Nikilesh Kumar

The time I went to New York City in the peak of winter!

There might very well be an entire section of people who would think that jumping off to NYC during Christmas/New Years is a pretty crazy thing to do. What with all the classic winter storms, blizzards and below freezing weather. But hey, I was travelling down from Boston and I thought well, if I can survive Boston, then NYC would be a peace of cake :). Besides, I was really excited to see how NYC would look with all the Christmas and New Years decorations in peak. I had a bunch of really good friends residing in nearby New Jersey and their incessant demands that I turn up, also contributed to my decision to travel. Anyway, read on for my adventures and hopefully I do justice to my amateur photography with this blog.

First Stop : Times Square

So after a gruelling 5 hour journey on a really shabby Greyhound bus, I reached the Port Authority Bus Terminal in Midtown, Manhattan. This bus station IMO is a confusingly complicated maze with really poor placement of directions. But if you make it outside, you're right in the heart of Times Square. At this point, I need to credit Sripathi for taking some of these amazing photos and also being there at the station to pick me up! Thanks bro!

For the unaquainted, Times Square is every bit amazing as the images and movies depict it to be. Being present physically is like an assault on all the senses. The LED displays that cover your entire field of vision seem like they're all fighting to get your attention. Add to that the cacophany of sounds and smells coming from all directions. It really is an amazing feeling walking around in Times Square and I don't think my words do it any justice

It was two days before Christmas and hence, there were more tourists around and I think I spotted a choir group or two making their rounds. While I was walking around with Sripathi, taking in the sights and sound and listening to him explain all the landmarks he knew, I was also observing the people around me. I think I finally understood the idea of New York being a melting pot of cultures and people from different walks of life. There were street buskers, tour operators, tourist groups, push-cart vendors, police officers, kids snapping photos, shawarma stall operators and so much more. All of them, in their own way, trying to get a slice of the big apple and what it signifies about their dreams and aspirations.

My musings aside, my goal while being in NYC, was to go around and explore as much as possible in the limited time I had. One of the greatest contradictions/challenges I face on a regular basis is having a sweet tooth and being on a student budget. Times Square seeked to test my limits of endurance :P. From Godiva to Hershey's World to the M and M's Factory, every few meters I walked, I ended up finding something new. I had to exercise restraint in spending at these places. We somehow made it to Sripathi's place without excessive damage to my wallet

Madison Square Gardens and Central Park

We spent the next day exploring around some iconic place in Midtown. Being a basketball fan, I was really excited when I spotted Madison Square Gardens, home of the New York Knicks. Naturally, it called for a photo and I even dragged Sripathi into it. You can clearly see how interested he was in taking a selfie... Madison Square Gardens was impressive and the goal is to one-day watch a game there between the Knicks and Celtics :P. GO CELTICS!

Speaking of going around, I found the grid system in New York really amazing. The idea of streets being numbered bottom-up east to west and cut by avenues numbered left-to-right running south to north seems like such a logical and simple way to organize a city. And if you get a hang of it, there's no way you can get lost in the city. The subway lines also follow a similar logic but honestly, the network is desperately due for an overhaul. Coming from Singapore, I guess I am just used to a more cleaner and well maintained public transit system.

I'm gonna let the photo above do all the explaining for Central Park. It's just too beautiful. I would recommend visiting during sunrise or sunset for the best views. I went around trying to spot filming scenes from Home Alone including the iconic Central Park tunnel where the kid runs through.

Rockefeller Tree, NBC Studios Lane

After watching the sunset, we made our way from Central Park to the famed Rockefeller Tree and along the way we passed by the Radio City Music Hall, home of the famed Radio City Rockettes on NBC Lane. I also spotted Jimmy Fallon's Studio! And before you ask why we were just roaming around in the vicinity of Midtown, we were killing time waiting for a couple of friends to get off from work and join us. Didn't really want to wander off too far as the day was pretty tiring already.

TBH the Rockefeller Tree wasn't all that great after seeing all the other trees that were kept along the way. The tree sure was huge and the fact that it was a real spruce tree was probably the most impressive thing about it. I would have loved to skate at the ice-skating rink next to it but it was fully packed and wait time was like an hour.

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Washington Square Park, Flatiron, Empire State

The next day, it was Christmas Eve. After gorging on some authentic desi food in Journal Square, NJ, Sripathi decided he'll show us around NYU. We went and explored the Greenwich Village area. Incidentally, the F.R.I.E.N.D.S apartment is located right here! Some of the places we visited include Washington Square Park, the Flatiron Building (which I think was the inspiration for Gringotts in Harry Potter) and we even had a glimpse of the Empire State Building!

NYSE and WTC

I had an opportunity to walk down Wall Street. I might have imagined it entirely, but I could almost smell freshly minted cash :P. There really is a certain charm to all those white pillars and Greco-Roman inspired architecture. You could also get the vibes that this place was hallowed ground and has stood witness to countless important events over the centuries. I would have loved to take a peek inside the NYSE but unfortunately they were closed to tourists (I think it was Sunday when I went there).

I took a slight detour from Wall Street and decided to go visit the WTC Memorial and the new One World Trade Center. In my opinion, the memorial was really beautiful and a great place to reflect and introspect. To see something like this spring from a place of tragedy just goes to speak about the resilience of the human spirit. Where even in great sorrow, hope can still prevail and shine bright like a beacon.

I'll close this first blog post here. Hopefully, this is something I can maintain on a regular basis and come up with more content. Its been a long time since I've put a pen to the paper and written something that isn't going to be graded. Honestly, it felt good coming up with this post. Cheers! :)

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