Come and take a look at KingoftheHill's NYC escapade

[Kingofthehill]

Hello All,

I'm not much of a writer, but anyways I since I figured I was in NYC for 5 days, that I would take a bunch of pictures and show them to you guys.

Without further adieu...here it is (my first time there, btw)

Day 1

I had to get there somehow, Continental barely accomplished that

After a lengthy trek from Dirty Jersey to Lower East Side, only worsened by rush-hour traffic and a mute/deaf cab driver (seemed like that anyways...) I arrived at the "Hotel Bentley", it's on the Upper East Side on 62nd and York

The lobby and the rooms were both not too shabby (save the 'Rican girl with the Andre the Giant voice)


Seeing how it was kinda late, I didn't do much before we hit Times Square, however I did get a shot of the adjacent cityscape.

Times Square...figured I'd see what the fuss was all about





Man, the lights created this glow that I could see for miles, one can only imagine the electric bill!

Don't mess with the boys in blue, they'll shove a broomstick up your you-know-what


Day 2

After some heavenly rest, i woke up to check out the adjacent skylines, in typical December gloom:



One side was the concrete jungle, the other was the seemingly under siege (by cranes) burrough of Queens

Not long after that, I walked to Lexington and 59th to catch the subway to Brooklyn to grub at Grimaldi's (recommended by you guys-thanks!)


Man, it looked like some wind could knock down that tattered bridge :lol:


I saw this "design" on buildings all around me

...still walking

Saw this cool building, it's design is reminiscent of the new wave of buildings being built in the newly oil-rich tsar state of Russia

Anyways, I brought this delicious chocolate-laced marble pound cake from some Moroccan guy on the corner before I caught the subway (pic not available), then hopped on the train and got off at the bridge..

There was some nice classical/art-deco buildings around me when I got off, so having camera in hand, I grabbed a few shots:


..Then I got on the bridge to begin my trek to Grimaldi's







Ok..fast forward a bit

GRIMALDI'S!!


man, that pizza was incredible

walked down the street to "South Street Seaport" to see some people taking pictures of a wedding in 40 degrees weather on the river..


Then I went to Junior's Deli to munch on some Chocolate mousse cheesecake




That's it for now, I'm kinda tired-so I'm gonna catch some zzzz's. I'll post more pictures when I get some rest.

Thanks for your time and I sincerely hope you enjoyed the pictures (so far..)

[JEH-NYC]

Nice pics! Glad you had fun and ate well.
(FYI - 62nd and York actually not LES but UES.)

[MobyLL]

Nice shots KOTH. Looking forward to seeing the rest.

^ just a couple other clarifications... the shot showing the buildings under construction next to the bridge is actually Roosevelt Island, which i believe is technically part of the borough of Manhattan, not queens.

Originally Posted by Kingofthehill

walked down the street to "South Street Seaport" to see some people taking pictures of a wedding in 40 degrees weather on the river..

You were on the Brooklyn side so this is Fulton Landing




This is the South Street Seaport across the East River on the Manhattan side.

[Kingofthehill]

Ok, thanks for the corrections, I'm no Thomas Guide myself

....and as for the those pics, they are on their way!

[Jularc]

Now that looks like an excellent NYC escapade. Cool comments there. Oh and the Hotel views.

[Kingofthehill]

Day 3

So I left my hotel room to go to Harlem, since it was Sunday and I deeply craved some soul food. I took the following pictures en route to Harlem, don't expect any shots from the seedy subway

Immigrants-The backbone of NYC

This guy looked like he woke up on the wrong side of the bed

Patterns




A little bit of grit


Roosevelt Island gondola/tram

Some lovely avenue, I almost got ran over here

In the garage about to enter my car, excuse the people in the foreground

My car, not bad eh?

So I finally got to Harlem, and before I could say Missisippi, I was met by this advert

Now, some shots of Harlem....I thought it would look a whole lot worse.




I went to Sylvia's Soul Food, for well.....Soul Food

Afterwards, I walked around the corner to see "New Harlem", it was quite the experience seeing new buildings in an atmosphere that was reminiscent of the 1970s (Black power mumbo-jumbo/keep US hands off Zimbabwe/etc)

Man, I missed out on the shot of the pimp standing in front of the Starbucks decked out in a Mink fur coat


The Apollo

Some mean African guys who didn't want their picture taken. i call them the "African-American Librarians"


After seeing Harlem, I headed to Washington Heights, the heart of NYC's large Dominican community




After I took this shot, the 2 guys in the jeep sped down and gave me dirty looks while eating a submarine sandwich and yapping on their cell phone

2 of the rather "interesting" vehicles I encountered:


Dominican-owned businesses

Typical 'Heights street

the ever-breathtaking view

181st Street, one of the more popular throughfares in W.H


Street vendors sold everything on this street, from knock-off Chanel perfume to greasy Dominican street food

The bank of the Dominican Republic even made an appearance!

Saw this chilling poster at the subway station:


Then I went to Greenwhich Village (by NYU) and later Soho, the trendy shopping mecca.




Ouch.

Modern?

Not

These buildings remind me of neopolitan-flavored ice cream

Ahh, Soho


The crowds were insane to say it was about to rain

That one famous DKNY mural

The gyros were amazing!

[arbeiter]

fantastic photos!

btw, I have been to the Bentley Hotel a handful of times, but never as a paying guest. (no i'm not a prostitute!)

They have a top-floor bar that is a little-known secret - relatively affordable drinks with a panoramic view. I've had some great times up there!

[ItsConanOBrien]

The commentary really added to the lovely photos. Welcome aboard! I look forward to some more threads of this style, perhaps from your hometown (wherever that may be.)

[Jularc]

Oh you did Washington Heights! Nice.

[Kingofthehill]

Day 4-final day

Some streets, I don't recall which ones, though.


Garbage bags were everyone, something that took some getting used to.

The Sopranos

The little details on this building were ridiculous

I call this the NYC architecture melting pot: all of the old buildings have healthy servings of brick and iron, many of the new ones have all that shiny glass and opaque glass
Alot of Indians...well,South Asians.

Old meets new?

Central Park......


World Peace??

mirror,mirror on the skyscraper

The ultra-modern Apple store

Some of the varying architecture, the architecture was a melting pot












I had this great sandwich from some run of the mill deli

Then I went to the Rockerfeller Center and Top of the Rock. Maybe a tad bit overrated? Also kind of sad how they try to milk you for money by conveniently dropping you off in a tourist-trap when the elevator comes back down.




After hearing on the news for the whole time about the new ball having 600 crystals and using the same amount of energy as 10 toasters, I finally saw the darn thing.


Bye NYC! See you again sometime?

[ChrisLA]

Very good tour, and its nice to see parts of the city thats not often photograph on this forum.

[Kingofthehill]

Thanks!

I wish I could have explored more though

[Tom Servo]

Garbage bags were everyone, something that took some getting used to.

it's new york... what did you expect??? a clean, trash-free city?

[Kingofthehill]

Originally Posted by AdrianXSands

it's new york... what did you expect??? a clean, trash-free city?

No, not at all

In my city, refuse is collected from trash cans, so thats why it was a little different.

[Sekkle]

Excellent work. thanks for posting!

[BTinSF]

Fun to see since I'm still doing my own 5 days in NYC (far from the first time though). As a matter of fact, since you saw The Apollo, I first saw it (and saw Smokey Robinson & the Miracles performing) in about 1964. But I think NYC is endlessly mind-blowing, trash bags and all. I've been around the world and never been anywhere like it (but not Hong Kong which I fatasize could be the closest).

[Kingofthehill]

Are you going to post photos from your trip?

[fleonzo]

You experienced it the way NYC should be...by walking it. Great pics!!

[denveraztec]

Wonderful photos! Can never tired of NYC! Thank you.

[Kingofthehill]

Originally Posted by fleonzo

You experienced it the way NYC should be...by walking it. Great pics!!

That and the Subway. I used the subway to go literally everywhere.