If nothing is done
nothing happens.
Things dont just appear out of nowhere. If you can see it, feel it, touch it or experience it
then either someone or something has done some type of work to make it so. Even a forest requires work. Granted its the plants and trees themselves that are performing the labor required to convert water, carbon dioxide and various minerals into the xylem and phloem needed to build these verdant cathedrals, but the work is getting done. And only after that work is completed can one lean back and appreciate the results. If youre very lucky, you may even have done enough of your own work to allow yourself to buy the time and resources it takes to lean back and appreciate the results of other folks work.
We were very lucky.
Were we not, we wouldnt even have been along on this expedition in the first place. But since we are here (and we are lucky), we were going to spend the rest of the morning enjoying the results of other folks labors. Specifically the labor it took to create the forest (both natural and synthetic) that is the city of New York.
Given that lead in, I figure that yall are expecting monumental things. Well, now I have to confess that what Im up to here is really just a bus ri
errr
excuse me
coach ride through the borough of Manhattan. That doesnt mean that we wont be seeing some great things, but Im attempting to make a common jaunt on a tour bus sound as interesting as possible here. In truth, a bus tour is a good way to get oriented to a new place and identify which offerings you might want to come back to and explore in greater detail. Given our fairly limited schedule, however, much of what we were about to see would only be seen (by us anyway) thought the windows of our diesel conveyance while making our way to the southern tip of the island.
Que sera, sera
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The Upper West Side
After completing the trek from the Bethesda Terrace back up to 72nd street, we found ol reliable Bus-4 waiting on us.
Once everyone was settled, we headed south for a moment and then just passed the Ghostbusters building, a quick right onto 66th plunged us into the part of the city known as the Upper West Side. This is pretty much everything between the Hudson River and Central Park. The first thing we encountered was this small square at the corner of 66th and Broadway.
Theres really nothing all that amazing here, but it does illustrates something Ive encountered about NY. You wont see anything there that youve never seen before
but you will see a whole lot of it. Farmers Markets are common but you just dont think of them in places like NYC. Nor do you think that youll encounter them in nearly every square or about every ten or twenty blocks, but you do. There are bunches of em scattered all over the place.
This one is open a few days a week on a spot that is named for Richard Tucker, a prolific American operatic tenor. Theres even a bust of the vocalist in question in the middle of the square. That unnecessary factoid about someone youve likely never heard of illustrates another facet of this neighborhood. While it is primarily residential and defiantly upscale, perception wise, its also considered to be the spot where youll find the citys cultural and artistic workers (as opposed to the Upper East Side which is traditionally considered to be home for the more business oriented). This was not always the case. At one point the area was fairly rough and even served as a backdrop for the filming of West Side Story (thus the name of the tale). So what happened to kick off a renaissance? Well, there were several precursors, but the main culprit (or hero in this instance) was this little bit of urban renewal right here
The centerpiece of the "Lincoln Square Renewal Project" in the 1950s and 1960s
Lincoln Center replaced what was once seventeen blocks of ethnic tenement neighborhoods with a world-renowned performing arts complex. Lincoln Center really isnt one thing. There are numerous individual venues ranging from the Metropolitan Opera House to variously sized dance and symphony halls, theaters and rehearsal studios and even an outdoor amphitheater. Groups and organizations that call the center home include the Juilliard School, the New York City Ballet and the New York Philharmonic orchestra. Now I suspect that the 7,000 families who lost their homes through imminent domain were not near as impressed with all this as the rest of the populous, but nearly all advancement has its share of losers (its usually the same class of folks that end up being the losers, but thats a discussion for a different time and place).
From here the coach headed on down the upper section of Broadway until we reached the southwest corner of the neighborhood at Columbus circle.
Actually
that globe is not in the center of the circle, but from my side of the bus, its really all I could see at the time so this picture is useful in illustrating a unique downside of a bus tour; that being that the vehicle itself will at times prevent you from seeing whats going on. But the Internet is here to help
Theres the monument to the first European to encounter the isles of the Caribbean (but didnt actually find North America). You can see the same globe that I saw there in the background dressing up the area in front of the Trump Tower. Interestingly, I know that Bus-3 stopped in this exact part of town for their walking tour. I know this because I asked Max were they started out and he said: Trump Tower. So I asked him: what did you see, whad ya think
**while shrugging shoulders**
Its pretty much just a big building.
Not one world about Columbus, the circle, the USS Maine national monument, the Time Warner Center, or anything else that Im sure their guide imparted on them.
Teens
Well before we leave this part of the city, let me list off a few other things that can be found in the West Side
American Folk Art Museum
American Museum of Natural History
and the Hayden Planetarium
Children's Museum of Manhattan
New-York Historical Society
Museum of Biblical Art
Youll also encounter such business concerns and organizations as: the American Broadcasting Company (ABC to you and me), the American Bible Society, Time Warners design headquarters, both ASCAP and BMI, and even the headquarters for The College Board (thats the folks that run the SAT testing that will make or break your youngens collage aspirations).
Any questions? Yes
you over there in the back, what was that again? Ghostbusters
was I planning to move on without even explaining that reference? Silly me. Yah, back there at the beginning of this section I mentioned the Ghostbusters Building. That would be this one
55 Central Park West (back at 66th St.) was used to depict the site where the Dana Barrette character resided and where the final confrontation between the erstwhile professors-come-parapsychologists and the powerful demigod: Gozer would take place. The chosen form of The Destructor (that of a giant Stay Puft Marshmallow Man) can be seen walking from Columbus Circle up CPW toward the building (if your watching carefully). The building is enhanced and depicted as being much taller, but its the same structure, and since the films release
the locals have all considered this venerable collection of apartments to be simply: The Ghostbusters Building.
OK
the light just turned green so its time to move on to the next part of the tour.
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Midtown
The swath of the island stretching from Central Park down to 42nd Street is generally considered to be Midtown Manhattan. Actually there is a Midtown East and a Midtown West with 5th Avenue forming the dividing line. This apparently arbitrary boundary really isnt random. City planners created it. All buildings between that thoroughfare and the East River contain East in their addresses designations (like: 89 East 42nd Street, AKA: Grand Central Terminal), while those to between Fifth and the Hudson contain the prominent West identifier (EG: 11 West 53rd Street: The Museum of Modern Art).
For our purposes, the tour starts here
at the Grand Army Plaza; corner of Central Park South (also known as 59th street) and Fifth Avenue. Again, the site Im trying to see is on the wrong side of the bus, but what you have there is a statue of Civil War general William Tecumseh Sherman on horseback with "Victory" in front and pointing the way forward. This kinda explains why its called the Grand Army Plaza; the name is taken from the victorious Grand Army of the Potomac (well
this is New York
they are Yankees
what did we expect). Had I been looking out my own window, Id have seen this
(Thank you Internet)
The Pulitzer memorial fountain with its bronze statue of the Roman goddess of fruitful abundance: Pomona. This is also where youll find the famed Plaza Hotel (and yes
it is named from the Grand Army Plaza that it overlooks).
From here we traveled south along Fifth Avenue. There is much here and most of it is some relatively famous retail establishments (and most of that was on the other side of the bus from me). I did see this edifice as we got caught by one of the lights
St Thomas Episcopal Church.
Like any major church in Manhattan, there is plenty of history and significance to this structure, but thats not why Im including it here. Actually I just like the picture. Yah
the color and light is off a bit (it was still overcast and threatening rain). The angle being taken back over my shoulder and through a bus window is a might whoppy-jawed as well. Granted, but I like the details in the façade, the shadows around the doorway and the brilliant splash of color that the US Flag fluttering in the stiff breeze presents as it defies the gray and tan surrounding it. Simply put
I like it, so youre stuck with it.
Moving on
At the corner of 49th, our driver made a nimble right (well, nimble for a bus anyway), and drove us back through the middle of the same Rockefeller Plaza that wed explored the day before.
When we got to the ice rink, it was immediately obvious that all the state flags had been replaced by simple gold and silver banners (which changed the look of the place greatly
even amidst the gloom of this rainy week). The Christmas tree was still entombed by scaffolding, but they were just about to begin the process of freeing the giant for the official lighting that evening. We still wouldnt be seeing it, but it was going to be happening.
A little bit farther along I caught this image
I cant tell you for certain which building this was in front of (although I guarantee I can figure it out if you really want to know), but I liked the scene. Were it actually a bit darker, all the lights in the trees would have been particularly stunning, but either way, they played off right well with the pyramid of oversized ornaments that had taken up residence in the midst of the fountain.
Up at the next stop light along we were presented with this ordinary but rather well known visual representation of NYC
Not the food-cart (theyre common the world over)
I mean that chimney looking thingy. Its hard to think of a movie that used the city as an overt background or even as a character in its own right, without also seeing steam escaping from either a manhole cover, a crack in the road or one of these plastic orange and white chimneys. But what are they exactly?
ConEd (thats Consolidated Edison Power and Electric Co.) uses steam to produce power and also to supply heat to a good bit of the city. They started doing this in the 1880s specifically in the financial district, but when a severe blizzard nearly shut down the city a few years later, the public became more accepting of the service and it expanded northward (as far as 96th St.). There are now more than 100 miles of mains and service pipes that make up the ConEd steam system. When one of these pipes breaks or requires maintenance or there is just too much pressure in the system, that excess energy has to go somewhere. The steam chimneys are placed over these vents and fractures to ensure that the resulting clouds of boiling hot water vapor are released high enough into the air to prevent pedestrians from being poached alive.
And now you know.
Time for a new direction. A sharp left and we headed south down 7th Avenue and into the middle of the area of midtown known as Times Square. The oddest thing I saw here was this vignette
Yes its blurry (we were on the move at the time), but your eyes are not deceiving you. Now I do not know why Mickey Mouse was dressed up at St Nick and greeting people outside of M&M World at Seventh & 48th. But there he was. The odder thing though is that there is such a thing as M&M World in the first place and that it takes up a space the size of a department store in one of the most expensive real estate markets in the actual world.
Another block or two down the way and we were in the center of Times Square proper.
Physically
this is where Broadway crosses Seventh Avenue
(and heart of the Theater District)
Culturally
this is the symbol of commerce and commercialism in the US
(and the epicenter of televised New Years Eve celebrations)
Spiritually
its another redemption story
(of sorts)
Previously known as Longacre Square (I could explain why, but it would quickly take on a life of its own and grow into a Frankenstein of a rambling bonus feature), the name changed in 1904 when the New York Times moved their news print operations into a new building in the area (specifically the spot where the famed Times Square Ball drop now occurs every New Year's Eve). This spot on the map grew quickly as the city spread north and at first was considered one of the most desirable locations in town. But as usual, where money resides, folks with a knack for taking it soon follow. During the Roaring Twenties the square was besieged by crime and corruption, in the form of gambling and prostitution. As the Depression settled like a heavy shroud on the land, the entire atmosphere changed and the area acquired a rep as a dangerous neighborhood. From the 1960s to the early 1990s the square was personified by a seedy mix of go-go bars, sex shops, and adult theaters. Times Square had become an infamous symbol of the city's decline.
So what happened to change this?
Well, in a way
Disney happened. First the city stepped up the policing of the area and took position of a number of older buildings and theaters. Then they invited tourist friendly business (like one we are very familiar with) to set up shop with incentives and tax deals. They even closed Broadway to traffic within the square to increase pedestrian traffic (and cut down on the vehicular mayhem). There are those that actually refer to the make over as Disneyfication (and Disney is certainly one of the major residents on the square these days), but none can deny that the area has been reclaimed for the better (even if they themselves wouldnt be caught dead mingling with the commoners and throngs of tourists occupying the place these days).
Apart from the sea of electrified billboards, the other most notable physical landmark is the TKTS booth and the Red Steps in Duffy Square
Wait a second
I thought you said this was Times Square!
I did, but the northern end (just before Broadway and 7th actually cross) is also named for Father Francis D. Duffy (who is depicted in the statue at the foot of the red stairs there). Duffy was the celebrated chaplain of New York's "Fighting 69th" Infantry Regiment during the Great War.
Now where was I? Oh yes, the TKTS booth. First conceived in the 1970s, it is run on behalf of the various theaters in the area and sells same day ticket to the major Broadway shows at greatly reduced prices. Additional blocks of tickets tend to be offered as curtain times approach and the theaters try to fill all the remaining seats. Choices can be limited but it supplies locals and tourists alike with the chance to see great entertainment that might otherwise be priced out of reach.
The Red Steps basically form a roof over the booth and are there to offer a place to rest and to get an elevated view of the entire square (which, lets be honest, is pretty much just a vast tourist attraction in its own right).
Were just about done with the Midtown area, and Im running into the image limit for posts as well, so I think Ill bring this section of the tour to a close and pick it back up again a few blocks down and in the next entry of this here pointless TR. In the mean time, Ill toss out a few more images of the current iteration of Times Square for yall to enjoy (or ignore
either way is fine by me). As a group, well be back here later on in the week so Ill tell you more about it then.
Father Duffy
George M. Cohan
(who also resides permanently in the square)
and a little reminder of Disneys uncanny ability to never be too far from our everyday lives.