THE LAND OF DREAMS: AMERICA – 1
New York Travel Notes - 1
THE LAND OF DREAMS: AMERICA – 1
Perhaps it is the first of the most important metropolitans in the World, the hope to work and live for many people, American dream, the land of freedom and opportunities, the brain of the economy with the Wall Street, the heart of fashion and shopping with Fifth Avenue. In addition, it is the city of rush, competition and innovation. Also known as “Big Apple”. The main base of the media. The apple of art and many other fields. A cosmopolitan city that is home to people of all races and nationalities.
Its exact name is “New York City”, which is located in the state having the same name. New York City has 8.5 million population in the New York state with almost 20 million people. There is a 7-hour time difference with our country.
Before seeing New York, we start the day with a breakfast as usual in our country; however, the breakfast is very limited contrary to ours. They eat “bagel” at breakfast. Bagel is a kind of pastry with cream cheese. We take a “city tour” called “Hop on hop off” next to Times Square where we bought our bagels and eat them on the bus during the tour since we don’t want to spend our time, which is usual in American culture. This kind of trip is very beneficial to determine where to go since it presents a general view of the city. Food like “falafel” is very common in New York. There are also fast food sold through “food cart” (Sabrett is one of the common brands we saw) on the streets. We should state that many places in New York are designed according to fast food culture. In other words, they direct you to “take away”.
On the way, we see News Corporation, the building of Fox. We pass through 6th Avenue. Here is “Midtown Manhattan”, one of five districts of New York. By the way, New York is formed by 5 districts. These are called “borough” as well. These 5 boroughs are Queens, Brooklyn, Bronx, Staten Island and Manhattan. Manhattan is formed by 3 parts as Downtown, Midtown and Uptown.
With its skyscrapers, “Midtown Manhattan” is the flashiest area of New York. Of course, the term of “flashy” is relative. Skyscrapers symbolize magnificence and power in a positive sense for some; however, it is the architectural representation of the hegemony of masculine power in a negative sense for the others. Although we feel sympathy to New York for being the scene of classic movies, we wouldn’t place it at the top of places to go as many people do. However, it is impossible not to be impressed by its dynamism, energy and rhythm. There are some places you feel like you saw it before even if you have never seen. We are so familiar with New York from movies and media that we feel as if we lived here for a while. You need to have a high energy in order not to feel very small among these huge buildings.
Later, we pass through 8th Avenue. We continue on our way among the skyscrapers. We go through the famous “Empire State Building”. Once it had the title of the tallest building in the World. Now it is said that the number of floors will be increased in order to get this title again. Empire State Building in “Art deco” style is one of the symbols of New York. It was built in 1931. It has 102 floors, 1576 stairs and stands a total of 443.2 meter tall. It has been the scene of many Hollywood movies such as King Kong and An Affair to Remember. By the way, as classic movie fans we should mention that Cary Grant and Deborah Kerr fell in love at the Empire State Building in the movie of ‘An Affair to Remember’ shot in 1957.
Next, we see the famous Broadway. If you would like to go to a Broadway musical, you can buy the tickets from the box office at “Times Square”.
In the meantime, we go to New York City University (CUNY) on the 5th Avenue to see Professor David Harvey, famous with his theoretical studies on city and site. Unfortunately, we cannot see him. We continue on our way from the corner of 38th Street. We tour on the famous Fifth Avenue and visit many stores. Surprisingly, contrary to our assumption based on what was said about the city, we find the prices here reasonable. We visit “New York Public Library”, also located on the Fifth Avenue. Inside of the Public Library is like a touristic museum and its architecture is magnificent.
In the meantime, the “Chrysler Building” with a nail-like top stands in front of us in all its glory.
We go to “Rockefeller Building” in the late afternoon. Before seeing the top, we look for famous Magnolia Bakery. It is located in the corner of Rockefeller Center on the side of the 6th Avenue. Again, there is no table here and people are eating on foot. We enter Rockefeller Center after buying the famous magnolia and eat it there with pleasure.
We should also note that the famous “NBC Studios” are at Rockefeller. We go up the top of Rockefeller and take a famous photo on “Top of the Rock”.
Pay attention to the elevator while going to the 67th floor because there is an attractive, illuminated demonstration. And, on the top, you see whole New York with a 360-degree view.
After leaving Rockefeller, we are walking towards “Times Square”, one of the most famous squares in the World and where our hotel is located. It is a magnificent square with a flood of people and neon lights and also it is the heart of New York. It has been the scene of many movies such as Spider-Man, Superman, King Kong, Kramer vs. Kramer, and Vanilla Sky. New York, inspiring Frank Sinatra's song "New York, New York", is a 24 hour city and Times Square is considered its heart.
