USA 1996 - New York
First stepsSunday, 02. June 1996 |
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| The early sunday morning is a wonderful time for a walk
through mid Manhattan when traffic is still low but the sun got high enough
for her rays to touch the ground between the artificial canyons of the
city. Start at Madison Square Park where Broadway crosses the Fifth Avenue and 23rd Street. The park is surrounded by some smaller skyscrapers like the Metropolitan Life Building. This building was build in 1893 and since the tower was added in 1909 it was the highest building of the world for two years. Due to the tower and its clock it looks like a large postmodern church. The Flatiron building is also located at Madison Square Park. The Flatiron Building has been New Yorks first real skyscaper build in 1902 by D.H. Burnham. It has 20 floors and is 76 meters high. Because of the diagonal way of Broadway a triangular building had to be formed. Walking north on Fifth Avenue we pass the Cafe 212 which is just another ordinary cafe and therefore a perfect place for a New York breakfast. It is joined by a mixture of tourists and more or less typical New Yorkers and it offers a wide range of sandwiches and omlettes served on paper trays. To place your order you should rather speak spanish than english. Leaving the Cafe 212 again the streets become slowly more crowded but compared to the weekday traffic almost deserted. Just a few steps further north you find the Empire State Building which is called to be the world most famous building. But you have to watch up to notice it because on ground level it looks just like another ordinary building and it is likely that you pass it. The unlikely small lobby os a work of art initself. The marble came from Italy, France, Belgium and Germany. Experts combed these countries to get the most beautiful marble, and in one case, removed the contents of an entire quarry to ensure the right colour and graining. The building is a vertical city for itself. 60000 tonns of steel, 100 km waterpipes and 5630 km phone cables had been used to build the 381 meters (448,7 m with the antenna) and 102 floor high building. On your way to the lift don't miss a look at the office board. The observation deck on the 102nd floor gives us a breathtaking view all over Manhattan. |
| Leaving the Empire State Building walk east
towards one of the worlds most famous shops Macy's. It's your choice wheather
you like to shop or not. At Macy's turn right and follow the Broadway
north towards Times Square which is always crowded with people
and vehicles. Until 1904 this large crossing had been called Longcare Square and was a place for carriers, saddleries and horse stables. When the New York Times opened her new building quickly the new name became common. With the opening of Metropolitan Opera in 1983 and the foundation of the Olympic Theatre only two years later the square became the centre of amusement. Today the glamour has faded and most of the old theatres were destructed. Todays popularity of Times Square is due to countless impressing lighted advertising posters which give Times Square a special athmosphere at night. There is a little Pizza Hut place at 1627 consisting of three lonely tables in a shabby surrounding and a sign on the wall that says that all customers are asked to leave the table after 20 minutes latest. The lazy stuff behind the cashier makes ist hard to come into a nice mood even for fast food fanatics. Comforting only the sign next to the sink behind thecounter telling the workers to wash their hands after each break. Take your food and have it on the way back toward 5th Avenue and the Rockefeller Center. There is nothing spectacular in between anyway. There is no way of taking a picture of the whole Rockefeller Center because it is too large. After visiting the Rockefeller Center the next station is just on the other side of the 5th Avenue. Once high above the roots of Manhattan the St. Patricks Cathedral is now surrounded by skyscrapers making the 110 m high building looking like a little dwarf. However it is still one of the grandest Cathedrals in the world. Don't miss going inside to watch the marvellous stained glass windows. If you still are able to walk you can finish the day with a quick walk through Central Park. Of course you can also have a coach ride. A very touristic thing to do but who cares. Central Park covers approx. 5% of Manhattan. It is 4 km long and 500 m wide. There are 50 km of walkways (enough for a whole day) in the park which was founded 1859 to 1870. 10 Million wagon loads of earth had been carried to create this spot of nature within concrete. When founded the park was at the northern edge of the city but today the whole park is surrounded by the city with Harlem at its upper rim. Our walk continues tomorrow in South Manhattan. |
 Times Square  Rockefeller Center  St. Patricks Cathedral  Central Park |
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Kiriazis
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