area! So many people so much pushing and shoving! So New York

New year's ball that drops at midnight! Looks smaller in real life.

There use to be in a bylaw in NYC that skyscrapers could not be built straight up the had to be tiered to preserve the skyline and lessen the amount of shade - this bylaw is no longer in place.

We took the hop on off tours - views of New York

Beautiful architecture

On the east side there is a square located on the waterfront and at this time for some reason hundreds of people were laying on the ground???? Only in NYC

Metropolitan Life Building

The charging bull statute near Wall Street

Charging Bull, which is sometimes referred to as the Wall Street Bull or the Bowling Green Bull, is a 3,200-kilogram (7,100 lb) bronze sculpture by Arturo Di Modica that stands in Bowling Green Park near Wall Street in Manhattan, New York City. Standing 11 feet (3.4 m) tall and measuring 16 feet (4.9 m) long, the oversize sculpture depicts a bull, the symbol of aggressive financial optimism and prosperity, leaning back on its haunches and with its head lowered as if ready to charge. The sculpture is both a popular tourist destination which draws thousands of people a day, as well as "one of the most iconic images of New York"and a "Wall Street icon"symbolizing "Wall Street" and the Financial District.