Fly like a bird...whirly..whirly and other New York City, NY Things to Do Tips

Seeing an area by helicopter has become increasingly common at many tourist sites across the world.

I was booked a few years back to fly up the sheer face of the Eiger in Switzerland - but it was cancelled due to poor weather. That meant. fortuitously, that my first helicopter flight was spent high above the Hudson river in New York.

The pilot told us that in the old days they could fly low over the tops of the skyscrapers - but security concerns means this is now only possible on non-working days.

Only one company seems to have the franchise to operate flights but their basic flight up to the Statue of Liberty and back for around 50 Dollars is at least reasonable value.

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Phone: Sales & Marketing Dept: 212-967-
Directions: Liberty Helicopters
Downtown Manhattan Heliport
Pier 6 and The East River
New York, NY 10004
Website: www.libertyhelicopters.com

Everyone who visits New York, must come away with an impression of their favourite building.

For some it will be avant-garde design of the Guggenheim, for others the dainty top of the Chrysler, or the sheer character of the Empire state.

Personally I preferred a skyscraper with a bit of human scale to it - the Flatiron building fits the bill for me. It's not in fact the oldest skyscraper in New York, but it must be one of the most photogenic - Indeed whilst we passed by a photo-shoot was in progress.

When it was built the locals apparently thought the wind would topple the structure and bets were taken about how far the debris would fall - but it's still standing resolutely well over 100 years later.

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Address: 175 5th Avenue
Directions: Take the R/N to 23rd Street.

Grand central Terminal is often wrongly labeled or refered to as 'Grand Central Station', which I believe actually refers to a post office nearby.

The imposing station has been refurbished over the last few years, and the dramatic central hall has lost none of its impact and sense of occasion.

Despite the fact that much of the place is more shopping mall than train station, the central hall has been kept mercifully empty of the commercial clutter of kiosks, shops, cafes and the like.

One of my favourite feature is the romantic meeting point of the hanging clock. In fact because of the countless TV programmes and Films that station has featured in (Such as North by northwest, the Cotton Club, The French Connection, the Godfather, Superman, and Men in Black to name a few) when you enter the building for the first time you almost get a feeling of deja-vu, because it just feels so recognisable.

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Address: 42nd St & Park Ave.
Website: www.grandcentralterminal.com

A small area of Central Park, much beloved of John and Oko is now named "Strawberry fields". The garden areas includes a mosaic with the one word "Imagine" set in it's heart. Flowers are often left here to remember this extraordinary man, and especially on the anniversary of his assassination (see other tip in 'off the beaten path').

Rather than include the lyrics to Imagine, or Strawberry field I leave the first verse and Lyrics to a sing he wrote about New York : a city he may not have been born in, but one he probably felt most at home in.

Standing on the corner
Just me and Yoko Ono
We was waiting for Jerry to land
Up come a man with a guitar in his hand
Singing, "Have a marijuana if you can"
His name was David Peel
And we found that he was real
He sang, "The Pope smokes dope every day"
Up come a policeman shoved us up the street
Singing, "Power to the people today!"

New York City...New York City...New York City
Que pasa, New York?
Que pasa, New York?

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Directions: Central Park west - near 72nd street
Website: http://www.centralpark.org/

Strictly speaking this tip should not come under ' New York' at all, as the eighteen acres of the UN are not part of New York, or indeed of the U.S.A - they are the joint property of the 191 member nations of the United Nations, whose flags fly on these six blocks of prime Manhattan real estate.

The 39 storey monolith known as the Secretariat Building is probably the most well known building, and the tours ($10) show you all the important features of it. I especially liked the information about which country provided which furnishing for the building. There are also quite a number of important pieces of modern art to see as you move round the place.

As an aside I found these comment made by children who toured the UN on the website listed below.

"What happens if a diplomat with very large ears cannot put on the earphones?"

"How many dinosaurs would fit in this room?"

Upon seeing the country sign of JORDAN, a youngster exclaimed: "Does Michael Jordan have a seat here?"

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Phone: 212-963-TOUR (8687)
Address: The Visitors' Entrance is located on First Avenue.
Directions: Subway: number 4,5,6 or 7 trains to Grand Central Station; walk on 42nd Street to First Avenue.
Website: http://www.un.org/tours/

The Iconic Empire state building must be part of anyones "Must see" list when visiting the Big Apple.

The view from Midtown back to the financial area is certainly like nothing else on earth. It is no longer the highest skscraper, no longer the most dramatic - but it is probably the one that would come top of our survey when asked "Name a skyskraper"?

Although well worth the twelve dollars to take the lift to the top, I think is is crying shame that you cannot actually walk up all 86 floors - if you can do it in the Eiffel Tower, why not here?

It is however possible once a year in the annual race. Australian Paul Crake currently holds the record, and his feat is mentioned in the Guinness book of World Records. He took just 9 minutes 33 seconds to ascend the 1,576 steps in the 26th annual run-up, on February 4, 2003, shaving 4 seconds off his previous record.

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Phone: (212) 947-1360
Address: 350 5th Avenue
Directions: 1, 2, 3 or 9 (Seventh Avenue Lines), A, C or E (Eighth Avenue Subway) to 34th Street/Penn Station.
Website: http://www.esbnyc.com/

The most important and interesting historical site to visit in the New York City area has to be Ellis Island, where about 40% of the countries immigrants passed through.

The American part of my family managed in true Sourbugger style to avoid the place completely by first being forced by nefarious events to live on a plantation in Cuba, before they upped sticks and moved to Alaska.

Three things I found surprising about Ellis Island were :

1) It may be the land of the free, and despite what it says on the statue if liberty, the First and Second Class passengers avoided the place completely because they were processed on board ship before arriving.

2) The Stairs up from the boarding points were cleverly used to give an early indication of those who were not fit enough to start a new life. Rather ironically many of their descendants now probably can't make the stairs due to being too obese.

3) Much of the complex is still unrenovated from it's days as a a mental asylum. An excellent report about this can be read at :

www.pacpubserver.com/.../ ellisisland.html

Entry is free, alough the ferry to the site is around ten dollars - details on the website

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Directions: South Ferry at Battery Park - Take the #5 train to Bowling Green or #1 to South Ferry
Website: www.ellisisland.com

The bright lights of Times square may not have the razz - a - ma - tazz of Las Vegas but they seem somehow more 'in you face' and 'Bling-bling' to me, perhaps because they are more than just mere advertising.

One of the most effective is the 7-storey high NASDAQ display that constantly updates all the world and market news.

I would certainly regard it as one of the Icons of New York City. Such displays also feature in many TV shows and Films, perhaps with the character on the big screen proposing his undying love....

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Directions: 42nd Street, Brodway & 7th avenue
Website: www.nasnaq.com

Arturo DeModica was responsible for this ststue that almost seems to be moving, it is now located at Broadway and Front Street very near to Wall Street.

I quite like the fact (as far as I can discover) that the statue was originally put up without the appropriate paperwork and red tape by the artist outside the stock exchange.

The New York Authorities initially reacted by carting the statue off to the local police compound. Local pressure resulted in the authouriesfinding an appropriate location for this addition to the streetscape.

Perhaps in these more difficult times it should be balanced with statue of a giant bear.

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Address: Broadway and Front Street very near to Wall Street
Directions: Head For Wall Street and look out for it