The Statue of Liberty Crown Tour we booked 4 months in advance because of the limited amount of visitors allowed per day. Approximately 240 people only are allowed to visit the crown each day. This tour included the following: access up to the Crown of the Statue of Liberty, priority entry into the Boarding Queue, which saved us wait time at the departure point and access to the grounds of Liberty Island and Ellis Island.
Tag-Archive for » NYC «
I really enjoy our short New York trips. One time we visited NYC at Christmas Time. The other time we spent time in Chinatown and Little Italy. This time we were there for a Broadway show and the Statue of Liberty Crown tour.
Last weekend my husband took me to Chinatown in New York City to celebrate my Birthday. Chinatown, Manhattan, home to the largest enclave of Chinese people in the Western hemisphere, is located in the borough of Manhattan in New York City, USA, bordering the Lower East Side to its east and Little Italy to its north (from Wikipedia).
Being in NYC, we couldn’t miss another aerial view of the Manhattan skyline, so we decided to experience it by riding the Roosevelt Island Tram. The aerial tram-car is a unique mode of public transportation from Midtown to Roosevelt Island. Of course, it is not the only route to access the island. There is the Roosevelt Island Bridge which is the sole route for vehicular and pedestrian traffic and a subway train is available as well. The skyline view from the tram is incredible and a perfect photo-op. The tram follows right alongside the beautiful Queensboro Bridge overlooking a magnificent stretch of Manhattan and Roosevelt Island with the East River in between.
Our visit to NYC was a lot of fun, and we did a lot of walking, so at the end of the day, the idea of taking a carriage ride through Central Park seemed like a good choice to us. I was afraid that it would be really cold, since it was during Christmas time, but surprisingly, it was pretty comfy inside the carriage with the provided blankets. Our coachmen and guide provided a lot of information about Central Park’s attractions during the ride. According to him, horse-drawn carriages are a symbol of pre-modern life in New York City. Over time, horses remained an iconic symbol of New York City along with the Empire State Building, Rockefeller Center, the Statue of Liberty and the street-side performers. Our guide also pointed out places in the park made famous by Hollywood films. We didn’t see the whole park. The place is huge: 843 acres filled with many interesting places to see. We just enjoyed our ride and took some pictures.
During our previous visit to NYC we had a chance to enjoy the view of Manhattan from the Top of the Rock, so this time we decided to experience it from the top of the Empire State Building. Everyone knows that the Empire State Building is an icon of New York City, as well as the United States of America. Located at 350 Fifth Avenue (between 33rd and 34th Streets) in New York City, the Empire State Building is a 102-story skyscraper. The height of the building to the top of its lightning rod is actually 1,454 feet or 443.2 meters. We obtained Main Deck & Top Deck Express tickets online, which allowed us to skip the lines, except a security line, to both observation decks. The Main deck on the 86th floor and the Top deck on the 102nd are marked in the following picture.
When planning our trip to NYC, the 9/11 Memorial was a unanimous “must-see”. Our trip would not be complete without going to pay our respects to the thousands of people who lost their lives that day and for the families who suffered such a loss. Also huge respect for the continued efforts from the workers at the Memorial who have made such a devastating place somewhere beautiful you can go and reflect and remember. The last time we were there, 5 years ago, there was not much at Ground Zero except for a fenced area that would become the Memorial that stands today. It was shocking to come back and see its transformation into a moving and serene place of hope.
For the majority of people, Christmas is the most wonderful time of the year. Dave and I decided that there is no better place to be at Christmas than NYC and took off for a road trip with a couple friends. New York didn’t disappoint us. The city is a pretty spectacular sight at that time, with Christmas trees, department-store window displays and other holiday attractions popping up around the city.
The Christmas tree at Rockefeller Center is the main attraction at Christmas time, drawing a huge crowd of holiday visitors every day. An interesting fact is that the tree is donated every year, and interested Giant-Norway spruce owners can submit their trees for consideration. According to Bloomberg Businessweek, this season, resident Joseph Balku from Flanders (N.J.) offered his tree, which survived Hurricane Sandy.
Christmas tree 2012 is an 80-year-old Norway spruce which weighs about 10 tons and stands 80 feet tall. It is wrapped in about five miles of LED lights with 45,000 bulbs, topped with a 550-pound LED-powered Swarovski star studded with 25,000 crystals, and had no other ornaments.
