But luckily, I was not among them.
Times Square, Saturday, 12:30 AM, as viewed from the 41st floor at the Marriott Marquis, taken after I walked back to the hotel, (which was only a few blocks away, thank goodness,) following an excellent media dinner hosted by American Honda. It was great fun to catch up with old friends and meet new moto-journalists. It was also only 4 degrees.
Times Square Photo by Chip East/Reuters.This is what it looked like later that same day. Wind and snow made travel difficult as many flights from the three New York airports were cancelled for a second day in a row. (We had already gotten out of the city by this time.)
My colleague and I had arrived in Manhattan Thursday evening and checked into the Marriott Marquis. The front desk clerk happened to be a recent transplant from Fullerton, Calif. and she upgraded me to a room on the 41st floor directly overlooking Times Square. For reasons that go well beyond common courtesy, I always make it a practice to be friendly with the hotel staff. It has often paid off in just such a way.
Following a breakfast meeting Friday morning with a publisher, we headed over to the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center to get our media credentials for the Cycle World International Motorcycle Show. In addition to connecting with industry contacts and other manufacturing representatives, we cruised up and down every aisle, checking out all the vendors and exciting new products.
Then we had to make a decision whether to leave early or risk (with absolute certainty) being snowbound for days. I can’t say I didn’t hesitate, despite the dire storm predictions.
Hmmm. Stranded in a nice hotel with a great view, unlimited dining options, maid service, high-speed Internet access, hours of uninterrupted time to catch up on work and writing projects, plus a TV remote all to myself. What’s not to like?
Tempting as it was, there was no avoiding the fact that I needed to be back in the office Monday morning, so I agreed, glumly, that we should change our flights from Sunday to Saturday.
Good thing.
Flurries started, as predicted, right around noon yesterday. After a thorough de-icing routine that reminded me of a drive-through car wash, our 1:00 PM flight made it out only a few minutes behind schedule.
Others weren’t so lucky. According to today’s New York Daily News, “At Kennedy Airport, a cargo plane slid off the powder-coated runway around 3:30 p.m., but no injuries were reported. By midafternoon, nearly all passenger flights had been canceled at Kennedy, LaGuardia, and Newark airports, and it was unknown when they would be able to reopen.”
The article also reported that “…the National Weather Service said 13.8 inches fell in Central Park, 17.5 in Brooklyn, 16.5 in Farmingdale, on Long Island, and 19.6 in West Babylon.”
My colleague had never been to New York so we had to make the most of what little time we had. And since going to see the new MOMA wasn’t at the top of his list (as it was mine), we braved the frigid wind to walk a couple of blocks from the Convention Center up to Pier 83 where the famous and decidedly touristy Circle Line boats are docked. My husband, who lived in New York City off and on for nearly three decades and had more than his fill of showing visitors around, had recommended the Circle Line as one of the best ways to see some of the City’s most well-known landmarks.
He was right.
Here are some of my shots:
The two-hour semi-circle Circle Line tour starts at Pier 83 just north of Jacob K. Javits Convention Center and winds around to the East side of Manhattan up to the Queensboro Bridge before turning back around.
No, this wasn’t taken from a National Graphic article on Antarctica, this was the Hudson as the Captain eased our boat onto the river.
When we set out, it was brilliantly clear and bitingly cold. (To say the least.)
That’s New Jersey on the left, and the George Washington bridge in the distance. And yes, lots of ice on the Hudson River.
The Empire State Building is stunningly omnipresent, and definitely worth the wait to go to the observation deck (which I did in December 2001.) It measures 1,453 feet, 8 9/16 inches tall to the top of the lightning rod. Now, of course, it’s the tallest building in New York.
There it is again, behind a dilapidated, abandoned Pier 64.
This one is for my Dad. I’m sure he’ll recognize what it is immediately, though I didn't – a driving range. At the Golf Club at Chelsea Piers, there are 52 heated and weather-protected hitting stalls on four levels, an automatic ball tee-up system, 200-yard, net-enclosed artificial turf fairway with distinct greens and hazards, two Full Swing Simulators, and the on-site Golf Academy. We couldn’t tell if anyone was out there on this particular day. It might have been the temperatures in the low teens and 35 mph winds that dissuaded them.
In 1913, the 60-story Woolworth Building, designed by American architect Cass Gilbert and visible here in the center of the image dwarfed by the surrounding structures, was the tallest in the world. If the Twin Towers were still standing, you wouldn’t be able to see it at all from this vantage point. The building to the left of the Woolworth Building, is, if I recall our guide’s comments correctly, the seventh tower of the World Trade Center, currently undergoing reconstruction.
Winter Garden, the glass structure in the foreground, is a huge space with a 120-ft high vaulted glass ceiling and sixteen 40 ft. tall palm trees, (yeah, so?) where free music, dance and theater productions are held regularly, and which was repaired amazingly quickly after the September 11th tragedy. A glass wall on the west side of the Winter Garden is said to be the best place to see Ground Zero.
With the winter afternoon sun glinting off highrise buildings, the view of the now uniform skyline, though still spectacular, just isn’t right, and never will be. The Twin Towers would have dominated this picture, reaching above the top of the frame, just about where the building with the crane is, roughly a third of the way over from the left.
At sunset and always, the Statue of Liberty offers a welcome and visceral reminder of our country’s strength, resilience, and commitment to freedom.
From the government website: Located on 12-acre Liberty Island in New York Harbor, the Statue of Liberty was a gift of international friendship from the people of France to the people of the United States and is one of the most universal symbols of political freedom and democracy. The Statue of Liberty was dedicated on October 28, 1886 and was designated a National Monument on October 15, 1924. The Statue was extensively restored in time for her spectacular centennial on July 4, 1986.
Sailing under the spectacular Brooklyn Bridge, there's that pesky ol' Empire State building again, lit up in plain white lights.
Heading up towards the Queensboro Bridge, in this photo, Manhattan is on the right, and the Manhattan Bridge is in front of the Brooklyn Bridge. The Statue of Liberty is barely visible to the right of the thicker tower of the Brooklyn Bridge.
This sparkly cityscape includes my favorite Manhattan landmark, the distinctly art deco Chrysler Building, designed by architect William Van Alen, built between 1928 and 1930. It also has one of New York’s less photographed structures, the steaming power plant on the right.
Goodnight, New York City.
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