New York City Pt 7

This is the last post from NYC. We are heading off today to San Francisco. We're busy packing so here are some pics....

We visited the NYC Botanical Garden at the Bronx. Unfortunately it was a wet day, so we didn't really do it justice. But we did have a good look in the fabulous conservatory, which had an artists display of Van Gogh sculptures that reflected particular paintings. That was fun. We also had a fantastic Nachos at a Mexican run diner just outside the entry - yum!....

On the way back we stopped at the Yankee Stadium to have a peek. We were thinking of going to a game this day, but went to the gardens instead....

This is the Brooklyn Museum, a huge building with very interesting things inside...

Like this amazing bike frame from the mid-20th century- why don't people make 'em nowadays....

Or these 8 huge Assyrian frieze panels, bought by an American in 1855 from the British Museum as they didn't have enough room for them ...

Next door is the Brooklyn Botanical Garden, which was excellent, with a very nice Japanese garden...

Next to that, is Prospect Park in Brooklyn. It is huge and built at the same time, by the same designers, as Central Park. It's a bit shabbier....

We visited Williamsburg in Brooklyn and really enjoyed it, having a different more low scale feel to Manhattan. It was noticeably full of younger people - it's a pretty groovy area. There are industrial remnants converted to parks and other uses down on the waterfront looking over to Manhattan....

We went on a Saturday when they have the Smorgasbord, which has over 100 food vendors in a park by the river...

This is the low scale, but still quite historic with weatherboard buildings too...

The Skyscraper Museum is situated downtown and was interesting. I thought these two photos were particularly interesting, the first one pre-World Trade Centre (showing where the river/wharves were) and the second post World Trade Centre, showing how they reclaimed the river with the spoil from the World Trade Centre site. That reclaimed area is now Battery Park City with lots of mixed use and parks along the new river edge....

On that new river edge is a particular park with heaps of bronze figures doing playful things - big and small. Here are some small ones on a chess table....

We did a bird walk in Central Park which was really good. Quite a few punters...

At Inwood Park near the top of Manhattan, some of the only original forest remaining on the island. (to the left on photo). But it's got a highway cutting through it and over this two storey bridge!...

Shade and power - interesting...

The Cooper Hewitt Museum on 5th Avenue (just up from the Guggenheim) is a design museum, but was formerly the home of Andrew Carnegie, one of the wealthiest chaps in the world at the time. It was very interesting but the design installations were a bit hit and miss...

We did a walking tour (from one of my books) from Fort Tyron Park (near to the Cloisters Museum) down to West Harlem. It was great. The first photo is one geezers driveway to his house, which is now part of the park. The second is the George Washington Bridge - the first bridge over the Hudson River and longest bridge in the world until the Golden Gate was built not long after... 

This is one of 5 remaining Lowe Picture Palaces, all built around 1930 as Art Deco extravaganzas and still standing. They are now entertainment spaces; churches or shops...

We were surprised to find the 'High Bridge' over the Harlem River (which is the small river across the top of Manhattan between the Hudson and East Rivers). The bridge was built in 1840's to bring the new water supply from the Catskill Mountains down into Manhattan (to the reservoir in Central Park)....

It is a very unappealing part of the city! This view is looking south from the High Bridge and might as well be of Shanghai circa 1990!...

The Morris-Jumel Mansion is the oldest home on Manhattan (1765). It has all sorts of history tied to it and is sited in its own park, in West Harlem in a location known as Sugar Hill...

Adjacent is a historic row of houses in timber from the 1800's, all fully restored with Federal funds in the 1980's...

We went to see the (old) musical 'Gypsy'. It was very good (a couple of standing ovations), but it had aspects that irked me a bit. Americans are very odd theatre goers - they are rowdy - whooping and cheering throughout - quite odd - and no theatres have ice creams at the interval - very uncivilised....

Not far north from here is another historic house. This one was built by Alexander Hamilton (of the musical 'Hamilton' fame), but he only lived here for 2 years before he died in a duel. The internal design of the little house was fantastic...

Yesterday we did a tour of the Seventh Regiment Armoury building on Park Avenue. It's a significant and huge historic building from 1880. Whilst looking like a fortress from outside, it's quite sumptuous inside. This is the regiment that had as members the sons of all the Gilded Age families - so they had lots of money to contribute. Of particular note is a room (for veterans) designed by Tiffany (the son of the jeweller and known for the lamps), when he was a young man in 1880. It is an amazing space with phenomenal detail - very modern for the time!....

View of our street (between the church and the New York Historical society building), taken along Central Park West adjacent to Central Park. Our place is about 100m from this corner down West 76th street. The elaborate apartment building on the left is the Kenilworth Apartments (Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta-Jones lived in the penthouse until recently)...

I'll finish with some typical views of Central Park from yesterday afternoon...