Hostel International at 891 Amsterdam Avenue (Photo by MattFrancis via Flickr.com)
Day 1 - 07/01/08 (10:40pm) - 07/02/08 (4:00pm)
So I arrived in New York City on July 1st around 10:45pm, on schedule. I walked out of the Port Authority terminal into a full-on steam bath. Temps around 75* and extremely high humidity. Beautiful weather for night walking.
I grabbed my bags and headed straight north, to the Hostel International (891 Amsterdam Avenue on West 103rd Street) located on the beautiful Upper West Side. When I arrived, as I had feared, I was told there were no rooms available for the evening, but rooms were available for the next few nights. So I booked in for 07/02 and 07/03, put my bags in a storage locker, and hit the streets...all fired up to finally be in the city and ready to walk!
I walked back south on Central Park West, continuing on down 8th Avenue to around 57th street, where I stopped in at The Bread Factory Cafe (935 8th Avenue), an excellent full-service deli, open 24hours, and had a great bowl of Chicken Chili. I continued walking down 8th, through the Times Square area, then west, over to the Hudson, to continue south along the river. Saw a VERY bad car -vs- motorcycle accident at around 2:00am, on West Street near the Chelsea Piers. The guy shot out on his bike and smashed right into a car. I think he was hurt pretty badly...cops were there in short order, blocking traffic, trying to get all the details. For a motorcycle hitting a car...he caused some serious damage to the car as well as himself. I hate to sound harsh, but another idiot on his crotch-rocket bites the dust. If he had been riding like a NORMAL person it never would have happened.
I continued walking south, around the tip of Manhattan, then North, along the FDR near the Brooklyn Bridge. The temporary 'Waterfalls' exhibit was turned off for the evening as it was nearing 4:00am by the time I arrived by the bridge. I sat and read the new Village Voice and watched the sunrise over the East River...beautiful, just beautiful. I thought several times as I sat there how happy I was to finally be in the City again...
As the morning sun began to come on strong, I was off, walking again. No clear destination in mind, just killing time untill I could check in to the Hostel at 4:00pm. I walked a little West and North, until I found my way to Avenue A and walked north, along Tompkins Square Park. Early in the morning, the human-wreckage of the gutter-punk kids lie crashed out here and there among the East Village sidewalks. Around 6:30am, I came across one lively group of about 5 kids, playing guitar, singing, and arguing with an older gentleman about something. It seemed a friendly argument though. A few blocks later, I encountered a woman, who, despite the early hour, was yelling loudly at all who walked past her. I don't think she even knows what she was yelling about. She just seemed to be letting off some steam. But she did look troubled. I think she was in for a very long day...I could still hear her several blocks away as I continued up the street.
I picked up a copy of the free dialy "AMNY" and sat and read through it quickly (it's not very big) while I sat on a bench on East 23rd Street in front of Madison Squre Park. I decided to go check out the 'TODAY' TV-show at Rockafeller Plaza. I got there and found it to be quite lame, they were giving demonstrations on how to clean flood damage in your home, so I headed a few blocks over, and went to the FOX morning show instead. Outside the building, they had the original 'BATMOBLIE' from the Batman TV series parked out front. People were taking pictures with the car. I had left my camera in my bag back at the hostel, so I got no photos. I was also able to see into the broadcast studio, where I saw the lovely Gretchen Carlson...a Minneapolis area transplant to the Big Apple. She Looks even better in person...
After a while, I was off again, walking, now back up to Central Park for some much needed rest. I arrived at the park around 10:30am. I had been in the city for nearly 12 hours now, and spent the majority of that time on the move. Feet were starting to hurt a little. I walked up to around 77th street west, and found a nice, grassy spot in the shade, read the NY POST, then managed to get about 2 hours of pretty good sleep, which took me up to around 1:30pm. I decided to grab a quick bite of food and head to the Hostel to wailt until 4:00 so I could check in...finally.
I decided that I would check in, shower, clean up a little, then get back out on the street, for some chow and some early evening city adventure.
To be continued...
So I arrived in New York City on July 1st around 10:45pm, on schedule. I walked out of the Port Authority terminal into a full-on steam bath. Temps around 75* and extremely high humidity. Beautiful weather for night walking.
I grabbed my bags and headed straight north, to the Hostel International (891 Amsterdam Avenue on West 103rd Street) located on the beautiful Upper West Side. When I arrived, as I had feared, I was told there were no rooms available for the evening, but rooms were available for the next few nights. So I booked in for 07/02 and 07/03, put my bags in a storage locker, and hit the streets...all fired up to finally be in the city and ready to walk!
I walked back south on Central Park West, continuing on down 8th Avenue to around 57th street, where I stopped in at The Bread Factory Cafe (935 8th Avenue), an excellent full-service deli, open 24hours, and had a great bowl of Chicken Chili. I continued walking down 8th, through the Times Square area, then west, over to the Hudson, to continue south along the river. Saw a VERY bad car -vs- motorcycle accident at around 2:00am, on West Street near the Chelsea Piers. The guy shot out on his bike and smashed right into a car. I think he was hurt pretty badly...cops were there in short order, blocking traffic, trying to get all the details. For a motorcycle hitting a car...he caused some serious damage to the car as well as himself. I hate to sound harsh, but another idiot on his crotch-rocket bites the dust. If he had been riding like a NORMAL person it never would have happened.
I continued walking south, around the tip of Manhattan, then North, along the FDR near the Brooklyn Bridge. The temporary 'Waterfalls' exhibit was turned off for the evening as it was nearing 4:00am by the time I arrived by the bridge. I sat and read the new Village Voice and watched the sunrise over the East River...beautiful, just beautiful. I thought several times as I sat there how happy I was to finally be in the City again...
As the morning sun began to come on strong, I was off, walking again. No clear destination in mind, just killing time untill I could check in to the Hostel at 4:00pm. I walked a little West and North, until I found my way to Avenue A and walked north, along Tompkins Square Park. Early in the morning, the human-wreckage of the gutter-punk kids lie crashed out here and there among the East Village sidewalks. Around 6:30am, I came across one lively group of about 5 kids, playing guitar, singing, and arguing with an older gentleman about something. It seemed a friendly argument though. A few blocks later, I encountered a woman, who, despite the early hour, was yelling loudly at all who walked past her. I don't think she even knows what she was yelling about. She just seemed to be letting off some steam. But she did look troubled. I think she was in for a very long day...I could still hear her several blocks away as I continued up the street.
I picked up a copy of the free dialy "AMNY" and sat and read through it quickly (it's not very big) while I sat on a bench on East 23rd Street in front of Madison Squre Park. I decided to go check out the 'TODAY' TV-show at Rockafeller Plaza. I got there and found it to be quite lame, they were giving demonstrations on how to clean flood damage in your home, so I headed a few blocks over, and went to the FOX morning show instead. Outside the building, they had the original 'BATMOBLIE' from the Batman TV series parked out front. People were taking pictures with the car. I had left my camera in my bag back at the hostel, so I got no photos. I was also able to see into the broadcast studio, where I saw the lovely Gretchen Carlson...a Minneapolis area transplant to the Big Apple. She Looks even better in person...
After a while, I was off again, walking, now back up to Central Park for some much needed rest. I arrived at the park around 10:30am. I had been in the city for nearly 12 hours now, and spent the majority of that time on the move. Feet were starting to hurt a little. I walked up to around 77th street west, and found a nice, grassy spot in the shade, read the NY POST, then managed to get about 2 hours of pretty good sleep, which took me up to around 1:30pm. I decided to grab a quick bite of food and head to the Hostel to wailt until 4:00 so I could check in...finally.
I decided that I would check in, shower, clean up a little, then get back out on the street, for some chow and some early evening city adventure.
To be continued...
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