Nice to see Christmas decorations still up.
One of the locations of the popular New York Health & Racquet Club.
Some views along 3rd Ave.
Chrysler Building, a true skyscraper. Like any extremely tall object, the view gets better farther away.
Grand Central Terminal.
Inside Grand Central Terminal. Just in case you forgot, there's plenty of huge flags to remind you where you are hahaha. Besides that, it really is nice inside.
Outside Grand Central Terminal, a line-up of taxis await passengers.
I kept trying to get a good shot of Chrysler Building - I think this one is it.
Heading along E 42nd St. to the United Nations.
The United Nations!
At Sharansky Steps, across the street from the United Nations.
The main buildings of the United Nations. It's a shame all the flags were down; I guess they were on holiday break?
Looking down UN Way, where the diplomats reside, with the Chrysler Building in clear view in the background.
A look down into the United Nations area from above the Sharansky Steps.
Look at the sign above the door on the left-hand side. Uhhh......
Plenty of signs so you never get lost.
Monument next to the Sharansky Steps.
Some buildings farther down the United Nations area.
A look down 1st Ave. Lots of cops patrolling outside the United Nations, for obvious reasons. Can you spot the MYPD Mobile Command Post down the street?
I made my way back across E 42nd St., passing by Grand Central Terminal again, over to 5th Ave.
The newsstand has come a long way from the days of wood...
Finally at 5th Ave.
The New York Public Library. Parts of its exterior were under renovation.
Some views as I headed down 5th Ave. I think it's pretty obvious where I was heading: the Empire State Building (3rd and 4th photos)!
The Empire State Building! I still remember helping my brother put together the 3D foam puzzle of the Empire State Building when we were kids and working on the project I did on the skyscraper during grade school and just wishing I could see it for real.
Inside the lobby.
The photo they take of you before you head up to the observation deck. I had no intention of purchasing it, but since they displayed it instantly on a screen, I figured I might as well get a photo of it hahaha.
Looking down on Manhattan from the outside observation deck for a view in daylight... What happened to the weather!?! Look back at the photos above and you'll see the sun was still out when I was walking to the Empire State Building. But when I got to the top (and it didn't take long, the lines were short), the view the terrible! Actually, I already kind of knew this would happen because I overheard one of the security guards on the ground floor mentioning to a tourist that it was currently zero visibility at the top, but I was hoping that wasn't true. I officially have the worst luck with observation decks hahaha!
From what the plaque said, I think there was once a flag at the very top.
The view from the north side.
The view south of the Empire State Building, but not from the south side of the deck. They promise an unobstructed 360 degree view here too, but they actually closed off the south and east sides of the outside observation deck, presumably because of the high winds.
It was very cold, and even windier, at the top.
Close-ups of buildings and areas I found interesting.
Me with the Chrysler Building.
A view of the closed off east side from the deck observation area.
I wonder if mail is still moved through the building using those vacuum tubes?
After the Empire State Building, I continued to head south down 5th Ave. until I got to W 34th St., and the giant Macy's sign caught my eye.
I decided to take a look inside the Macy's flagship store and self-proclaimed "World's Largest Store," which I doubt is true. It is very big though.
One of the floors had a DJ booth (with an actual DJ inside)! I didn't expect to see that at all.
When I found out from the store directory that there was an Auntie Anne's Pretzels inside, I had to stop for a cinnamon sugar pretzel - my favourite! I don't think I had even had lunch yet hahaha. Then it was back out onto the streets, towards the hotel to grab my bag.
I could have easily taken the subway back uptown instead of walking all the way there, but then I would've missed out on seeing all this.
Almost back at the hotel. Read the bottom sign - all signs should be that straightforward hahaha.
One last look at Rockefeller Center for now (I don't think I even took one of the building itself yet).
Now a slightly embarrassing story, but one that's so typical of NY that it wouldn't have been a complete NY experience without it. I got hustled! Almost back at the hotel along 5th Ave., 2 guys were trying to hand out CDs to the passing crowds. Now usually, I don't grab stuff that people hand out on the street, but for reasons I can't even explain, I reached out and grabbed one. Thinking back, it was honestly like something else was controlling me because I can't think of a sign reason why I would've grabbed it even if it was being shoved in my face. He probably spotted me a mile away, camera hanging around my neck, still starry-eyed from all the buildings hahaha. Of course, once I grabbed the CD, the guy handing it out started to chat me up, telling me he as an aspiring rapper in some contest on BET to see who could sell the most mixtapes. He looked enough like the guy on the mixtape cover. Then he signed the CD for me and asked for anything I could spare, and stupidly enough, I grabbed a few bucks out of my pocket and handed it over to him. It didn't even occur to me at the time that he could be lying. There was no way for me to test the mixtape once I got back to my room since I only had my netbook with me, and while the artwork was from a real mixtape, I later found out when I returned home that the CD was blank! So I ended up overpaying a lot for a blank CD...at least it's better than being hustled and getting nothing back in return hahaha.
One final shot of the area as I made my way from the hotel to the subway to get down to the hostel.
This post is going to be too long if I keep going, I'm going to have to split it in two!
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