Frank Sinatra once famously sang about wanting to wake up in the city that never sleeps. Well Frank, guess what? That's exactly what I did on the 11th of January. I imagine you're wondering what we did on our first night in the big apple, where there is something happening 24/7. Let me put your curious minds at ease, after our first day in NYC, both Em and I were asleep by 8 o'clock, completely drained from the long haul from Melbourne to New York via China and LA. Not so much jet lagged, more just overwhelmed by the tyranny of distance. But this was Wednesday, a new day with new things to see and do. I awoke around 10:00 am to find Em already up, showered, dressed and ready to go. Today would be another day pounding the pavement of Manhatten, our first stop, Penn Station and Madison Square Garden to pick up our train tickets for our next stop in Montreal. Just seeing the outside of the Garden was a huge thrill for me, being a lifelong NBA fan as well as a hockey and WWE fan I knew the history of MSG quite well. I was even more excited about the following nights hockey game that we were attending.
Two of Em's bucket list items whilst we were in NY were to go to Greys Papaya so I could get a hot dog there (Em being vegetarian couldn't eat one herself) and a trip and a drink at Slattery's Pub. We wandered the back blocks of Manhatten searching for where Greys Papaya should be but it was to no avail. We later discovered that the original store closed down and they had moved to a second location. To make up for it, we went for another New York staple, a slice of pizza. There are a slew of pizza joints around New York, all teeming with customers and at $1-$1.50 per slice why not? The slices were about the sizable of one of our large pizzas in Australia and I happily smashed into my two slices of pepperoni chased with a Dr. Pepper all for only $4. We had better luck locating Slatterys Pub however, a little Irish pub on East 36th street. It was fairly quiet on this day, we both had a drink (Coke for me and yes US Coke and Pepsi do taste differently to what we have in Australia) and a chat to the Irish lady from Limerick behind the bar and flicked through the New York Post which was NFL heavy in it's coverage of sports, with the Giants being in the playoffs. We took in some more of Central Park, 6th Avenue and the UN building on our way back to our hotel. We went back early to get ready to go to a show at The Comedy Strip comedy club that night. The Comedy Strip is very well known in NY, it was where the opening credits of Seinfeld were filmed and many big name comedians had perfomed there including Jerry Seinfeld himself, Eddie Murphy, Adam Sandler, Ray Romano, Dave Chapelle, Paul Reiser and Chris Rock. Chris Rock apparently used to bus the tables for free when he was starting out there in exchange for more stage time to help him get noticed. The entrance is covered in signed pictures of many of the people who have performed there, most of them looking extremely young! For everyone in Australia we had been told that Carl Barron and Dave Hughes had also performed there as well. It was a very small crowd, but a full house for most of the night. We were sat right in front of the stage and were got to interact with the performers all night. All in all we saw around 20 comedians for the evening. The first half of the show was tremendous, the comedians went over well and the show moved at a cracking pace. After the halftime break however people slowly started filing out of the building, making it tough for the remaining performers to build momentum. By the end of the night, there were four of us left in the audience. I had a chat to one of the MC's, young comedian Jordan Rock, afterwards whilst watching some of the LA Clippers vs Miami NBA game. I asked him about performing in front of that few a number. He was ambivalent about it, "Hey man, it happens" he said with a shrug "It's a late night, people gotta go to work tomorrow, you don't take it personal." When I mentioned Flight Of The Conchords once performing for one person who left halfway through (yes this was featured on their tv show, but it was apparently a true story) and how they went on to have their own HBO series, Jordan nodded and said "I've performed in front of two, three people. You just go out and do your thing and if they like it, cool."
Thursday was our last day in New York and there was still a number of things to be checked off the to do list. We made our way that morning up to the 59th street subway station and caught the train downtown to the Whitehall ferry terminal and Battery Park. The weather was not great, extra cold coupled with that misty sort of rain that isn't really good for anything. We walked through Battery park towards the Statten Island ferry and were pleased to see squirrels scurrying between the trees. The squirrels are very conditioned to humans and would let you hand feed them. Very cool experience.
We boarded the ferry (which is free for anyone who maybe going to NY soon)and set off to view the statue of liberty. The misty rain made viewing from land difficult, but the ferry scooted past Alice Island and we got a great view of the grand lady. The statue wasn't as big as I expected, but it still draws your attention, it's one of the most famous landmarks in the world after all. Lady Liberty is portrayed all over New York, but the actual statue has a quiet dignity about it, contrasting some of the more boisterous New York attractions like Times Square or Broadway.
After a stroll up Wall Street and a bite to eat, I continued on alone. Em had been gamely battling illness since our arrival in New York and it had finally gotten the better of her. She headed back to the hotel and we arranged to meet at the NHL Store before the hockey that night, then I went to the 9/11 memorial site. Entrance is free but a donation is appreciated. Security around the site was extremely tight, similar to going through the airport and security staff and police were everywhere. The wound that America, in particular New York, suffered that horrible day in 2001 is still very much sore and will most likely never go away. Where the twin towers once stood now sits to pools with the names of the victims of the tragedy inscribed around the edge. It's both moving and humbling to read the names, hear the stories and see some of the twisted debris and battered FDNY helmets of those brave souls first on the scene. The memorial itself is classily unsderstated, a place for reflection with a community square feel. There's no flag waving or chest beating on the site, more a sense of wonder at how such a heinous act could be committed by one group of humans onto another. September eleven is a defining moment for my generation and being on the ground where it all happened was surreal. I'll never forget.
Our last night in New York was a hockey game between the NY Rangers and Ottawa (read about it on the sister blog to this one http://shotdownsports.blogspot.com) followed by a cab trip back to the hotel. Tomorrow we would be off to Montreal, Quebec, Canada, our New York adventure over. For now anyway. New York, you haven't seen the last of me...
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