Metropolitan Museum of Art and other New York City, NY Things to Do Tips

The Metropolitan Museum of Art is a must see for art lovers. I only had a few hours so I zeroed in on the sections of the museum that most appealed to me-American art which was a lot of the decorative arts including a fine collection of Tiffany glass, a full sized Frank Lloyd Wright living room and lots of furniture, then onto modern European paintings with a vast collection of impressionist art. Don't overlook the special exhibitions, I took a peek at the exhibit in the costume collection, Art Deco Paris and the Treasures of Dresden.

Admission is $12, a suggested amount, as long as you pay something you can get in. If you can afford the $12, pay it, this museum is well worth the cost.

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Phone: 212-535-7710
Address: 1000 Fifth Avenue at 82nd Street
Directions: Take 4, 5, or 6 train to 86th Street and walk three blocks west to Fifth Avenue
Website: http://www.metmuseum.org/home.asp

I think this is my favorite building in New York City, I love the art deco details from the silver gargoyles and stainless steel spire on the the exterior to the beautifully restored interior lobby. It was built in 1928-1930, the 77 floor building was briefly the world's tallest building until the Empire State Building was completed just months later.

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Although more pleasant to visit in the warm summer months when all of the trees have leaves and the grass is green, even in the winter months, Central Park should be on the visitors must see list. Central Park covers 6% of Manhattan to give you an idea of it's size.

Central Park is an 843 acre green oasis in the middle of the hustle and bustle of New York City. It was designed in 1858 by Frederick Olmsted and Calvert Vaux, it took 16 years to finish the park. It was the 1st landscaped public park in the US.

I was only able to squeeze in a walk from the Metropolitan Museum of Art to the southern end of the park, even in that short distance there are several highlights-the Alice in Wonderland Statue, Hans Christian Andersen statue, the Reservoir and the zoo.

On my 3rd visit to the city in 2007, we took the subway to 81st Street stop and walked into the park trying to find the Belvedere Castle. After several people gave us bad directions, we finally found someone who worked there and he pointed us in the right direction. So if you want to explore, bring a good map, there aren't many directional signs. There's a good walking tour on the attached website if you want to explore more fully.

Belvedere Castle was erected in 1869 as a lookout and is now home to the NY Meteorological Observatory.

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Address: Manhattan
Directions: Between 59th Street and 110th Street and 5th Ave. on the East Side to Central Park West (8th Ave.) on the West Side.
Website: http://www.centralpark.com/
Other Contact: http://www.centralparknyc.org/

Originally called the Fuller Building after the first occupant, the Fuller Construction Company, the triangular shape resembling a flat iron gave the building its nickname which stuck. The unusual shape was necessary to conform to a triangular piece of land at Broadway and 5th Avenue, at it's narrowest it is only 6 feet wide.

It was built by famous Chicago architect Daniel Burnham in 1902-1903, influenced by architectural trends introduced at the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago which he was heavily involved with, elements of French and Italian Renaissance architecture are present on the building.

It is said that the building created a wind tunnel effect causing women's skirts to fly around as they walked on 23rd street, attracting throngs of young men. Police would try to disperse them by calling to them "23 Skidoo", a slang expression no longer commonly used, but its descendant, "scram", remains in use today.

The Flatiron Building is featured as the Daily Bugle Office in Spiderman 1 and 2.

And although often reported as such, it wasn't New York City's first skyscraper, first steel-skeleton building or ever the world's tallest building.

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Address: 175 5th Avenue
Directions: Broadway and 5th Avenue

If you are in New York around the Christmas holidays, one of the must see holiday traditions are the department store windows decked out for the holidays. The attached picture is one of Bloomingdale's gorgeous 2004 windows, featuring scenes from The Phantom of the Opera.

The attached website has a good route to hit all the major department stores but here's a synopsis in case the link doesn't work.

Start at Bloomingdale's on Lexington and 59th, head to Barney's on Madison and 60th, over to 5th to see Bergdorf Goodman (58th), Saks (48th) and Lord & Taylor (38th), turn right on 34th to find Macy's (Broadway).

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Address: Manhattan
Website: http://gonyc.about.com/od/christmassights/l/bl_xmaswindows.htm

On my recent visit to New York, I finally had a few minutes to visit the interior. Take the elevator up to the 3rd floor to see the Rose Main Reading Room, a room nearly 2 blocks long with ceilings covered in murals, rows of oak tables and carved woodwork. Other highlights include the DeWitt Periodical Room on the 1st floor, the McGraw Rotunda at the top of the main staircase and the Astor Hall, the marble foyer on the 5th Avenue side. I think I saw a sign with guided tours so stop at the information desk if you are interested or check out their website.

I love the marble lions standing guard outside the Library, I have bookends that I bought years before I ever went to New York at home

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Phone: (212) 930-0830
Address: Fifth Avenue and 42nd Street
Directions: Take 1,2,3,9 to 42nd Street and Broadway. Walk two blocks east to Fifth Avenue.
Website: http://www.nypl.org/

Another art deco gem in Manhattan is the General Electric Building built in 1931, designed by architects Cross & Cross to fit in with the neo-Romanesque St. Bartholomew's church next door. It was originally built to be the headquarters for RCA, sold to GE in 1933.

The facade features a clock with the GE logo, arms on either side grasping at lightning bolts. The top of the building features wavy decoration and more lightning bolt, symbolizing electricity and radio transmission waves.

Head inside the lobby for more art deco decoration and although I didn't know to look for this, I've read that the interior of the wood-paneled elevators is quite a treat.

This building shouldn't be confused with the GE Building at Rockefeller Plaza which was also originally built for RCA but was sold to GE in 1986.

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Address: 570 Lexington Avenue
Directions: Manhattan

I didn't actually go inside Bloomingdale's, believe it or not, I was not in NYC to shop but to see the sights and some of the beautiful art deco architecture. I stopped by Bloomingdale's to see the windows decorated for the holidays and couldn't resist snapping a pic of the arm candelabras that you can see in the attached photo.

Bloomingdale's opened in it's current location at 59th & Lexington in 1886 and expanded so that by 1929, it covered an entire city block. The facade was updated to it's current art deco styling soon after.

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Address: 1000 Lexington at 59th Street
Website: www.bloomingdales.com

The 40 story Fuller Building was completed in 1929, an office tower for the Fuller Construction Co., the leading builder during the depression years. Fuller had previously occupied the Flatiron Building, originally known as the Fuller Building.

The top of the tower is decorated with art deco triangles, zigzags and suns. The attached photo is of the entrance way on 57th Street featuring a clock depicting construction workers and the city skyline.

I don't think I went inside this building but as with all art deco buildings, it's usually worth taking a look at the interior.

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Address: 41-45 E. 57th Street
Directions: Madison & 57th Street

Well, I had to take a picture of the building spawned by the "it" man of the moment, Donald Trump, currently famous among other things for coining the phrase "You're Fired" on the reality show "The Apprentice", marrying his third wife, a Slovenian model 24 years younger than him and having the worst combover in the history of man (if you had all that money, don't you think you could find someone to fix that hair???)

I can't say that I like the architecture, I understand it replaced the art deco Bonwit Teller store which surely I would have liked better, at least in Chicago he is only demolishing the ugly, out of place, Sun Times building.

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Address: 725 5th Avenue
Directions: 56th Street and 5th Avenue