New York - On Top of the City

Cycling in New York is scary! We only had to cycle from the hire shop to Central Park which was only a few blocks away but still quite an experience when you have not cycled on busy roads for the last couple of years! Seeing Central Park on bikes is great, you get to see so much more, but it is quite odd cycling along with the rickshaws, cars and horse and carriage.  We enjoyed another trip to the boating lake to see 2 fantastic statues, one of Hans Christian Anderson and the other of Alice and Wonderland.

Amanda being read a story

Alice in Wonderland

Next stop was the Jackie Onassis reservoir which covers 106 acres which did originally provide water for the city and was named after Jackie Onassis as she used to run around it, as do many others on a daily basis.  The Belvedere Castle provides some good views over the Park although we did not venture inside the castle.

Belvedere Castle

View from Castle

View over the reservoir 

At the northern end of the park there are various wooded areas and it is worth taking some time of the bike to explore a little as it is much quieter at this end of the Park.

Amanda and here lovely little bike

It really can be quiet in Central Park

Our afternoon was spent in Times Square queuing for tickets for a show that evening, as Mark is not a big fan of musicals we decided on a play, Perfect Crime has been running in NY for 26 years and the lead female character has played the role for all but 4 shows!  It was easy to get tickets for this show as not hugely popular and managed to save a little on the standard price by buying in this way.  The theatre was small and we were in the second row, so great seats.  The play was entertaining, a little funny, quite odd but it did keep us guessing. We finished the night off with a visit to the busy night time Times Square.

Waiting for the queueing to begin in Times Square

Next day and on route to Empire State Building by 8am, although we had booked tickets online we wanted to ensure we did all we could to miss the crowds.  The excitement builds even as you enter the building.

Entrance to Empire State Building

Luckily there was no queue for ticket pickup and just a couple of people ahead of us through the security.  It is like a maze to make it up to the top and I can only imagine how busy it can get.  The views from the 86th floor were amazing, we were lucky that it was not too busy and we could get close to the edge to make the most of the experience.  We also purchased an audio tour which we would very rarely do but worth it as it was actually very informative.  Every direction of the view was amazing and each time you looked you saw something new, from the significant sights like the World Trade Centre, the Chrysler Building, Central Park to the roof top gardens and the grid layout of the streets lined with taxis it was spectacular.  We had also spent the extra to visit the 102nd Floor, which is a small enclosed viewing platform 200ft higher which does mean you can see more but not sure it is worth the extra money but still a great view.

FlatIron Building  - was the original skyscraper in NY

Central Manhattan with Lower Manhattan in the distance

Brooklyn Bridge and Manhattan Bridge

Chrysler Building - once the tallest building in NY

Mark engrossed in his audio tour

Spot Macys

Amanda hanging on the edge on 86th floor

Amanda admiring the view from 102nd floor

Even higher up!

Saying goodbye to the Empire State

Next day and we make our way to Lower Manhattan, we pick up our pre-booked tickets for the 911 Memorial  - not really worth pre-booking if you need to pick these up as you join the same queue as people without pre-booked tickets.  The surrounding area is still very much a building site, the 1 World Trade Centre which stands 1776 feet tall (the tallest building in US) looks complete and the 2 commemorative pools are complete but due to surrounding development you are still required to go through security to enter the area.  The pools stand on the footprints of the original Twin Towers and bronze surround are engraved with the names for the 2983 victims.  Whilst picking up the tickets there were various photos from the scene of the attacks which were very moving but with the volume of people and the noise close to the reflection pools some of the ambience was lost although saying that you still can’t help think back to that awful day.

Reflection Pool

1 World Trade Centre

Wow it is tall!

We were then onto the Staten Ferry for a free view of the Statue of Liberty, funny that this is actually a public ferry but there were lots of tourists doing the same as us rather than paying for a specific boat trip. The Battery Park is also  a nice place to watch the world go by and the mayhem of all the boat trips.

Mark with Manhattan in the distance

Ellis Island

Statue of Liberty and queues of visitors

Windswept Amanda on the ferry

We had enjoyed our stay at 79^th yacht basin as such a great location but shame that it is quite so dilapidated, each day when we would leave our dingy in the marina we would run the gauntlet of the rickety hurricane damaged pontoons and be relieved to make it onto dry land. As the tides turns there is debris everywhere both in the marina and floating up and down the river, quite scary when you see a full size railway sleeper floating towards the boat! Even getting in the dingy to go ashore with the super strong tide running in the river.

Magnum on her mooring in the Hudson river

Look at the debris floating in the water in the marina 

See on the right a pontoon complete destroyed and no longer in use

Same destroyed pontoon - marina waiting for hurricane repair funds

Leaving the Hudson River at day break.

New York - Times Square, Hudson River Park, High Line, Chelsea, Greenwich, MOMA, Brooklyn Bridge, Central Park - We can do alot!

Without any time to rest we were itching to get ashore and took our first trip down Broadway and to Times Square – wow it was busy.

Tired at Times Quqre

We had a fantastic time in New York trying to see as much as possibly but spending as little as possible which is not that easy. We walked along the Hudson River Park which was busy with walkers, cyclists and runners and there were some interesting pieces of art along the way.

The Big Apple at the Hudson River Park

Hudson River Park

The Tri-Athletes at Hudson River Park

We then walked the High Line which is the renovated disused train line, with beautifully maintained gardens, really nice but as with everywhere a little busy.

Mark on the High Line

Cool graffiti from the High Line

Jolly Mark on the High Line

The High Line passes through Chelsea and we had to stop at the Chelsea market to admire the delicious food unfortunately not treating ourselves to any.  It was then onto wander the streets of Greenwich to find the house which was used for Carrie Brandshaws apartment in Sex and the City, funny that as we entered the street we there were woman of every nationality doing the same. Not very exciting but the brownstone buildings are so beautiful it was just nice to walk done this residential street, shame for the people that now occupy this house as they must have people outside there house permanently.

Amanda outside Carrie Bradshaws apartment

Then onto the Friends apartment which was all a bit disappointing as it was surrounded by scaffolding but it was ticked off the list of things to do.  

Do you recognise the Friends apartment block?

We then went to MOMA (Museum of Modern Art), as we arrived we were deflated to see a queue all around the building but this was hardly surprising on a Friday evening when it is free entry, so we found the end of the queue and tried to keep smiling but luckily it moved quickly but we were soon in and being herded around with everyone else.  MOMA has some great pieces with Monet’s Water Lilies, Van Gogh’s Starry Night, Andy Warhol and a whole range of Picasso – how many paintings did he paint!

Van Gogh

Amanda admiring this huge Monet

Next day we caught the subway across to Brooklyn so we could walk back on the bridge, great views of the city from here.

Brooklyn Bridge

We did then start to stroll around lower Manhattan, made a friend with what we thought was quite a uniquely coloured  little squirrel but our patience was limited with the Saturday afternoon shoppers so the day was cut short.

Sunday rest day, so we only had a short walk around Central Park, there was all sorts going on from amateur baseball, to a group of elderly Polish people dancing plus the normal street artists, people picnicking, the super busy boating lake and tourists to avoid on bikes, rickshaws and in horse carriages but if you were lucky you could find a quiet spot.

Remote controlled sailing boat lake in Central Park

Very busy boating lake in Central Park

A quiet moment in Central Park

New York - What an amazing arrival

Our sail into New York City was amazing, we left Atlantic Highland with a light breeze on the nose but as we manoeuvred around the shallow patches we were able pull the sail out but with only limited wind all it really did was obscure the view. It seemed to take forever to reach the Veranzzano Bridge and Manhattan was still looming in the distance.

Veranzzano Bridge and NYC in the distance

In the distance on the east side of the river we could see Coney Island and the rides on the seafront.

The seafront at Coney Island - spot the big wheel

The boat traffic was quite busy mainly with tankers and container ships entering the harbour but we are used to busy from Portsmouth harbour at home.  But as we neared Manhattan the volume of sightseeing boats, water taxis and ferries rapidly increased and we were constantly getting bobbed around on their washes as we frantically tried to take photos of the amazing views.  It was nice to see the Queen Mary 2 cruise ship was in port, always a reminder of home.

Manhattan - look to the right and see Queen Mary 2

Queen Mary 2 docked in NYC

It was a spectacular experience to be on our own boat sailing (actually motoring) into New York City, something we never thought we would be doing.  Seeing that famous Skyline, the Statue Liberty, the Brooklyn Bridge it is like you just stepped into a movie (as the Americans would say), very exciting. As we approached we celebrated our arrival with a hot chocolate and rum - too early and too chilly for anything else.

Such a striking skyline

Statue of Liberty  - if you look closely you can see a queue of tiny people around base of Statue

Lady Liberty - spot the plane

Amanda looking excited on a sunny but chilly day

Brooklyn Bridge and the Staten Island Ferry

Getting closer

Mark able to relax slightly as Statue of Liberty fade into the distance

We headed up the Hudson River taking in the sights, passing the financial district of lower Manhattan and then onto the various piers which moor the tripper boats and ferries and even the cruise ship dock, we were also surprised to see Concorde.

The World Trade Centre/ Freedom Tower

The Empire State Building

Yep it is Concorde

Our home for the next few days was the Boat Basin at 79th street, here they have a number of buoys in the river,this is the only possible place we can afford in Manhattan were marinas would charge us $150-250 a night and here we pay $30 which is great . The only down side is that it is a bit folly due to the passing traffic but luckily this usually subsides by the time we go to bed and most of the day we are out.

79th Yacht Basin approaching in the Starboard side

Atlantic Highlands - Short and sweet

We were lucky that you can anchor behind the sea wall which is very protected the only slight problem is the ferries that run here for NYC can cause a huge wash. We were able to dingy into the town here, it is small and pretty but good for us there was a decent supermarket in walking distance.  Next day we would have loved to have moved on to NYC but we were unable to do this because of the weather torrential rain and strong winds but lucky we had such a fab view.

Look at that rain!

Water rising against the sea wall and Manhattan in the distance

A choppy sea overlooking Manhattan