It is close to 100 degrees Fahrenheit,
I carry water and drink plenty. Sweat exudes from my pores and quickly
evaporates leaving salt behind. The salt makes my skin feel gritty and when I
can, I use bathrooms along the way to clean my face, neck and arms.
Central Park
At 110th
Street, its northern gate welcomes me. The trees provided some relief from the
stifling heat as I slowly made my way south. I encounter meadows, woodlands,
creeks, a reservoir and a lake. Not as grand a setting as Vancouver's Stanley
Park and not as familiar as Winnipeg's Assiniboine Park.
On my first
visit I miss the lake. A few days from now I will meet up with a New York
writer, Marcia Stone, and she will show me the enchanted parts of the park,
which include the picturesque lake, seen in many movies.
In 1853, after
three years of debate, New York City received permission from the state legislature
to expropriate over 700 acres of land in the center of Manhattan. The land
between Fifth and Eighth avenues and 59th and 110th streets would become
Central Park.
The land
expropriated was not prime real estate, consisting mostly of swamp and rocks.
The people moved off the land were poor and included Irish pig farmers, German
gardeners and Afro-Americans.
The Central
Park Commission sponsored the first United States park landscape design
contest, which was won by Frederick Law Olmsted , Calvert Vaux and Andrew
Jackson Downing. Nearly 3 million cubic yards of soil was moved and 270 trees
and shrubs were planted.
The park opened in the winter of 1859, at first a place for the rich to take their carriages on a Sunday afternoon, eventually a place for all to enjoy.
The park opened in the winter of 1859, at first a place for the rich to take their carriages on a Sunday afternoon, eventually a place for all to enjoy.
5th Avenue - Museum
Mile
When I reach the Metropolitan Museum of Art, I drift out of
the park and onto 5th Avenue and walk along Museum Mile, which offers ten
museums.
When I reach the south end of the park, I realize I need a
map of Manhattan, but don't have a clue where I can find one.
Trump Tower
My search for a map takes me passed the Trump Tower. Donald
Trump is the feature of a 2011 documentary You've Been Trumped. I'll have
difficulty finding a movie theatre that shows movies I would like to see. Next
week I'll find Angelika in the East Village. You've Been Trumped isn't playing,
but will soon come to Angelika. It is a documentary that portrays the tactless
Mr. Trump as the bully that he is.
Trump Tower was completed November 30, 1983, and it is where
The Apprentice is shot, I have never watched the show and have no interest in
entering the building that has boldly embedded its visiting hours on immense
front doors. Mr. Trump is not my kind of guy. Class cannot be purchased.
The Trump International Hotel overlooks Central Park. He
owns a great deal of Manhattan real estate.
Rockefeller Center
and Plaza
Rockefeller Center is bustling, grand and full of shops,
offices, restaurants and busy people. I find the place where tickets are sold
to Top of the Rocks, I'm not going to the top, and it would cost $22. What I do
is ask a security guard where I can find a map. She directs me to a gift shop.
There I find many maps. A friendly store sales associate recommends an $8 map.
During the two weeks that follow I will find the well-designed, easily read and
folded plastic map that points out all places of interest on Manhattan Island,
subway lines indispensible and well worth its cost.
Along with thousands of other people, I eat lunch in Rockefeller
Center. After lunch I visit the
plaza, needless to say, with temperatures running close to 100 Fahrenheit, last
winter's ice skating rink is non-existent and will not be reborn for many
months to come.
Radio City Music Hall
Built during the Great Depression she remains the grand dame
of indoor theatres. The sign announcing her existence takes up a city block,
the auditorium stretches 160 feet across, the gold stage curtain is the world's
largest. I do not venture inside, if this is even possible. I do not have my camera;
therefore a photograph is not possible. But, I have seen a place of both
historic and worldwide fame.
The Helmsley Building
Before Leona Helmsley went to prison I enjoyed her
notoriety, she was the "Queen of Mean" suffering a breakdown.
On April 6, 1972 the twice before married Leona married her
real estate magnate boss Harry Helmsley, once the largest land owner in America
whose holdings included the Empire State Building.
I didn't seek out the Helmsley Building, with my newly purchased
map in hand I was looking for Grand Central Station. The huge, impressive,
golden building stood in my way, but allowed me, all the other pedestrian and
vehicle traffic to pass through.
Built by the New York Central Railroad in 1929, eventually
sold to the General Tire Company and then sold to Helmsley-Spear, it was Leona who
named it The Helmsley Building. In
August 1998, intertwined in the bill of sale was the condition that the name
remain. The building has changed hands a few times since then and is currently
owned by Goldman and Sachs, who purchased it in 2007 for $1 Billion.
Its power, as it hangs above and surrounds Park Avenue, is
truly impressive and leads me to wonder what happened to the Helmsely fortune.
Leona left behind money now valued at $5 to $8 billion
dollars. Her instructions were to use the money to benefit dogs. Her very
wealthy dog was left $12 million. She left $15 million to her brother
There it stands, The Helmsley Building, perhaps not meant to be, but
is for me, a memorial to a crazy, mean, tax evading lady and her very rich dog.
Grand Central Station
New York's first rail line began operation in 1831 and consisted
of steam engines and horse drawn extension. By 1902 the use of electric trains
had begun. The Grand Central Terminal, which is its official name, opened
February 2, 1913.
In 1947 Grand Central was bustling, but its heyday would soon be
over with highways and air travel replacing trains.
In 1954 there was talk of demolition.
In 1968, for the first time, the Supreme Court ruled on historic
preservation, and judgment was placed in favor of the New York City Landmark
Preservation Act. Penn Central Transpiration Company, owner of Grand Central,
went into bankruptcy in 1970.
In 1994 a total restoration began and by 1998 most of the work
was completed.
Although the blue ceiling with its gold constellations receives
many accolades, I was not particularly impressed. The blue seemed too pale and
the gold does not contrast enough with the blue.
The New York Library
Since 1911 the main branch of the New York Public Library system
has resided on the corner of 5th Avenue and 42nd Street. Declared a National
Historic Landmark in 1965.
Majestic, yet welcoming, as well used today as it was when
it first opened. People sit on the
front steps and food carts offer lunch fare.
In the back of the library more people sit in Bryant Park.
The Empire State
Building
For $25 you can take the elevator to the top. I didn't.
When I think of the Empire State Building, my mind conjures
up Faye Wray and King Kong.
As famous as it is, standing on the street and looking up it
isn't a particularly remarkable building. To appreciate its splendor, it needs to be admired from afar.
When the twin towers were hit, the Empire State Building,
completed in 1931, once more became New York’s tallest building. When One World
Trade Center is completed it will become New York's tallest skyscraper.
The Empire State Building is the third tallest completed
building in the United States and the fifteenth in the world. Although a few
other taller buildings now dwarf it, for forty years it was the world's tallest.
Times Square
The world's most visited tourist attraction stretches from
42nd Street to 47th Street and is the entertainment capital of the world.
To reach Times Square my map takes me through the diamond
district, where Orthodox Jews occupy a surprising large portion of the street
traffic. Hucksters shove pamphlets in my face and ask if I want to sell gold. I
have no gold to sell and no interest in buying.
When night draws near I take a bus back to East Harlem where
Jane Darling's a Bed and Breakfast offers a room, a bed and an Internet
connection.
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