New York City

Thursday, May 05, 2016 Shilpi Dutta

About New York City : New York—often called New York City or the City of New York to distinguish it from the State of New York, of which it is a part—is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York metropolitan area, the premier gateway for legal immigration to the United States and one of the most populous urban agglomerations in the world. A global power city, New York exerts a significant impact upon commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and entertainment, its fast pace defining the term New York minute. Home to the headquarters of the United Nations, New York is an important center for international diplomacy and has been described as the cultural and financial capital of the world.
As I told for Niagra Falls earlier, this is the info anyone can get on the internet, but I am providing just to keep my framework intact. What NYC is, that only a person who has visited NYC can feel; it is beyond words.

Duration of the Trip: For us, it was a 4 days 3 night trip from Chicago. We started from Chicago on Thursday morning and reached back Chicago on Sunday night.

Transportation: We traveled by flight from Chicago to Newark airport and back to Chicago. From Newark airport, we rented a Toyota enterprise (www.enterprise.com) for next 4 days which cost us around $550.

Details of the Trip :
Day 1 : We started from Chicago by 6:30 am CST and reached Newark airport by 10:00 am EST. We rented a car and headed to Ramada Hotel in Parsippany, NJ. The best option is to stay at any hotel in New York city but we had friends at Parsippany to meet with and it’s much cheaper than NYC, so we opted for staying at Parsippany, NJ. The tariff was around $65 per day. This includes free parking and free breakfast. Breakfast was useless, though.
After we settled down in the hotel, we went to nearby Chand Palace restaurant; it’s a vegetarian restaurant and one of the places in Parsippany to serve awesome Indian food. After finishing our lunch, we went to Time Square.

Times Square
It was an altogether different feeling. I do live in downtown Chicago, but it’s nowhere can compete with the craze of Downtown NYC, The Times Square (No offense Chicagoans, I love Chicago more than NYC, Chicago has a living soul, which NYC can never compete with ☺ ). It was a strange place, one of the most attractive things I found there were the below fancy dressed people. They just dressed up to let other take photos with them.

We roamed there for around an hour and headed back to our hotel in Parsippany.

Day 2 : This was the day for real NYC Darshan. We had our breakfast and started for NYC by 8:30 in the morning. We drove down to NYC and parked our car in a free parking zone near to world Trade Centre. In NYC, this is a real pain to get a free parking and paid parking are bit too costly. So, near doesn't exactly mean very near, it was at a distance of about 1-2 miles.
The places we visited were,
Ground Zero, where the World Trade Center stood prior to the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, one of biggest tragedy of recent times. After the destruction of twin towers, there are two pools build in the memory of the twin Towers, called North Pool and South Pool.
Each of the pool carries the name of all the people who lost their life in the misfortune.
Pool in Ground Zero

Pool in Ground Zero
A paid tour is conducted to explain the sites of World Trade Center before and after the mishap.
Tickets are available on their website.

The 9/11 Memorial Museum serves as the country's principal institution concerned with exploring the implications of the events of 9/11, documenting the impact of those events and exploring 9/11's continuing significance.
Museum is broadly categorized into three different sections based on their exhibitions,
Historical Exhibition, A historical exhibition tells the story of what happened on 9/11, including the events at the World Trade Center and the Pentagon and the story of Flight 93. This exhibition explores the background leading up to the events and examines their aftermath and continuing implications.
Picture was taken few hours before the Twin Tower Attack
Memorial Exhibition commemorates the lives of those who perished on September 11, 2001, and February 26, 1993, and provides visitors with the opportunity to learn about the men, women, and children who died. The exhibition features family photographs, oral remembrances, and rotating selections of personal artifacts.
Memorial Exhibition | Picture Courtesy : www.911memorial.org
Foundation Hall, a room of massive scale and soaring height. Here, the slurry wall, a surviving retaining wall of the original World Trade Center that withstood the devastation of 9/11, is presented as a testament to survival and determination. Against this backdrop, the Last Column stands 36-feet high and is covered with mementos, memorial inscriptions, and missing posters placed there by ironworkers, rescue workers, and others. Removed during a ceremony to mark the close of the recovery effort at Ground Zero, the column, laid prone, was draped with an American flag and escorted by an honor guard. Standing tall once again, the Last Column encourages reflection on the foundations of resilience, hope, and community with which we might build our collective future.
This place is bound to give you goosebumps, your heart will bleed feeling the pain what the victim and survivors had to go through during the terror attack. Each article of the museum cries out loudly about the incident, a real shame to the humanity.

Piece of stair demolished after Twin Tower Attack
Piece of demolished pillars of Twin Tower 

Slurry Wall of Twin Tower

A Ladder 3 truck affected by 9/11 attach

Structure of earlier Twin Tower available from the debris of 9/11
It was very truly written in the walls of the museum,
'No Day Shall Erase You From the Memory of Time' written using the scraps
 available in the 9/11 debris
Ticket costs $24 per adult, $18 for Senior Citizen(65+), College Students and US Veteran and $15 for youths of age group 7-17 years. An audio guide device is available at the reception of 9/11 Museum which charges $7 for the device and $2 for headphone. The same audio is available in for app store of all the smartphones and can be downloaded at free of cost.
To visit the entire museum it takes around an hour.

Next on our list was One World Trade Center, latest and most beautiful addition to the list of sky scrappers in the skyline of lower Manhattan. With a height of 1,776 feet, One World Trade Center is the tallest building United Stated of America and third in the world.
One World Trade Center
Before visiting NYC, I saw some ads for One World Trade Observatory which says  “There are millions of things to see in New York, One world Observatory is one in a million. The best view of New York” and trust me, no add ever been so true; this is truly one in a million. On the 100th floor of the Observatory, also known as the Discovery Level, Guests experience expansive, 360-degree views in all directions, taking in the iconic sights, surrounding waters and panoramic views of the city and beyond.

View of New York City from 1WTC observatory
Brooklyn Bridge from 1WTC observatory
I was indeed very excited having the first glimpse of The Statue of Liberty from the observatory.


Apart from the magnificent view of NYC, the most interesting part of one world trade observatory was the video played in the lift which going up and coming down. Do take the time to see the videos, that is just awesome.

New York City in a glimpse | Video displayed 
in the life while going up in 1WTC


A video showing which height the lift currently is
 | Video displayed  in the life while coming down in 1WTC

We opted for standard admission ticket which costs $32 per adult, $30 for Senior Citizen(65+),$26 for youths of age group 6-12 years and free for the kids of 5 years or below. There are many different kinds of tickets based on timing and priority which costs differently. Tickets can be booked only from OneWorldobservatory website.
One can rent an iPad to identify different places from One World Trade Center which actually is not worth. If you do a bit of study about the different places of New York City before visiting, you can identify on your own.
After coming out, we had our lunch in a nearby Chipotle and headed towards The Charging Bull of Wall Street, the symbol of aggressive financial optimism and prosperity, leaning back on its haunches and with its head lowered as if ready to charge.
Charging Bull of Wall Street | Picture Courtesy : news.artnet.com
Somehow managed to get a click
This is probably the most popular tourist destination in New York City after Statue of Liberty. This place was so crowded and people are so crazy about posing the same, I had to sacrifices mine :(.

Round the corner of Charging bull, one can find the biggest stock exchange in the world, New York Stock Exchange aka NYSE.
The New York Stock Exchange
We hired a cab to drop us at Brooklyn Bridge, a must see for any trip to NYC. And it would have been a sin for me or any Bollywood bluff if Brooklyn Bridge was missed. This bridge connects Manhattan and Brooklyn and has been featured in many Bollywood movies like Kal Ho Na Ho, Ta ra rum pum and Hollywood movies like Independence Day, I Am Legend, The Dark Knight Rises, The Avengers, and Godzilla.
Brooklyn Bridge


Manhattan Bridge as seen from Brooklyn Bridge
We walked across the bridge which was a great feeling on a beautiful evening. People can rent bicycles as well and go for a cycling.
There is a strange belief about the bridge, couples put a lock, writing their name, in the grills or wires of the bridge and throws the key in the river. It is believed that it will bring a long lasting relationship.


We came back to Rector Street where we parked our car in the morning considering free parking ( I said considering fee parking because next day we got a ticket of $125 as we didn't notice the Fire Hydrant) and went to Circle Cruise, Pier 83.
We had booked for a Harbor Lights Cruise considering it will provide a night panoramic view of New York City. However, it started at 7 p.m and ended at 8 p.m. almost having the broad daylight. This cruise sails through Hudson River providing a panoramic view of midtown and lower manhattan. But personally speaking I was really disappointed with this cruise as the deck of the cruise was small enough to provide everyone an open air view and we had to sit inside the cruise from where one actually can't have any proper view. My detailed review can be found at TripAdvisor.
Still if someone is willing to take this trip, the tickets cost $38 per adult, $36 for Senior Citizen(65+),$30 for children and free for the infants of 3 years or below. Circle Line cruise provides different discount for the tickets booked through online and the same can be available from their website,
Brooklyn Bridge and Manhattan Bridge
After finishing the cruise, we walked to The Empire State Building. Situated in the heart of New York City, the Empire state building truly is the crown of Empire State, New York.
As soon as we entered the building, entrance lobby gave us a glimpse of the majesty we were about to experience.
Lobby of Empire State Building
There are three main sections to visit,
Dare to Dream, an exhibit which captures building’s history, engineering, constructions, periodic photos, and daily bookkeeping history. This section will definitely give you a glimpse of what they call the American dream.
Main Deck 86th Floor, unlike other observatories of the different sky scrapper, Main Deck 86th floor is an open air tower providing 360-degree views of New York and beyond. On a clear day, it provides an awesome view of Central Park, The Hudson River and East River, The Brooklyn Bridge, Times Square, The Statue of Liberty. We visited the place during the night and nothing could have been a better view to experience.
Night View from Empire State Building
102nd Floor Top Deck is another observatory with a spectacular view. However, we visited on 3rd of July and due to too much of rush it was closed on that day.
One more interesting thing about Empire State Building is its lighting. The tower is lit to celebrate the day. As we visited on the eve of Independence Day, we witnessed the tower being lit as the flag of United Nations.
Empire State Building lit as USA flag
As we were only been able to experience the main deck, the ticket costs were $32 per adult, $29 for Senior Citizen(62+), $26 for age group 6-12 years and free for rest. However, there are different ticket options which can be available from Empire State Building official website.
Outside the building, there will be  some people who selling tickets, but it's better to avoid them.

After we came out of Empire state building around midnight and had our dinner at a local pizza joint. We were tired like hell and headed to Parsippany.

Day 3 : It was 4th July, the birthday of United Nation and we decided to spend nation's birthday at its birthplace Philadelphia. I will write the experience in another post.

Day 4 : This was the last and most happening day from our NYC trip. We planned to visit The statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. US trip for any foreign citizen is incomplete without visiting the great statue.
The Statue of Liberty is located in the liberty island in the New York harbour. The only way to access the Liberty Island is the ferry operated for Liberty Island and Ellis Island. There are two departure points from where these ferries can be accessed. Liberty Park in New Jersy and Battery Park in New York. As we were staying in New Jersy, Liberty park was more convenient for us.
We had our return flight to Chicago on the same day evening, so we checked out from the hotel and started for Liberty Park around 9 a.m. Our trip was scheduled for 10 a.m. We parked our car in the paid parking lot of Liberty Park and boarded the ferry. Before going ferry we had to go through an airport level of security check.
Statue of Liberty also has different kinds of tickets which should only be booked through their official website. It is always best if you can get the Crown access tickets but the number of tickets available for the crown in very less and most of the time tickets are sold out six months earlier. Also, while booking the tickets for Crown access it should be kept in mind that there is no lift in through the body of the statue. That is, there is lift service from ground level to pedestal level but after that to reach to the crown, one has to climb stairs all the way to the up which is approximately 110 ft. So, considering that, pedestal access level is the second best thing to be in. ☺
Back to the details of the trip. We started from Liberty Park by 10 am and the ferry dropped us at Ellis Island.
Main hall of Ellis Island
Ellis Island was the gateway for over 12 million immigrants to the United States as the nation's busiest immigrant inspection station from 1892 until 1954. Since 1990, the main building of the island has been converted into immigration museum.
I, being a person, who hates museum of all sorts, actually loved this museum. There are shows organised in the theatre of the island which show the life of an immigrant in Ellis Island, the days before getting access to the land of opportunity. The show is really very heart touching and definitely a must watch.
We visited every nook and corner of the Ellis Museum, which is a very detailed exhibit of the immigrants life there; their beds, scribbling on the wall, some left out baggage, lots of photographs are a living witness of the price what those immigrants had to pay to reach the Land of Opportunity, the Land of Dreams.
There is nothing much I can write about Ellis Island, however, some of my captures would definitely tell a bit of tale about that place.

A modern day ship seen from Ellis Island | This is how immigrants used
 to reach Ellis Island back those days
Waiting Hall in Ellis Island
Baggage Room of Ellis Island | These bags still carry the history with them

Bed for Immigrants, till decision for their destiny, is taken
Scripts made by the immigrants
Bookkeeping of Immigrants arrival
Image of Courtroom, the place who has witnessed
 the decision of lakhs of people's future
One of the most interesting things I found in the museum was a set of questioners which used to be asked to the immigrants before granting a permit to enter the USA; I said interesting because the same set with addition of a couple of more questions is still being used for modern day VISA permits in the name of DS-160. Funniest question used to be asked those days was “Do you sing or talk to yourself?”; if someone answers ‘yes’, entry for that person is denied on the ground of having mental issues. ☺ I really thanked God and US Embassy for removing that particular question from DS-160, else I would never have been allowed an admission to the USA. ☺
Below picture is one of my most favourite from my shots of Ellis Island, caption will say you why

A modern day immigrant looking at the land of opportunity from the
windows of Ellis Island

One can get a very good view of the skyline of manhattan from Ellis Island.

After exploring Ellis Island for almost 2-3 hours, we again board into the ferry and headed to our next destination, The Statue of Liberty.

Made in Paris by the French sculptor Bartholdi, in collaboration with Gustave Eiffel, this towering monument to liberty was a gift from France on the centenary of American independence. Inaugurated in 1886, the sculpture stands at the entrance to New York Harbour and has welcomed millions of immigrants to the United States ever since.
We had booked the Reserve with Pedestal Access which includes access to the pedestal of Statue and the Museum and was thankful to ourselves that we didn't opt for the crown access else we would have to climb stairs of 100ft or more
Stair to the Crown
The museum exhibits the engineering and history behind the Statue of Liberty, replicas of moulds and shapes which were used for building the statue.

Model of Statue of Liberty | This is how it actually looks
Mould of feet
Different shapes used for building statue of liberty
One of the former torch of Statue of Liberty
We spend some time in visiting the museum and enjoying the view from the pedestal level. Then again boarded the ferry to come back to Liberty Park.
As per most of the websites, it takes three hours to visit Ellis Island and Statue of Liberty. However, if you want to explore properly it takes much more than that. So, please your trip accordingly.
This was the end of our trip to the city of New York and we came back to Chicago same day evening.

Disclaimer : We went on this trip in July’ 2015. There are chances that price and timing have got changed. Please check with Travel Agencies and Hotel about current timing and rates. I have tried to provide as much as details are possible for the trip. For any further clarification, feel free to post comments on the blog or contact me @ dutshilpi@gmail.com.
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