The itinerary I had all planned out for our second full day in New York City was significantly modified before we even left the hotel room in the morning. I'm in the city notorious for their food, and I had yet to hit one of the restaurants on my to do list. Deciding it was going to be Shake Shack for lunch, and Shake Shack being no where close to where we planned on being around lunch, our schedule required some modifications. So after a sleep in (that waking up early thing lasted a day - not any of our styles), we went out looking for breakfast. This time heading south on 5th Avenue, we stopped at one of the many Pret a Manger shops - fresh yogurt, croissants, bagels, the best orange juice outside of Florida and half decent coffee - might be our new "regular" spot at least for the next couple of days here.
Continuing south a few more blocks we came across the iconic Empire State Building. Surrounded at it's base by dozens of blue vested "official" ticket sellers for express trips to the top, we were quickly bombarded by their well rehearsed selling lines. A little disappointed we a) looked so much like tourists and b) had to keep saying no, when they no doubt heard us already say no to the guy beside them, we made our way to the lobby for an essential picture then moved on.. The wait from what we had overheard was over 2 hours long and I could think of much better ways I wanted to spend my New York Tuesday morning - or afternoon.
We headed west towards Madison Square Gardens a few blocks over, and was unimpressed that it looked a lot like an office building, except for the sign stating it was Madison Square Gardens. Confusingly enough, the next sign over said Penn Station, and according to our map, they looked pretty much in the same place. We didn't have tickets for either place, so our motivation to figure out which was which was little, so we headed back east to 6th Avenue and headed once again south. A few blocks south was the Flat Iron Building. The architecture in New York is worth the trip alone, and I gave up my not so discreet tourist disguise staring at this beautiful building and snapping a few pictures despite it being noon and the worst time to take pictures with the harsh overhead sun light. The Flat Iron Building faces Madison Park, which in the southeast corner lay our first food "destination" the Shake Shack. A small building with a faded Shake Shack sign showed us we had arrived...with about a hundred others, who had already formed a massive line that snaked it's way down the park paths. With limited seating and no doubt a long wait ahead of us, we hailed a cab and went to my next choice (truth be told, my first choice - but travelling with 3 others who could not recite When Harry Met Sally as I proudly can, took the more crowd pleasing route of Shake Shack), Katz's Deli. Located at Houston and Avenue A, Katz's is in a not so touristy part of town, and I figured would be much less crowded. Until we opened the door. Looking nothing like the Katz's of When Harry Met Sally, the large restaurant was filled with tables instead of booths, and we were herded in by a security guard and ticket man who gave us each a ticket to have our order written on by the staff, which is used to pay as you leave, and the security to keep us moving and ordering us to move back and allow others to keep coming in. We lined up at the first of 6 or 7 counters, and waited to place our order. As luck would have it, we chose the day a television crew had set up shop and were filming an episode of Chefs of Anarchy. (never heard of it, and even after googling it back at the hotel, still confused about our brush with celebrities). Television crews walked around filming the patrons, as well as the staff, but that was only a moderate distraction as we fought our way to the front of the line as the kids searched out a vacant table for us. Not a long wait, we made it to the front and placed our order with Eddie, a wonderful New Yorker who obviously enjoyed his job and is the type of person who makes New York the one of the best cities to visit. He asked us where we were from (it must say tourist on our foreheads in magic ink only locals can see), and gave us samples of the pastrami we had ordered to try before he made our sandwiches. He didn't mind posing for a picture for me, and only smiled and nodded when I answered his question of why we came to Katz's. I guess Katz's still gets a lot of business from their brief cameo in When Harry Met Sally, although it is a legendary scene, which I will be happy to show the kids when they are 18 years old. Or maybe 30. Bruce and I both tried their Katz's Ale, and very impressed - accompanied by the BEST pastrami on rye sandwich I have ever tasted, this was by far my favourite lunch in NYC yet.
We walked west on Houston, and over to Bowery. Just a little north of Bowery was supposed to be CBGB's - a punk club that was huge in the 1980's, but now shut down and turned into a store front. I was disappointed CBGB's was no longer there, and it's a shame to see such a legendary club disappear without a trace. Since we were close, we walked a few blocks west to Le Poisson Rouge - the club Bruce and I had visited only a year and a half earlier in the dead of winter to see one of our favourite bands The Little Death and the marvelous Lady Rizo perform. Le Poisson Rouge is in one of my favourite neighbourhoods in New York, technically West Village and just north of Tribeca. If you get a chance to visit New York City for a few days, make certain you wander off the tourist trail near Times Square and head to the more residential neighbourhoods like West Village. Great stores, cafes and clubs, it's one of Bruce and mine's favourite place to stroll around and discover what the locals enjoy.
Having a 2:30pm appointment to make, we all hopped in taxi and headed south to the World Trade Centre Memorial. Again, a huge line up awaited us, but thankfully moved quickly through the 4 security and ticket checks to the Memorial Park, surrounded by fences and on going construction. To say the least, we were all underwhelmed. The north and south tower are now represented by large concrete waterfalls that lead into a large square that looks like it leads to the centre of the earth. The names of all those lost in 9/11 are engraved on the ledge of the square waterfalls that mark where the twin towers used to stand. A few grassy areas lay in between, and newly planted trees are in rows surrounded by sidewalk. A new tower is in the process of being built to the north of the park. Although there is no shortage of crowds, security checks and NYPD, the whole memorial left little desire to stay and remember the tragedy that happened over a decade ago. A quick lap of the park, we all left thinking that this was something we wouldn't have been too upset missing.
Much to my daughter's delight, Century 21 shopping was just around the corner and we made our way to the superstore for some New York City shopping. Floors and floors of designer ware with more reasonable prices, I was happy that we weren't there too long and she found a few items for back to school starting in only 2 weeks.
A quick water and rest break at a cafe hidden off on a sidestreet, we walked some more, this time south past Wall Street, and down to the Staten Island Ferry docks. We boarded the free Ferry to Staten Island, with the sole purpose of a drive-by view of the Statue of Liberty. We luckily got a seat outside, and thankfully chose the right side of the ferry to be on, as we sailed past the beautiful lady that stands tall in the Harbour. Truthfully, it was also a great rest from all that walking and once we arrived at Staten Island, we walked back through the terminal and lined up immediately for the next ferry back to Manhattan.
Originally, we planned on hoping on the subway back up to Grand Central Station, but most of us were exhausted and outvoted Bruce for a taxi ride back to our hotel. Taxis are by far the best mode of transportation here - cheap, clean (except for the occasional smelly one), and a fast way to get anywhere, thanks to the fearless drivers. I couldn't imagine owning a car in New York - parking alone is at it's cheapest $400 a month and hourly parking we saw as high as $11 for a half an hour! Even bicycle parking here is $175 a month. With our most expensive taxi ride being $15 before tip for a ride half way up Manhattan, it's by far my favourite way to get around.
A short rest back at our hotel, we headed out for dinner at what we heard to be one of the best pizza places in New York, the Rustica Trattoria, at 2nd Avenue and 44th Street. A small pizza joint, that had a few tables set up in the back, we sat down for another delicious dinner of pasta and pepperoni pizza. Not spectacular, but pretty delicious and affordable, we ate until we could barely move and went for a night time walk towards Times Square. A last minute decision, we stopped at the Rockefeller Center to try our luck at getting to the Top of the Rock without much of a line up. Luck was on our side, and we found ourselves one of the few taking the elevator to the Top and overlooked breathtaking NYC at night. It's amazing how huge this city is, and even at night you can see for miles. Although we did want to make it up the Empire State Building, the Top of the Rock allows an incredible view of the Empire State Building and there's not too much difference in height. Now, Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks did not agree to meet at the Top of the Rock in Sleepless in Seattle, I have to say, it's the much less busy and slightly less expensive way to admire New York from above. At our daughters request, we walked back to our hotel via Times Square again, this time all lit up at night and as crowded at 11pm as it is at 11am. A late night, but New York City is alive and well - no matter what time of day you choose to enjoy it.
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