NYC Trip

I accompanied my niece on a short trip to NYC.  We landed at LaGuardia Airport. 

 

We stayed in a Brooklyn Jewish neighborhood.

The sidewalk between our hotel and the corner where we always caught the bus was covered in trash.  

Even the gutter was full of trash. 

My niece went to the Metropolitan Museum of Art to check out some paintings, particularly the Wanderer Above the Sea of Fog by Caspar David Friedrich.

And I wandered around Central Park. There are many crisscrossing paths with bridges at some intersections.  This is Glade Arch.

The daffodils were out.

and so were the cherry blossoms.

Quite the gnarly tree.

People were crowded around the front of the Alice in Wonderland statue.

I deleted a person and messed with the contrast a bit on this one so you could see the features of the figures better. The figure of Alice and her kitten, Dinah, sit atop a giant mushroom, surrounded by her Wonderland friends: the Cheshire Cat, Mad Hatter, Dormouse, and the White Rabbit.

Conservatory Water

This monument to the Danish author Hans Christian Andersen shows him reading his story, The Ugly Duckling, to a duckling.  It was unveiled in 1956 to commemorate Andersen's 150th birthday. 

Bethesda Fountain with its Angel of the Waters statue hadn't been restarted for the season yet. 

Bow Bridge pedestrian walkway over the lake with people in rented boats enjoying the day. 

Heading into The Rambles, an area of tangled walkways in the middle of Central Park.

Birds would gather every time you sat down on a bench.  I didn't have any food to give them. 

Pine Warbler

Belvedere Castle sits atop the huge rock outcrop known as Vista Rock, the second highest natural point in Central Park.

Looking out over Turtle Pond from the top of Belvedere Castle.

The Great Lawn to the north. 

I definitely didn't expect to see a statue like this in Central Park.  This monument to Polish King Jagiello (1352–1434) was created for the Polish pavilion at the 1939 World’s Fair in Queens.  It was modeled after a statue in Warsaw, but the crossed swords were an added feature.  The monument depicts a scene from the 1410 Battle of Grunwald when the king received two swords from his adversaries, the Teutonic Knights of the Cross.   

Light wasn't good for details, so I found other photos.  Anyway, to continue the story, just six months after the pavilion opened, in September 1939, the Nazis invaded Poland destroying all symbols of Polish nationalism including the original statue of the King.

When the Fair closed in 1940, the contents of the Polish pavilion were unable to return home because of the Nazi occupation. On July 15, 1945, the 535th anniversary of the Battle of Grunwald and two months after V-E Day, the monument was unveiled in Central Park.
 

Another "out of place" monument.  The Obelisk was created around 1425 BCE in Heliopolis, Egypt.  There were actually two obelisks which were moved around 10 BC to front Alexandria’s Caesareum, a temple conceived by Cleopatra, which may explain how they individually came to be known as "Cleopatra's Needles."  In the 1800's one was given to London and one to NYC.  Imagine what it took to move it!  It measures 69 feet from base to tip and 8 feet wide at its base and weighs around 200 tons. 

Scenic walk to the Obelisk through the cherry trees. 

The hieroglyphics are quite worn after all this time.  

Crabs support each corner of the base. 

Story of the Obelisk's history can be found at 
How the Obelisk Made Its Home in Central… | Central Park Conservancy

A bronze plaque tells us what the hieroglyphics say. 

White-Throated Sparrow

Female cardinal.

When my niece got done at the MET, we walked to the Neue Galerie to see Gustov Klimt's portrait of Adele Blouch-Bauer 1, also called The Woman in Gold. It only took us 15 minutes to see the whole museum. 

Meet Pigeon Gigantis.... ok this is a pigeon sculpture on the High Line. 

The High Line is a 1.45-mile-long (2.33 km) elevated linear park, greenway, and rail trail created on a former New York Central Railroad spur on the West Side of Manhattan. 

We started at the north end where you see the gray extension.  Then we walked west and north to the foot of the railroad tracks.  Of course, we had to walk back to where we started so we could go south on the High Line. 

Interesting benches. 

This first section was the widest.

We were being watched. 

Found a display of the history of the park. 

Learn more about the High Line on their website, 
Visitor Info | The High Line

Sorry about cutting off some of the info. 

South of the railyard looking Northeast.  Interesting gray building

This is a structure that you can pay $10 to enter to see the view.  Can't imagine it would be that fantastic as it overlooks the Hudson Railyard.  It is called The Vessel.

We watched this helicopter land beside the Hudson River.  A sightseeing copter had broken up in the air just the day before.

Interesting building design.

Heading south the track was mostly straight but did do some weaving. 

Interesting...

Artwork along the way. 

Cars stored in lifts three levels high.

An amphitheater created so people could look down the street.   

What the heck is that over the water?

Little Island is an award-winning public park, located in Hudson River Park, where all New Yorkers and visitors can experience nature and art in a unique urban oasis on the Hudson River.

We got to the end of the High Line and continued walking another 2 miles south toward the 9/11 Memorial. 

Oculus Plaza

9/11 Memorial.  North Pool.

South Pool. 

Ghostbusters Headquarters, otherwise known as the home of Hook and Ladder Company 8.  This early-1900s Beaux-Arts firehouse, doubled as the Ghostbusters headquarters in the original 1984 film. 

We get there just as the door opens, and a firefighter comes out to clear out the crowd. 

And here comes the firetruck

Too bad I didn't zoom in on the license plate, ECTO-1.

As I got out of bed on our last morning in NYC, I saw some paperwork that had been slid under the door. 

Needless to say, I was shocked and outraged that we would have to repay for our stay!!!  Once we got down to the reception desk, we were told we didn't have to pay any more and that the deposit put on my credit card on our first night would be refunded.  Whew!!!