The City That Never Sleeps
After all of our trekking around on Monday, today we decided to stay closer to our hotel, this meant checking out the key locales and landmarks of the Midtown East area of Manhattan.
MIDTOWN EAST
Our first stop is the Bryant Park outdoor ice rink, smack dab in the middle of a busy city, and a collection of people are taking a break from their day to skate around in circles. There's a figure skater wanna-be, an old man that can barely stay erect in his 1920 era skates, even a guy in a full suit. Too bad the rain would wash away something like this in Vancouver.
Grand Central
Our next stop is Grand Central Station... Although the terminal has been properly called "Grand Central Terminal" since 1913, many people continue to refer to it as "Grand Central Station", which is the name of the nearby post office, and subway station at the same location. It is the largest train station in the world with 44 platforms, and has 67 tracks along them on two different levels.
Outside the station, the clock in front of the Grand Central facade facing 42nd Street contains the world's largest example of Tiffany glass and is surrounded by sculptures of Minerva, Hercules, and Mercury. The grandeur continues once you enter the building, a great example of the style of the early century. It's hard to believe this building was nearly demolished in the 60's and 70's until Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis fought to restore it as a historic landmark.
Chrysler Building
After a brief lunch in a traditional New York deli, we are stuffed full of carved meat when we head across the street to the Chrysler Building. Standing at 319 metres (1,047 ft), it was the world's tallest building for 11 months before it was surpassed by the Empire State Building in 1931. However, the Chrysler Building remains the world's tallest brick building. The Chrysler Building is a classic example of Art Deco architecture and considered by many contemporary architects to be one of the finest buildings in New York City. You can't go up the tower, but the lobby is amazing.
The decorative elements of the building are based on features that were being used on Chrysler automobiles at that time. The eagles on the corners of the 61st floor are replicas of the 1929 Chrysler hood ornaments; on the 31st floor, the corner ornamentation are replicas of the 1929 Chrysler radiator caps. I was expecting them to tell me that the gum on the sidewalk was a replica of the oil stains under their cars. The distinctive building stands out in the skyline, day or night.
In a part of town where you strain your neck trying to see all the variations of skyscrapers, there is an interesting mix of traditional square box towers, with historic brownstone style construction.
If you don't lower your head once in a while you will walk into poles, you will walk into people, and you will miss unique little churches and buildings tucked in the shadows of these skyscrapers.
United Nations
As we work our way East to the East river, on the Eastern side of Manhattan, we leave the United States of America, and enter International territory, the United Nations Headquarters. The UN was founded in 1945 after World War II to replace the League of Nations, to stop wars between countries and to provide a platform for dialogue. There are currently 192 member states, including nearly every recognized independent state in the world, and that includes Canada.
After passing through an elaborate level of security we wander around the complex. Among the many interesting displays on animal poaching and child soldiers is donated artwork from many countries, such as large statues and art installations. We looked all around for Canadian contributions, and all we could find was a small bronze maple leaf and a plastic fish in the gift shop... it was the saddest display of all the amazing gift items from around the world.
It is a majestic sight to see the never ending row of flags from around the world, all coming together for a greater good. The protesters across the street make it even more clear how far we have to come as a world community, a stark reminder if you have read Roméo Dallaire's "Shake Hands with the Devil" (the story of the UN peacekeepers during the 1994 Rwandan Genocide) and learn just how ineffective the UN really is in a crisis of that nature.
As we head back into US territory we are dwarfed by the trump Tower, but find ourselves in the midst of a unique neighborhood with a mix of artistry and history,
St. Patrick's 1898 Gothic Cathedral
Once we get to Fifth Avenue, we are awestruck by the architecture of St. Patrick's Cathedral. Now dwarfed by surrounding mid-town buildings, the classic French Gothic style cathedral was constructed in 1879. It is currently the 11th largest church in the world.
Unlike St John the Unfinished, this cathedral is detailed, with colourful stained glass, and ornate details. A lot of craftsmanship, hard work and money has gone into this church. Its Fifth Avenue location makes it ideal for those that need to pray they can afford their purchases at nearby shops.
Fifth Ave.
Fifth Avenue is the high end shoppers street of dreams...
Aside from a couple of churches the stretch of road from 49th to 59th has some of the top designer and consumer stores such as; Saks Fifth Ave, Gucci, Cartier, Tiffany's, Versace, Ferragamo, Harry Winston, Prada, Fendi, Louis Vuitton, all capped off with a Disney Store, and Apple Store, and my personal favourite, FAO Schwarz, the best Toy store ever!
Sadly we wouldn't have time to spend in the snooty stores pretending we were shopping, as we had to get to the line for David Letterman's LATE SHOW. But we would be back to admire Tiffany's snowflake, spend $2000 or more on one receipt at Saks Fifth Ave. (yeah right) and do some Christmas shopping before we leave New York City.
LATE SHOW with David Letterman
When I first found out that I was going to New York, I went online and put my name on the list for LATE SHOW with David Letterman, Late Night with Conan O'Brien, and The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. The Daily Show contacted me and told me they were all booked, and then I didn't hear anything else. The week before we left, I got a call from one of Letterman's staff members, our name had been drawn, and I had to answer a trivia question about the LATE SHOW if I was to win the tickets. Apparently Letterman wants fans at his show that actually watch the show. I was asked, "Do you know who Alan Colter is?", I answered "Yes, is that the question?", she laughed, "No, what colour is his hair?"... and with that, I had two tickets to the show.
It's a bit of a process to get the tickets, and get into the show. We had to be at the Ed Sullivan Theater between 2 and 3, then after getting through the lineup, showing our ID 2-3 times, and answering questions about who's list we were on, we had our tickets and had to come back at 3:15. After a little bit of window shopping and a bathroom break at McDonald's, it's 3:15.
We line up again, but we had an assigned #, and everyone is supposed to be lined up in order, fun stuff as we all cram onto the Broadway sidewalk jockeying for position in the zero degree weather. Finally the line starts moving and we are indoors, waiting to enter the inner sanctum of the Ed Sullivan Theater. Elvis has played here, The Beatles have played here... tonight it's Carla Bruni (first lady of France), Jack Hanna of the Columbus Zoo and 'Cold Hard Cash' (tribute band).
It's a great afternoon of entertainment, it starts with a warmup comedian, who jokes that people only use McDonalds for their bathrooms. Ha! The band plays a song, then Letterman comes out to greet us, 2 minutes later the show is playing it's famous theme song and we are underway. A bashful David interviews Carla Bruni, then Jack Hanna brings out an assortment of animals; kangaroo and wallaby babies, an aardvark, a lion cub, and a snow monkey that freaks out Letterman when he jumps around because David teases the monkey with some grapes.
Every commercial break Paul Schaeffer and the CBS orchestra are belting out amazing music, and the show wraps up with a Johnny Cash tribute band playing "Folsom Prison Blues". When we think it is over, a special web only portion of the show is recorded, and Carla Bruni comes back to play an acoustic version of a french song from her album, very nice. At 5:50 we are back on the street.
Spring Awakening
Since it is Broadway, we decide to head back to the TKTS booth and see what other show on our list is available at half price. Highly recommended and with rave reviews we decide on "Spring Awakening". With our halfprice tickets we grab a nice dinner then head to the Eugene O'Neill theater on 49th Street. Turns out it's not quite what we expect, the music is alternative Rock, but the subject matter is very dark in this play about teenage sexual angst.
Set in late-nineteenth century Germany, it concerns teenagers who are discovering the inner and outer tumult of sexuality. The original play was banned in Germany due to its portrayal of masturbation, abortion, rape and suicide. Several elder patrons leave at the intermission when it ends with a partially nude girl being "deflowered" in a barn. That scene is re-enacted to start the second act, this time with a crowd, grandmas loved this! Hit songs such as "The Bitch of Living","I'll be your wound/bruise", and "Totally F%$#ed" round out a light and fun night... not.
After a rather dark finish to our day, we decided the next show we go see would be a little lighter.
Tomorrow we would head into Soho to meet an old friend of mine.