Well anyway, let me start with the trip I took in August of 2014. This was my first trip to New York and I flew up from Richmond, Virginia to Laquardia Airport in Queens. I will say this is the best airport to fly into mainly because its proximity to the city and how quickly you can be settled in once arriving. There is a bus that comes by about every 10 minutes that gets you to a main subway stop that connects you to just about anywhere you wan to go. For example, I was staying in the heart of midtown Manhattan, just a couple of blocks from Times Square, at the Hilton Garden Inn. (http://hiltongardeninn3.hilton.com/en/hotels/new-york/hilton-garden-inn-new-york-central-park-south-midtown-west-NYCWFGI/index.html). I got off my flight, and made my way to the front of the airport, and in less than an hour I was at my hotel. That was with a bus ride and transfer to subway. So, anyway what I am saying is that if you are staying in the city or very close to the city, come into Laguardia, its much more efficient than JFK.
On this first trip, my plans was to do all the typical touristy stuff and see all the main sites. So, to save money and make planning easier I purchased a siteseeing pass from New York Pass (https://www.newyorkpass.com/En/). You can get the specifics off the website, but I will say, I paid $150 for access to over 80 attractions, that would have cost well over $300 if I had purchased tickets at the attractions. After dropping bags at the hotel, I headed straight to the Statue of Liberty. I will say that is is a VERY good idea to visit this attraction early in the day. By noon, the lines to get tickets and get through security are absolutely nuts. I went around 10:00 and was through and on the boat quickly. Here are a couple of pics from the Statue and Ellis Island.
After that visit I headed to walked up toward the World Trade Center complex to see the 911 Memorial and the new Freedom Tower. Standing in the spot the twin towers once stood was very emotional. Here is the new building that is going up now.
After wandering around lower Manhattan for awhile, I headed up to Central Park. Now I will say this, Central Park is my favorite place in the city! First it is huge, I have been to New York four times now and there is still more than half the park I haven't seen. It is an incredible place. It takes on a different life as the season change. I have added a link (http://www.centralparknyc.org/maps/) to an interactive map of Central Park, so that you have an idea of how big it is and what types of things are out there. Here are a couple of pics from around the park from four different trips there.
That evening I spent some time walking around midtown Manhattan, mostly around Times Square and Rockefeller Center. Here are some shots from that night.
Day 2 in the Big Apple saw me visiting the art musuems. I started my day at the Museum of Modern Art and then finished at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, or the Met for short. Let me just say this first. You absolutely cannot see the entire Met in a day, not if you love art and really want to be immersed in the experience. I have been to the Met on every visit to New York and I still haven't seen everything there. It is simply an incredible place. Anyway here are some of the sites from both of the museums.
Museum of Modern Art (MOMA)
Metropolitan Museum of Art (Met)
Again, it is hard to grasp how big the Met is, but I promise it is worth every trip there.
The next day was spent visiting the Empire State Building, walking the streets of Manhattan and finishing the day watching the sunset from the Top of the Rock, at Rockefeller Center. Here are some shots from that day out.
In October I made another trip to New York on a free weekend while doing some work in Virginia. Again i left from Richmond and flew into Laguardia. This time I stayed in Long Island City, which is in Queens just over the river from Manhattan. I stayed at the Country Inn and Suites which was just one block from a subway station that only takes minutes to get into Manhattan from. So, I guess what I am saying is, if you want to save some money on your hotel but still want to be close the midtown, stay in Long Island City, 4 main subway stops covering 7 or 8 different lines, are within about 4 to 5 blocks from each other.Not
Anyway, I started this trip in Queens, visiting Flushing Meadows Park, site of the New York Worlds Fair. Here are some shots from there.
Not far from Flushing Meadowns Park and next to the Mets statium is an area called The Iron Triangle. It is actually Willets Point, but Iron Triangle is what it is known as. It is a part of New York that seems extremely out of place in the United States. It reminds you of a third world country and its bizarre because it is literally across the street from a new state of the art baseball stadium. Anyway, supposedly the area is being demolished in the near future to make room for luxery condos, so I want to get a couple shots, before it was all gone. Here they are.
Most of the rest of the day was spent walking around Manhattan, specifically, Chinatown and Little Italy. Here are a couple shots from that area. Still want to take alot more there on my next visit.
Day 2 on this trip had me primarily at the Museum of Natural History. Much like the Met, it is difficult to take it all in in one day, unless you are just running through it, something I would not suggest. There is so much to see there, you really dont want to miss anything. Here is a sampling of some of what you would see.
I finished of the day with a nice walk across the Brooklyn Bridge to see sunset over Manhattan. Here is what it was like.
The last day on this trip I went to visit the USS Intrepid. Just for your info, if you are active or retired military, you get in free, and trust me free is a good thing in New York. Here are a couple of shots from around the Big I.
I had another free weekend a couple of weeks later and took another quick trip up to work on walking the streets and taking pictures of the different types of architecture. Here is just a quick sampling of some of the buildings and sites around the city.
I came back one last time in December to see the city around the Christmas holidays. Here are some of the shots taken from that trip.
