"New York City - So Much to See and Do " a New York City Travel Page by opalzebra3

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New York - a "jungle" in the early 1980's

The Early Visits

My wife and I first visited New York City (NYC) in 1982 and were fortunate to stay with friends in a flat in mid-town. Being a first trip, we concentrated on the major attractions like the Statue of Liberty, World Trade Center, Empire State Building, Rockefeller Center/St. Patrick's Cathedral, Macy's and 5th Avenue. At that time NYC was filthy and walking around west 42nd St. near Times Square and the Port Authority Bus Terminal was challenging, especially at night with touts and hustlers all over the place. I remember we had to walk to the far end of West 42nd St. early in the morning to catch the Circle Line Cruise, a bit scary then. NYC was so iffy that we were back in the flat by nightfall. We only took the bus or taxi and never dared enter a subway station. I remember we would hear police sirens blaring all day long.

When we came back in the mid-1990's, we were pleasantly surprised at the change. NYC was much cleaner and safer too. But we were still a bit cautious about taking the subway.

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Appreciating New York More - The Bow Bridge

The Recent Years

The more recent visits were post 9/11 so NYC had really become much safer with very strong police visibility. We would see NYPD tactical units on patrol outside St. Patrick's Cathedral with helmets, body armor, assault rifles and even guard dogs. When we got in from Philly last November 2008, there were even armed Army National Guard troops on patrol in the Port Authority Bus Terminal. How much safer can it get? This was when we really got to enjoy NYC more, walking around mid-town past midnight after a Broadway show, riding the subway up and down Manhattan and even taking NJ Transit to visit a friend in New Jersey, taking bus rides to Philly or upstate NY at the Port Authority Bus Terminal and arriving at Penn Station by Amtrak. So now we do more exciting things like walking across the Brooklyn Bridge, looking for the BULL in Wall Street, having great panini at 'ino in the Village, visiting KATZ's Deli in East Village, watching Mama Mia, having steak at Thad's Steakhouse in Times Square, looking for the locations of the Ghosbusters film etc..