Story and photos by Raoul Pascual
What to do when you find yourself in New York City on a long weekend? I’m not a newcomer of NYC and I’ve been to the usual – the Empire State building, the Statue of Liberty, the National September 11 memorial, Times Square, Broadway, Central Park and MOMA (Museum of Modern Art). I came here to visit family so any extra tourist site is just icing on the cake. But I did go around some, and I was pleasantly surprised.
I didn’t see any homeless people this time around. I did see a man jump over the subway turnstiles (while the guard did nothing), a big bellied Hispanic begging for food, train acrobats twirling on the subway poles, a trio singing gospel music, a woman screaming “get out!” to her imaginary friend — you know, normal stuff for NYC. BTW, OMNY cards will replace the NYC Metro cards by the end of 2025.
High Line
The first place I went to was High Line — one of the latest attractions of the city. I read about it here in TravelingBoy and wanted to see it for myself. The residents converted this run down rusty eyesore of a cargo train track into a delightful walkway full of vegetation and artwork. Take the Subway to 14th street. There were a couple of musicians, and food vendors selling their wares. Being an artist, I asked a guide if it would be alright to set up a caricature booth. And he said I probably could. No permit needed. He believes the city isn’t very strict about this and as long as my booth doesn’t block traffic, I should go for it. And if the police butt in, the worst they would do is give me a citation. Sounds very New York, doesn’t it?
The Met
Then I went to the Met (The Metropolitan Museum as opposed to the MET baseball stadium). Entrance is free for little kids but for older folk, the price ranges from $15 to $30. For senior citizens it’s $22. Of course, if you’re a New York tax paying resident, you get a good discount. But don’t try fooling the ticket master by pretending you’re a resident — they’re smarter than you think and they need proof of ID. Here’s a bit of a warning: the subway stations aren’t close by so be prepared to walk. Coming from Uptown, I had to cross Central Park for about an hour to get there. Getting there was tough enough but going back was a killer. I came “home” exhausted.
Children’s Museum
If you have kids, I recommend the Children’s Museum of Manhattan. There are 5 main attractions. Our first stop was a water playground. Kids are given waterproof aprons so they could splash around to their heart’s content. There are murals that explain the distribution and filtration system in New York. No wonder tap water coming from upstate New York tastes so much better here than in California.
The museum tickles the young imagination to be a fireman, a truck driver, a painter, a musician, a sand architect and a naughty naughty kid. New friends run after each other and scream in delight. I can imagine this must be an everyday experience for some worn out Moms (some of whom I caught sleeping on duty). Indeed, bring your child here for both fun and discovery. Those high energy spark plugs will sleep like a log when you get home.
Museum of Natural History
Not too far away is the Museum of Natural History. It’s the same deal here — NYC residents get a break at the entrance. And what could be more natural than colossal dinosaur bones? The biggest of them all is the 122-foot-long Titanosaur whose head jots out the entrance because it couldn’t fit inside the display room. I found myself humming “dem bones dem bones” because of the sea of fossils — big and small. If not for the great flood these overgrown lizards would probably still be roaming among us. Pretty sure there’d be enough to live and dine here in overweight America. I didn’t have time to check out the insects, the mammals, the sea creatures, etc. My legs were already killing me.
Chinatown
If you’re into bargains (especially the fake branded bargains), NYC Chinatown is notorious for that. I saw Police cars parked across the street from the illegal vendors but there were no arrests. Most of the shady street vendors seem to come from either Africa or China. The athletic lanky African sales people displayed their “genuine” fake handbags, wallets and watches on top of blankets. Why? When the police come, it’s easy to swoop all their goods in a matter of seconds and run away. The matronly Chinese sales women wearing protective hats and long sleeves (in the middle of the heat) are more sophisticated. They carry iPads and catalogues in plastic folders that they dangle in front of passersby.
Fort Tryon
The last day we found ourselves gazing at the Hudson River at the 67 acre Fort Tryon Park (just one of the many beautiful havens amidst the urban landscape). It’s part of the Met Cloisters. Teams of able-bodied basketball players ran around showing off their moves at the elaborate park that met us as we emerged from the subway. We spent most of our time at the kids’ playground. After they tired themselves out, we decided to promenade around the peaceful garden – an unplanned yet poignant ending to our NYC visit. A stark contrast from the loud young banter of little kids to the austere underrated garden. The decades-old trees acted as canopies shielding us from the sun. People were in the “zone” and soaking in the atmosphere sitting in “private” benches along the pathway. Birds fluttered and bees buzzed around the flowers. Hey, did I just hear “The Rite of Spring” in the background?
A sign said this was a hard fought territory during the American Revolution. The British conquered and named it after governor William Tryon. As we headed for the subway to get home, I imagined the soldiers who died in this battlefield. Fort Tryon was an ancillary site of the bigger Fort Washington. The battle involved 2,900 American soldiers vs 8,900 Hessian troops hired by the British. The bloodbath of 1776 is quite a contrast to the serenity of today.
New York, with its rich history and all its various activities, lives up to its name as a city that never sleeps. If you’ve never been, you should definitely go. We are the beneficiaries of the sacrifices of our heroes. I hope we can preserve it for future generations.
