15 April 2008

New York - Day 2

The world's finest newspaper, free on the side of the road! The headline? Re: Barack Obama - "Black guy asks nation for change."

New York has a lot of important architecture, and we made several trips so that Anna could see various interesting buildings. The first of these was the Flatiron Building, so called because it was built on a triangular island block and has a steel frame. Designed by Daniel Burnham in the Beaux-Arts style, it has a lovely textured facade in limestone and glazed terra-cotta.
I found myself agape, admiring a skyscraper — the prow of the Flatiron Building, to be particular, ploughing up through the traffic of Broadway and Fifth Avenue in the late-afternoon light. – H.G. Wells (1906)
It was also a very well-appointed spot, beside a lovely little park, with a view of the Empire State building.

I couldn't resist taking the time to greet the local squirrels, who seemed slightly more active than their UK relatives. Squirrels, attack!

We then made our way to the Empire State building, and explored the atrium. The queues were far too long to consider a trip to the top, and we had already planned to get the view from the Rockefeller instead. I enjoyed the King Kong exhibit, however...

Macy's flagship department store in Herald Square, with its one million square feet of selling space, is billed as the "world's largest store". We were fortunate enough to visit during an exotic flower show...

Popped by Madison Square Garden for a peek, then off to the Rockefeller Center! An international symbol of modernist architectural style blended with capitalism, this complex of 19 commercial buildings includes the famed Radio City Music Hall and (of course) the 70-floor GE Building, which we ascended to get the views from the "Top of the Rock".

Close up of Central Park:

The famous ice skating rink at the base of the Rockefeller Centre:

Time for a hearty lunch, so we walked up 5th Avenue, admiring all the extremely pricey shops, and stopped for a bite at Trump Tower, home of my favourite TV show, The Apprentice! The Donald wasn't anywhere to be seen, and neither was his hair. (I suspect it has a life of its own, and goes hunting for food in the wee hours.)

Revisited FAO Schwartz, but it wasn't as big as I remembered it (from when I was 7 years old). Still a very impressive toy shop, with lots of super large cuddly toys and nifty Lego sculptures. The walk-on piano from Big wasn't much to look at though, and is always covered in sprogs making random and awful noise...

Another big, big day for us - we also managed to squeeze in a walk to another architectural marvel, Mies van der Rohe and Philip Johnson's Seagram Building, plus the Ferrari showroom, Grand Central Station, the Chrysler building, the UN headquarters, and past the MoMA.



The finally up the Rockefeller again, this time at night!

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