On top of the world

Another day to explore the city. I bought a ticket to Top of the Rock at Rockefeller Centre so that’s where I would start the day. It was a clear day, so that was a relief given the dodgy weather of the previous few days. Top of the Rock is an observation deck on the top of Rockefeller Centre. It’s not the tallest viewpoint of the city, the Empire State Building is, however, its second best and offers a better view of Central Park. I had bought a ticket to go early in the hope to avoid the crowds and it turned out I was right. It was particularly empty, it was fantastic. There was a quick overview of the making of th building before I hopped onto the observation deck. I quickly learned that it was quite a feat to make such a huge skyscraper in the 1930’s, and the lack of safety gear makes it amazing that not more people died when constructing the building. At the bottom of Rockefeller Centre is Radio City Music Hall, a famous venue for live music and The Rockettes.

I get onto the observation deck and the views are spectacular. You can still hear the sounds of the city, mainly the taxis from that far up, but it has a ense of peacefulness. I get some great shots of Central Park and views overlooking downtown NYC. As I leave the top of the rock I notice the crowds start to pour in. It becomes clear that doing things earlier in the morning is the way to go to avoid school kids on holidays.

After Rockefeller I head on to the Museum of Modern Art (MoMa). My first art museum in NYC and I was looking forward to seeing what’s on show. I much prefer modern art to ancient and neo classical art so this is my kind of museum. I get there and it is a very funky museum. It has an extensive range of paintings. I start at the Salvador Dali special exhibit. I don’t like his work much but enjoyed seeing it. I start to move around the museum and see all the greats. Some of my favourite modern artists were there like Jackson Pollock, Andy Warhol, and Roy Lichtenstein. I was happy to see more Marc Chagall too as he’s one of my favs. Andy Warhol’s Marilyn was there as well as his Soup Cans. One of the sections was modern modern art, aka art over the past 20-30 years and funny enough, this is the art that I often don’t get. Especially if it is sculpture. One sculpture was a big pile of threads on the floor. I didn’t get that! One piece of art just pissed me off as it was literally a white canvas. That is not art, I could do that, dammit! They had several cafes in the museum so I headed to the Italian Café and got myself some of the best pasta I’d ever had. I love eating food at museums, it’s always a really great space and on this occasion I sat next to a couple who were dissecting some of the art and they knew what they were talking about. A welcome relief from whining kids,

After a few hours there I headed back to the hotel I was to meet up with an old school friend that night so I had to get changed. I rang my mate to confirm what we were to do but we ended up already have plans that night so we re-scheduled for tomorrow night and I would come up with something else to do tonight.

I ended up heading to the Empire State Building as I had a ticket to go to the their observation deck.. I decided to get a night time view of the city so I headed there at 10pm. I also thought that it would be quiet at that time of night. Boy, was I wrong. The line to get in was huge and I wasn’t even inside the building. The line did end up moving quickly, however, everything you turned a corner there was more waiting and more lines to get in. It wasn’t until about an hour and a half of lots of walking and standing that I had gotten into an elevator and up to the top. Taking the elevator caused some serious ear popping given how quickly we ascended. The observation deck was packed. I could barely get some space on the sides to have a look. I managed to just barge in (I was annoyed by this time!) and get some shots. I didn’t end up staying long because of the crowds and my camera battery went dead. Nice timing hey.

What I learnt in New York City today:

• Do things early in the morning to avoid the crowds. By early, I only mean about 9-10am!
• Get pushy. If you are polite you get no where. To get where and when you want, you gotta be assertive. Otherwise rude tourists will push you around.
• It’s worth checking out the skyline from above during the day and night as they are both very different views.

View from Top of the Rock, looking North over Central Park.

View from Top of the Rock, looking South.

Gold Marilyn by Andy Warhol at the MoMa.

A Roy Liechtenstein artwork at the MoMa.

The wall of M&M's at M&M's World in Times Square.

The view from the Empire State building at night time.