Gabi On The Go: NYC on a rainy day

New York woke up gray... and wet.

We couldn't even see the top of the Empire State Building from our hotel room window.

But we are in the world's show business capital, and the show must go on.

After a surprisingly satisfying breakfast at the hotel we started a full day of activities in one of the many sightseeing bus companies in the city. We got the Downtown tour - the simplest one available - fromTop View. It was hard to find a covered spot in the hop on hop off bus, so we braved the elements and rode on top of the bus... with one broken umbrella.

Our first stop was at City Hall and soon we got to see the Brooklyn Bridge. We didn't go too far because of the heavy rain and cold wind, but Juju got to see one of my favourite bridges.

FROM WIKIPEDIA: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brooklyn_Bridge

The Brooklyn Bridge is a hybrid cable-stayed/suspension bridge in New York City and is one of the oldest roadway bridges in the United States. Started in 1869 and completed fourteen years later in 1883, it connects the boroughs of Manhattan and Brooklyn, spanning the East River. It has a main span of 1,595.5 feet (486.3 m) and was the first steel-wire suspension bridge constructed. It was originally called the New York and Brooklyn Bridge and the East River Bridge, but it was later dubbed the Brooklyn Bridge, a name coming from an earlier January 25, 1867, letter to the editor of the Brooklyn Daily Eagle and formally so named by the city government in 1915. Since opening, it has become an icon of New York City and was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1964 and a National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark in 1972.

I love to just look up once in a while here.

There is always a fun and different angle of the city.

From there we just walked in the opposite direction, towards the area where the World Trade Center used to be.

The Oculus is this gigantic structure also called The World Trade Center Transportation Hub.

It looks like nothing I have ever seen before, and it's white floors, walls and structures made me feel peaceful. But it's hard to forget about all the lost lives here in 2001.

FROM: https://loving-newyork.com/oculus-in-nyc/

The 4 million dollar transportation center & mall in Lower Manhattan

The Oculus at Westfield World Trade Center Mall replaces the PATH station that was destroyed during 9/11 in 2001. This 800,000 square foot building cost 4 billion dollars to build making it the most expensive train stop in the world! Furthermore, they are still continuing to work on this building today. With it’s sleek and modern design, it is an attraction to see when in Lower Manhattan. The transit hall alone is 325 feet long which is 90 ft. longer than Grand Central Terminal!

We skipped the National September 11 Memorial Museum because the line ups were too long, and we would've had to wait outside, in the rain. Still, I explained to Juju - for the first time - what happened here 10 years before she was born. She had a mix of sad and angry feelings: "I don't like to use this word, but whoever did it was just dumb!"

Next stop was at the heart of the financial district, Wall Street. I visit this area every time I come to New York. And every time I feel the disconnection from the geographic space and what it really represents to the world. It is almost feel fake too me... or Monopoly game.

New York Stock Exchange

Down the street we were in a search for the Charging Bull.

Actually, we were really interested in WHO is across from it.

My fearless (rebel) girl loved being there, copying the small big sculpture. Juju understand exactly why that girl was there and what the sculpture of the Fearless Girl represents.

While there was a line up of grown ups waiting to take a picture with the Charging Bull, Juju couldn't care less about it. The Fearless Girl was one of the highlights of her day.

FROM WIKIPEDIA: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fearless_Girl

Fearless Girl is a bronze sculpture by Kristen Visbal, commissioned by State Street Global Advisors via McCann New York, depicting a girl facing the Charging Bull (or Wall Street Bull) statue. It was installed on March 7, 2017, at Bowling Green in the Financial District of Manhattan, New York City. The statue measures approximately 50 inches (130 cm) tall, and weighs about 250 pounds (110 kg).

Fearless Girl was commissioned by investment firm State Street Global Advisors (SSgA) to advertise for an index fund which comprises gender-diverse companies that have a relatively high percentage of women among their senior leadership. The plaque below the statue states: "Know the power of women in leadership. SHE makes a difference," with "SHE" being both a descriptive pronoun and the fund's NASDAQ ticker symbol.

The original statue is set to be moved three blocks away to the New York Stock Exchange by the end of 2018.

Back on the bus, our next stop was the Chelsea Market, a fantastic arts and food place.

What a pleasant addition to the day! It reminded me of parts of Camden Market in London... on a much smaller scale.

I am not sure if the place was packed because of the rain outside, but most of the restaurants and cafes were fully booked and some people were just eating standing up in the corridors. I just loved the vibe and look of the place. I will definitely come back here for a meal and beer one day.

FROM WIKIPEDIA: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chelsea_Market

Chelsea Market is a food hall, shopping mall, office building and television production facility located in the Chelsea neighborhood of the boroughof Manhattan, in New York City. It was built in the former National Biscuit Company (Nabisco) factory complex where the Oreo cookie was invented and produced.

Juju having fun with the creative "caution -wet floor" warning sign.

By the time we came out of the Chelsea Market, the rain had stopped a bit.

We just crossed the street and embarked on this amazing elevated adventure, completely new to me: the Highline.

FROM WIKIPEDIA:

The High Line (also known as High Line Park) is a 1.45-mile-long (2.33 km) elevated linear park, greenway and rail trail. It was created on a former New York Central Railroad spur on the west side of Manhattan in New York City. Led by the landscape architecture firm of James Corner Field Operations, the abandoned spur has been redesigned as a "living system" drawing from multiple disciplines which include landscape architecture, urban design, and ecology. Since opening in 2009, the High Line has become an icon of contemporary landscape architecture.

The park is built on a disused, southern viaduct section of the New York Central Railroad line known as the West Side Line. Originating in the Lower West Side of Manhattan, the park runs from Gansevoort Street – three blocks below 14th Street, in the Meatpacking District – through Chelsea to the northern edge of the West Side Yard on 34th Street near the Javits Center. The West Side Line formerly extended south to a railroad terminal at Spring Street, just north of Canal Street. Most of its southern section was demolished in 1960, and another small portion was demolished in 1991.The High Line was inspired by the 3-mile-long (4.8 km) Promenade plantée (tree-lined walkway), a similar project in Paris which was completed in 1993.

FROM http://art.thehighline.org/project/agora/

Sable Elyse Smith (b. 1986, Los Angeles, California) examines the complex language and emotional landscapes embedded in systems of surveillance and structures of constraint, and the often invisible ways in which they shape our minds and direct our bodies. For the High Line, Smith creates C.R.E.A.M. (titled after the Wu Tang Clan song), an altered replica of the Hollywood Sign that reads IRONWOODLAND—a reference both to the Ironwood State Prison and to “Hollywoodland,” the segregated real estate development that was advertised by the original sign. The piece draws attention to the contradictory nature of institutions that not only develop real estate, but prisons as well.

Does this look like New York City to you?

Well, the abandoned train tracks left behind, give it away. Incredibly beautiful, the Highline is home to many different plants, and of course birds and insects.

I can only imagine how even more beautiful this place can be on a sunny day.

http://www.thehighline.org

Almost finishing our downtown bus loop, we went back to Times Square and had the pleasure to see the famous Naked Cowboy.

I am not sure if this was "the real one", but Juju had a good laugh seeing him: "This is the craziest thing I saw in NYC so far!!!"

FROM WIKIPEDIA: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naked_Cowboy

Robert John Burck (born December 23, 1970), better known as the Naked Cowboy, is an American street performer whose pitch is on New York City's Times Square. He wears only cowboy boots, a hat, and white briefs, with a guitar strategically placed to give the illusion of nudity.

On October 6, 2010, Burck formally announced that he was running for President of the United States in the 2012 U.S. election as a candidate representing the U.S. Tea Party movement.

So, the much anticipated visit for her: the M&M Store.Wow! Three floors of M&M merchandise and hundreds of crazy kids like Juju and all kinds of adults pilled up in THREE FLOORS! Juju was the poster girl of the expression "a little kid in a candy store." Although she doesn't really like M&M that much, this was a dream come true for her. A couple of t-shirts and two little toys later - for her and her sister - we were out of there... thankfully unharmed.