New York, The Big Apple
Well it’s only fitting that I follow up my San Francisco post with another city that stole Frank Sinatra’s heart…and mine…New York, New York. (Mind you…many of my upcoming travel posts will house information not pertaining to the past year with COVID). These posts are meant to inspire you to travel when travel is safe again ☺
There are so many fun facts about New York that I could write a novel, but we only have a short-time together (so let’s pretend we’re speed dating!).
Did you know that New York City has 5 boroughs? The Bronx, Manhattan, Queens, Brooklyn & Staten Island. Manhattan alone is home to 1.6 million people! By 1830 New York was the largest city in the western hemisphere…population today ~8.5 million.
New York is an outdoor museum. Street artists can be found in suburbs everywhere.
Where do I start with the most popular places to visit? This song keeps playing in my head…
“In New York, concrete jungle where dreams are made of
There's nothing you can't do
Now you're in New York
These streets will make you feel brand new
Big lights will inspire you
Let's hear it for New York…” Alicia Keys, Empire State of Mind
The Empire State Building is one of the most recognizable buildings in the New York Skyline. It houses over 1,000 businesses…yes that was no typo…1,000…AND has its own zip code (10018). It has been the focus of many popular movies, namely “An Affair to Remember” and “Sleepless in Seattle”. (yes, I am a hopeless romantic!)
2. Time Square…where all the action is, where the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade is televised from and where the New Year doesn’t happen until that ball drops at Midnight. Time Square burns 160 Mega-watts of electricity! (Twice as much as every casino in Vegas combined)
3. Broadway known for its Theatres actually runs 33 whole miles, 18 of which aren’t even in NYC. Phantom of the Opera is the longest running show in Broadway history. It has been running for over 30 years, over 12,500 performances to over 18 million people. The box office revenues for Phantom are higher than any film or stage play in history, including Avatar, ET, Titanic and Star Wars. I have seen it myself 8 times, but sadly, never on Broadway. (I have seen Wicked on Broadway though!).
3. The Statue of Liberty…a symbol of freedom & hope. Originally conceived as an emblem of friendship between France and the US in 1886. The copper statue is 305 feet tall from base to the crown. The seven rays on Lady Liberty’s crown symbolize the seven continents and seven seas. (I know you’re thinking I must be really smart…but it’s been such a LONG time since grade school that I had to look this all up. Lol!)
I have family in New York so I’ve had the privilege to visit many times. Some of my favorite memories are visiting Niagara Falls, riding a carriage through Central Park (wishing I could burst out into song & dance with a Flash Mob or Giselle on Enchanted), seeing all of the amazing architecture (especially all of the cathedrals), eating pizza & hot pretzels on the corner & the crazy awesome Nintendo store in Rockefeller Center.
Whichever places you choose to visit, just know that you’ll have to go back many times to even come close to hitting the hundreds of things you’d want to see. That’s it for this time…it’s 3am and my Matcha finally wore off!
