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The Charging bull of Wall Street, owner of the world’s most recognisable bronze ball:new york: The Charging bull of Wall Street, owner of the world's most recognisable bronze ball

Small people and one gigantic statue:new york

Framing pretty in Central Park:New York - Central Park

The Yankee Stadium and lots of yellow school buses:new york: Yankee Stadium

Approaching Time Square: New York: Time Square

On top of the Empire State Building – Can you spot the Flatiron building?new york empire state building-7

Photo of the Brooklyn Bridge, taken from Brooklyn.
New York - the Brooklyn Bridge

View of Manhattan Bridge from Brooklyn – can you spot the Empire State Buildingnew york: View of Manhattan Bridge from Brooklyn – can you spot the Empire State Building?  

View of Manhattan from New Jersey.
View of Manhattan from New Jersey.

Washington Square Arch:New York, the Washington Square Arch

Time Square at night:New York: Time Square at night

If you ever feel overwhelmed by those endless shadows of skyscrapers in the New York City, escape to Central park. It’s an entire different world from hustling downtown Manhattan. Who wouldn’t love this vastly green, calm & dreamy place? Maybe that’s why New York city is often regarded the No 1 desirable city in the whole world – it has everything for everybody, each with a different taste.central park new york-13 central park new york-12 central park new york-11 central park new york-10 central park new york-9 central park new york-8 central park new york-6 central park new york-5 central park new york-4 central park new york-3 central park new york

Needless to say, New York is the home of many famous Skyscrapers. Do you remember the Empire State Building in movies like Sleepless in Seattle or Oblivion where it’s always romantic and widely empty for just two lovers to meet (whether the first time or not)? Well you know it, that only happens in the movies; the reality is that the Empire State Building observation deck on 86th floor would probably be a very frustrating place for a blind date because it’s always jam packed.  Millions of people from all over the world come to the top of Empire state building to admire the ever impressive skyline of Manhattan. Can you see all the other skyscrapers?

Manhattan Skyscrapers- View from the top of the Empire State Building

View from the top of the Empire State Building

Manhattan Skyscrapers -View from the top of the Empire State Building

View from the top of the Empire State Building

Manhattan Skyscrapers: View from the top of the Empire State Building

View from the top of the Empire State Building

Manhattan Skyscrapers: View from the top of the Empire State Building

View from the top of the Empire State Building

Manhattan Skyscrapers: View from the top of the Empire State Building

View from the top of the Empire State Building

the empire state building new york

the Empire State Building itself

Flatiron Building New York

The famous Flatior Building

Manhattan Skyscrapers-11

the Empire State Building again

Another place has a spectacular view of the New York city including the Empire State Building is Top of the Rock (Observatory on top of Rockefeller Center).

View of the Empire State Building from Top of the Rock

View of the Empire State Building from Top of the Rock

Manhattan Skyscrapers-3

The GE building of o Rockefeller Center

view from the top of the rock new york

View from Top the Rock – Observatory on top of Rockefeller Center

Manhattan Skyscrapers-4

Rockefeller Center

Manhattan Skyscrapers-10 Manhattan Skyscrapers-9 Manhattan Skyscrapers-8 Manhattan Skyscrapers-7 Manhattan Skyscrapers Manhattan Skyscrapers-2

Can you escape the shadows of these skyscrapers?

“Do we have to walk over the Brooklyn Bridge?” J is a not a big fan of walking.
“Yes.” I replied with great enthusiasm, “It would be fun. Everyone said we must do the Brooklyn Bridge walk at least once. And the view would be amazing. We can take some nice close up photos of those cables.”



I heard about the history of Brooklyn Bridge many times. It is legendary:
The bridge’s construction took 14 years, involved 600 workers and cost $15 million (more than $320 million in today’s dollars). At least two dozen people died in the process, including its original designer whose son took over the leadership of the bridge construction. The son later suffered from caisson-disease as a result of the works on the pillars of the bridge and it was the son’s wife who eventually supervised the construction of the Brooklyn Bridge until its completion.
More than 125 years after its completion, the Brooklyn Bridge is still the world’s largest suspension bridge and one of the most famous icons of New York.

This photo was taken on a glorious, sunny day. The bridge looks majestic over the east river except for the huge pieces of white cloth hanging close to its tower.

The Brooklyn Bridge and Manhattan

the brooklyn bridge over east river

The plan was to walk over the bridge one day and take some nice sunset photos. There was only one slight problem: the sun didn’t show up on the day we took the Brooklyn Bridge walk.



Never mind that. We could just enjoy an easy stroll and the view. Right? There were dedicated pedestrian walkways on the bridge so it was safe to walk too. Vendors were selling stuff and brave tourists were taking photos with a huge snake around their necks.

The Brooklyn Bridge

The view? Hmmm… I’ve seen better. Sorry New Yorkers. There were plastic bags and other rubbish tied on the rusted metal wires. Obviously some people felt free to write all over the poor old bridge too.

The Brooklyn Bridge

Another small section of the bridge was used to put love locks and stickers.

The Brooklyn Bridge

Views to the harbor were blocked due to construction and parts of the bridge were scaffold-ed. I started to feel for the Brooklyn Bridge. Repairs seemed to be long overdue.

blocked view

scaffolding The Brooklyn Bridge

It was like walking across a tunnel

Can you feel my excitement of finally walking out of the tunnel?

open sectionIt was a cloudy Saturday afternoon. I took a photo of J taking photos on the Brooklyn Bridge and looked around.

taking photos

Right there, I saw the beauty of the Brooklyn Bridge again. Though not exactly as what I have imagined up close, the Brooklyn Bridge is just like the New York City. Grand, alluring and forever under construction.

 



In case you think I’m in the New York City Greenwich Village right now, I’m not. Though I wouldn’t mind that.

We reserved a whole day to do nothing else but wandering around Greenwich Village area during our New York trip. The goal of the day was to soak up in the Sun and experience the local way of living (i.e. getting there by Subway).

If you are not in a hurry while visiting New York city, spend some quality time in Greenwich Village.

Go Wander, you’ll love it.

Walking into a movie scene accidentally

Greenwich Village is unpretentiously cool. It is a relaxed neighborhood that happens to be the setting of many movies and TV shows. Friends is set in the Village. In Sex And The City, Carrie Bradshaw’s apartment building is also in the Village, even though her address is given as on the Upper East Side. It wasn’t my intention at all to search for those places in the movie scenes in Greenwich Village but you really don’t need to look out for them . They jump at you.

As I was walking along the tree lined streets aimlessly, a familiar garden setting appeared right in front of me. Wait a minute, isn’t it the place where Miranda and Steve got married in Sex And The City? Indeed it is, the Jefferson Market garden where the movie scene was set.

New York City Greenwich Village Jefferson Market garden

Setting for Sex and The City where Miranda and Steve’s wedding took place

The red building at the back is an old courthouse, now known as Jefferson Market Library.

NYC Greenwich Village old court house

 

No skyscrapers

New York has plenty of skyscrapers in every shape and size. When you want to escape from the huge shadows of these tall buildings cast and urgently need to feel the sun shinning on your skin, come to Greenwich Village.  It is a world away from Time Square and other busy parts of Manhattan. The village landscape is thoroughly enjoyable and I’m never sick of looking at the exterior fire escape on an old building facade. There are cafes, bars and bakeries on every street corner in Greenwich Village. Quaint little shops are everywhere too.

greenwich village building shop

 

Washington Square Park

Greenwich Village is the arty, bohemian part of New York City. If you are tired of sightseeing, shopping, watching shows, visiting museums… Come to chill out in Washington Square Park. Located at the heart of Green Which Village, Washington Square pare is dominated by the 1892 Washington  Arch and central fountain which draws crowds of students, tourist, locals and artists year -round.

NYC Greenwich Village arch in washington square parkplay in washinton square park

You might even bump into the future Bob Dylan. Actually, you don’t need to meet anybody, just come and sit. And watch the world go by.NYC Greenwich Village washington square park

Joe’s Pizza

Do you want to try some classic New York fast food? Have a huge slice of pizza or two at Joe’s Pizza. It’s a buzz and bustle tiny place with pizzas flying out of the oven literally every  minute. I’m not huge fan of pizza but I loved it so much and went for seconds. Pizzas in New York is different from those in Italy. They are huge with very little toppings. I still wonder how could a plain looking pizza be this tasty. Photos of celebrities eating at Joe’s pizza occupied a wall inside. Everybody wants a slice of Joe’s Pizza, evidently.

joes pizza

joes pizza greenwich

So there you have it, snippets of Greenwich Village. When you go wander, don’t worry about getting lost. Because there’s no other neighborhood more enjoyable to get lost in that Village.