Traveling is one of my favorite hobbies. It’s an entry point to experiencing other interests of mine including trying new restaurants, enjoying entertainment, and sight seeing. It’s also a chance to learn how to explore and operate in a new city. A few weeks ago I visited New York City for the first time. I was starting a new job and onboarding took place in the heart of Manhattan. After the week of onboarding I had a full day to experience a sliver of what downtown New York had to offer.
Game Plan over Brunch
I started the day with a delicious brunch at Friedman’s. There was a huge line and an hour wait, but since I was riding solo they sat me in 5 minutes. Score! It was tough to choose from their brunch menu but I ended up fueling up with some steak & eggs with a cold brew. While eating I pulled out my notes app and started to plot out my travel game plan to see some of the places on my list.
The Game Plan:
- The Empire State Building
- The 9/11 Memorial
- The Statue of Liberty
- Times Square
- Broadway
Public Transportation
At first, trying to navigate New York subways seemed overwhelming. The winding rows of trains seemed to lead everywhere and nowhere all at once. It was a bit overwhelming the first time, but Google Maps came to the rescue.
Prior to traveling to New York, I always thought that Apple Maps was the premier navigation experience. Boy was I wrong! Google Maps crushed the public transportation game. The app knew everything from which side of the street to enter, while also maintaining real time schedule changes. It saved me a ton of stress.
The Empire State Building
After finishing brunch and mapping out my sight seeing game plan, I walked the 10 minutes to my first stop. The Empire State Building stood tall and mighty before me. I decided to purchase the 102nd observation deck ticket, but in all honestly the 86th floor was equally as impressive. Standing on the NYC streets, it’s hard to grok how large the concrete jungle is, but from the 102nd floor it was impossible to ignore the impressive creation. If you squint just right, you can see The Statue of Liberty in the top right corner.
9/11 Memorial
My next stop was a sobering one. I took the subway 10 minutes in the south direction and quickly reached my destination: the 9/11 Memorial. On September 11th, 2001, 19 terrorists carried out four coordinated suicide attacks on the United States resulting in the death of 2,977 people. At 8:46 AM EST American Airlines Flight 77 crashed into the North Tower of the World Trade Center leading to the eventual collapse of the building. At 9:03 AM EST, United Airlines Flight 175 crashed into the South Tower of the World Trade Center leading to the collapse of the building. The memorial consists of the footprints of the original Twin Towers and are called the North Pool and South Pool.
I place this video here as a reminder of the chaos and loss of that day. It contains graphic content so viewer discretion is advised.
After paying my respects and pondering the events of 9/11, it was time to move to my next destination.
The Statue of Liberty
Moving further south, my next stop was The Statue of Liberty. I decided to save an up close look for a future day but the view from the lookout was incredible. I reflected on what it must have been like to see the statue whilst coming to the United States through Ellis Island to start a new life. There are many tours that you can take to get an up close look including the free Staten Island Ferry that runs every 15 minutes during rush hour.
Wall Street
Wall Street was a quick walk from the Statue of Liberty and I had a goal of seeing the Charging Bull. Sometimes referred to as the Bull of Wall Street, it stands proud at over 7000 lbs and is made entirely of bronze. The statue was created by Arturo Di Modica around the 1987 Black Monday stock market crash and was originally placed outside of the NY Stock Exchange illegally. Thousands of people visit the sculpture every day.
Times Square and Broadway
I decided to head back to the hotel to rest and regroup as my next stop was Times Square to see a show on Broadway. I didn’t realize that Broadway had dozens of shows to choose from so this alone was a difficult task. After a tough decision, I thought it would be incredible to see Hamilton by Lin-Manuel Miranda on Broadway at the Richard Rogers Theatre. It was amazing.
New York
New York was an impressive and entertaining place to explore. I know I only scratched the surface of the restaurants, entertainment, and sightseeing that NY has to offer. I’m looking forward to continue exploring on my next visit. Until next time NY!
Bonus… Don’t sit here
