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Brooklyn Bridge & Empire State
Forecast was for a hot and sunny day – walking legs were needed today. We headed first to Grand Central Station then caught the Subway down to Broadway Green and saw the Charging Bull then headed up Broadway until we hit Wall Street. The Federal Hall (with Statue of George Washington) and the NYSE.
We walked down Wall Street past The Trump Buildings until we hit South Street and headed down here towards The Brooklyn Bridge. First off you past South Street Seaport – a small collection of old sailing ships. We doubled back into the city to access the Brooklyn Bridge as the walk starts near City Hall, no access on the shore.
The walkway across Brooklyn Bridge was very narrow to start with and shared by cyclists and pedestrians alike. It was busy but after the first tower, the crowds thinned out – probably as most weren’t planning to walk all the way across the bridge. The structure was very impressive – when built it was the largest suspension bridge in the world.
There were some great views of Manhattan from the bridge, but probably the most interesting sight was when we past the second tower. Jon and Callum missed him initially, but there was a guy walking up one of the cables towards the tower. No harness, just walking up the pipe and holding the two cables either side. Given that there had been two security breaches of late with the US flags being replaced with white flags and a Palestinian flag being draped from the bridge, we were a little surprised there was no obvious security.
He made it to the top safely (thankfully) and as we were leaving the bridge, the NYPD turned up and were telling everyone to get off the bridge and no-one allowed up. As we walked around to pier by the bridge, we could hear the police helicopter had been called into action. As we reached the pier, there were also 3 NYPD boats under the bridge and 3 officers were walking up the cable to retrieve the guy.
A beer and ice-cream were needed after all the excitement. The Brooklyn Ice Cream Company were on hand to supply Callum with a Strawberrry Ice Cream, meanwhile Jon sampled the local beer.
With the NY Pass, we could use the Water Taxi – so decided instead of getting the subway back, we would travel on the water. The Water Taxi left Brooklyn and headed out towards the Statue of Liberty for a photo stop. Then the taxi headed at full speed for pier 79 which is near Intrepid. Another cruise ship was in port – the NCL Norwegian Breakaway and this ship was larger than the one in port the day before.
From Pier 79 the taxi headed to Christopher Street then Battery Park. At Battery Park we booked tickets to sail on the Clipper Ship on Monday afternoon. This afternoon’s clipper ship had just set off and in the distance, the Cruise Ship was heading off for it’s next port of call.
Eagle-eyed Callum had also spotted a pretzel stand – this was one of the things he wanted to eat whilst in New York, and it didn’t take him long to demolish.
South Ferry Subway took us straight back to 34th Street and a 5 minute walk back to our hotel. A beer in the hotel lobby before heading up to the room to sort ourselves out before heading out to grab a bite to eat.
We headed to the Heartland Brewery for dinner this evening. No tables upstairs at street level, so were sent down to the cellar. A huge cavern opened up – a large bar area and loads of tables. We ordered drinks and these appeared very quickly … we knew we were going to be in and out within 30 minutes when the starter arrived two minutes after ordering!! Nachos with salsa, chill, guacamole and sour cream.
Callum was bemused by the different coloured nachos – although it arrived quickly, it was very tasty. No sooner than we’d taken the last bite of the nachos, our mains appeared. I’d gone for the burger with salad, Jon the chicken burger/sandwich and Callum two mini burgers. Again, it was all really tasty and good value for money, especially with the 15% discount with the Pass. Would have been nicer if we hadn’t felt so rushed though.
Right above the Heartland Brewery, the Empire State Building Towers above us. We’d left going up the top until it was dark. As we’d been up the Top of the Rock during the day, we would see a different NY with the city all lit up. The queues weren’t so bad (or so you thought) but it was queue after queue … queue for security, queue to buy tickets, queue for the photo, queue for the queue for the lift. In lift to 80th floor, then queue for the list to the 86th floor.
The view was stunning – totally clear and not a cloud or wisp of fog in sight. Freedom Tower to the south, Chrysler Building to the North East with its roof illuminated, The Rockefeller Center to the North.
You could just about make out the Statue of Liberty and the Brooklyn Bridge. It was packed at the top though and not much fun jostling for position and being pushed out the way quite rudely when someone wants the deck to themselves to have a photo without anyone else with them! Not much point when they leave the flash on though.
No queues to come back down thankfully as Callum was starting to wilt. With the hotel just around the corner, we were back in our room 5 minutes later. 5 minutes after that, Callum was fast asleep. We turned the news on, and discovered that the man who climbed the Brooklyn Bridge got a mention and thankfully did manage to make it down safely – and was arrested. He just wanted to take some photos!!
