The Intrepid was a United States Navy aircraft carrier which was built for World War II, and later served in Vietnam and was even used to recover spacecraft of the Mercury and Gemini programs. Today the mighty vessel is the centre attraction Intrepid Sea-Air-Space Museum in New York City. In the last weeks the museum has been given a $120 million refit and reopened after 2 years of work at Pier 86 on New York’s west side. The deck of the Intrepid is home to many significant aircraft which have served the Air Force and Navy over the last century including quiet a few fighter jets and even a supersonic bomber. The Intrepid was also home to one of dozen Concordes in the world. The Concorde is currently off site and in need of some repairs after damage and it is hoped that it will be on display at the museum soon.
You don’t get much for nothing in this world without a catch- well here’s one and the the catch is one of the best views in the world. The ferry carries some 20 million people a year between Staten Island and lower Manhattan, which is about 60,000 a day. The ride takes about 25 minutes and you get a very good look at the majestic Statue of Liberty and the amazing skyscrapers of New York City and New Jersey. Weekdays there are over 100 trips a day with a few less on weekends, avoid the peak hours for the journey. Bus and Train are easily available from both ferry terminals to explore more of either Manhattan or Staten Island. Read the rest of this entry »
The Papaya King is a landmark New York restaurant that dates back to 1932. Originally located on the corner of Third Avenue and 86th Street the restaurant has since expanded to several locations across the city. The restaurant is best known for its Hawaiian themed Papaya Drinks and hot dogs that according to the numourous signs around the walls are tastier than Fillet Mignon. They must be doing something right as the restaurant has also spawned other similar papaya drink restaurants across the city and has been featured on Anthony Bourdain’s TV show “No Reservations” as well as being mentioned in “Seinfeld”, “How I Met Your Mother” and was also used as a location in the film “You cant mess with the Zohan”. If you are heading to New York and want to sample some Papaya King goodness make sure you head to the origional Payaya King location on 86th Street as this one has a cool 50’s charm about it compared to the other locations. Read the rest of this entry »
Best known for its role in the 90’s TV comedy Seinfeld. Toms Restaurant is a diner located on the corner of Broadway and 112th Street in the Morningside Heights district of Manhattan. Itis popular with local students and tourists who flock to the restaurant to eat where the gang from Seinfeld ate each episode, so expect a wait for a table on busy days. In fact the interior shots where just a set and nothing like what the Tom’s is laid out like and in most episodes the image of the building is taken from its side (similar to the one we shot here) in order to hide the Tom’s name on the front of the building as in the series it was refered to as Monks Cafe. The restaurant was also the basis of the Suzzane Vega song “Toms Diner”. Read the rest of this entry »
The name Meatpacking District may spring thoughts of warehouses and sausages to you mind but the Meatpacking District in New York has left all the slaughtering behind as the suburb has become one of the latest fashionable places to be in Manhattan. The suburb is officially known as Gansevoort Market and was once home to around 250 slaughterhouses. Over the years these slaughterhouses have been dwindling down to only a handful and the streets that were once a popular spot for prostitutes druggies and trannys have since been filled with New York’s more fashionable people as the once empty warehouses and shops are being filled with restaurants and fashion boutiques. The video above was filmed for Mercedes Benz fashion week and gives you a good view of the area.
As if New York City didn’t need another spectacular tourist attraction, well they have done it again and this time bigger than ever. A special public art fund has commissioned a breathtaking exhibition of huge waterfalls around the New York waterways. Danish/Icelandic artist Olafur Eliasson has come up with the design which features four 90 - 120 ft high waterfalls. One is at Pier 35 in Manhattan, two at Piers 4 and 5 and the most spectacuar flowing out of the magnificent Brooklyn Bridge. The waterfalls are lit in the evenings after sunset and add a magical touch to the New York Skyline. Thousands’s have flocked to the ferries and other watecraft to get a close up look. The falls are on display until the 13th of October.
Well it’s the 4th of July so we are off to the United States of America today and we play tribute to the grand old lady of New York - the Statue of Liberty. Just about everyone is familiar with the statue so we thought we would feature some interesting trivia about America’s much loved monument. Did you know that she is probably America’s biggest lady with a waistline of 35 feet, she has a face 8 feet tall and from the tip of her torch to the ground is 305 feet. The seven huge rays on her crown measure in at 9 feet long and weigh up to 150 pounds each. The torch has been replaced several times and each time it has been in a different style, the current one was installed in 1986 and is covered in sheets of 24 k gold. You might think being such a huge statue the copper outer is thick, no it is actually only about 3/32 of an inch think which is less than the thickness of two pennies. After being closed for several years after the 2001 terrorist attacks the Statue of Liberty is now open for visitors, where people can once again walk onto the observation deck for spectacular views of New York City and the harbor. Read the rest of this entry »
Situated in the historic area of Manhattan where Fulton Street meets the East River you will find the South Street Seaport Museum. The seaport is a collection of beautifully restored 19th century commercial building, restored sailing ships and plenty of tourist malls with food, shopping and good night life and one of the best views of the majestic Brooklyn Bridge. One of the more popular vessels to visit is the Peking a Flying P Liner which was a sailing ship of the German F Laeising shipping company which originated in Hamburg. Built in 1911 the ship was made famous by Irving Johnston who filmed onboard the ship as it rounded Cape Horn back in 1929. The ship has been on display at South Street since 1975. Other interesting vessels include the Wavetree which is a 1885 fully rigged cargo ship and the W.O Decker a 1930’s tugboat which sometimes gives the public a chance to board it for strips around New York’s waterways. Read the rest of this entry »
The Library Hotel in New York is kind of a theme hotel based on the dewey decimal system where each of its 10 floors is catergorsied into one of the standard library catergories with each room devoted to a particular subject. An example is that the room one on the seventh floor would have an “architecture” theme while the second room would have a “paintings” theme as the seventh floor is part of “the arts” catergory. The book Lemony Snicket’s The Penultimate Peril had a hotel in it called the Hotel Denouement that was modeled after the Library Hotel. Interestingly the owners of the Dewey Decimal System trademark once sued the Library Hotel for trademark infringement, now the Library Hotel is allowed to use the system in its hotel and marketing in exchange for making a donation to a nonprofit organization promoting reading and literacy among children. Read the rest of this entry »
You might not recognize the name Toms Restaurant but I’m sure the picture looks familiar, does Monks Cafe bring back memories. Well Toms or Monks was the restaurant used in the hugely successful Seinfeld TV show of the 1990’s It is actually a real restaurant and can be found at 2880 Broadway in Manhattan, New York on the corner of 112 street. The outside street scape was used in the TV show but a studio was used for the inside shots. Now Seinfeld wasn’t the first time Tom’s Restaurant became famous, it featured in a Susan Vega song a few years earlier, and has since appeared in a novel and is often seen in some of the New York police dramas shot in the city. The restaurant has been ran by the Minasizoulis family since the 1950’s.
