Observatory Hell from the 86th Floor of Empire State Building

[wally_bert]

Looks like a really nice place.

[SamAdams76]

It was meant to come across somewhat tongue-in-cheek.

Also to serve as object lessons for others.

1) When in NYC, do not purchase tickets from street vendors
2) Expect massive crowds in NYC during Christmas week and avoid popular tourist destinations

I did mention at the end of the piece that our overall day in NYC was a success, from our earlier trip to Times Square to the dinner at the end of the day. So not intended to be a NYC-bashing story!

[miss marmelstein]

Oh. I see, truly. But it led to FReepers attacking our fair city yet again. They all think it’s a hellhole straight out of “Taxi Driver” when, in fact, it’s an OK place. Why, as somebody who works here, would you be surprised that Koreatown in Manhattan is shabby?

[EDINVA]

I remember riding the subway when you’d put a dime in the turnstyle, pre-tokens and waaaay pre cards.

[SamAdams76]

Well even if I wrote a total puff-piece about NYC, the same folks would come out of woodwork to attack the city (witness every single pro-Apple thread that Swordmaker puts up). They would still come here to state that they would never set foot in that city under any circumstances.

I don't think we are going to win them over either way.

But people still buy billions of dollars in Apple products and from the numbers of people I see in the city whenever I come in on the weekends, it is in no danger of losing its popularity as a premier destination for tourists.

[jaz.357]

Just imagine...

[miss marmelstein]

Fine. I still don’t understand why you wrote this. I can guarantee, unlike what other FReepers say, no magazine is going to buy your piece.

[jaz.357]

I lived 12 miles from midtown Manhattan on the Jersey side. It took 1 1/2 hours to commute. You can keep it!

[sportutegrl]

For popular attractions, get there when they open in the morning. The line has not had a chance to build up, yet. Actually, in some cases, you can/should plan on arriving 1/2 to 1 hour before it officially opens.This works really well for Disney World.

[onedoug]

Me too.

I wonder what NYC old timers call it.

[Rummyfan]

Top of the Rock gives just as great a viewing platform and is usually less crowded.

[SamAdams76]

Would have made a great cover for a Led Zeppelin album.

[onedoug]

Thanks for your service. Did you fly?

I was armored cav (1/1 Americal), but I sure spent a lot of time in helicopters. I recall once coming into Chu Lai (the old fart can’t stop himself). We were flying along and suddenly another UH-1 is alongside us at about 200 meters. Then there’s another on the other side of our ship. Then another. Now another. And yet even more, to where, looking out behind us through the open slide-hatch, there must have been at least 20-25 UH-1s lining up for landings at various tarmacs around the installation. Ours was Blueghost, where the mess hall was open all night!

An odd, yet adventuresome way from the field to our equivalent of a resort.

[Kirkwood]

You need to calm down.

[miss marmelstein]

I had no idea I was even upset...

[Gay State Conservative]

If you're in NYC you've gotta find time to do it at least once...even if it is overcrowded and overpriced.I did the WTC observatory twice...once the enclosed one (bad weather) and once the rooftop one.*That* was one of the most breathtaking experiences in my life...watching a helicopter fly by *below* you is indescribable.

I also did the observatory at the Burj Kalifa in Dubai...the tallest man made structure on earth.One hundred dollars....huge disappointment (all you see is desert).

[doorgunner69]

I flew on the CH-46 out of Quang Tri, way up north.

[Kirkwood]

You sound pretty stressed out.

[righttackle44]

I personally can’t understand why anyone would go to any city for tourism.

Well. You can go to the forests where bigfoot may want to rip your head from your shoulders. You can go to Yellowstone where the supervolcano might blow you back past wherever you came from. You can go to a national forest where you might disappear permanently. You could go to the Carlsbad Caverns where, it is alleged, cryptid monsters have dragged people away. You could go, if you can get past the bigfoots, to El Capitan at Yosemite and climb it, spending the night halfway up. How about a hike down the Appalachian Trail where anyone of a dozen different monsters and cryptids will snatch you away for their lunch? So a city, despite armed or dynamite-clad Muslims or similar others, is probably the same risk as anywhere else.

[SamAdams76]

I always wondered why they had to build skyscrapers in the middle of the desert. I can understand Manhattan, it's a small island and there's nowhere to go but up - as virtually every square inch of land is spoken for.

The view of Manhattan is pretty impressive from just about any vantage point. Now there are skylines developing across the rivers such as in Jersey City, Long Island City, Brooklyn, etc., along with the bridges that interconnect them.

One thing that was striking when I was atop the ESB the other day was the 432 Park Ave residential building that recently got topped off (still with cranes on it) and is now the tallest building in the Western Hemisphere (minus spires - which is a skyscraper way of cheating).

More such residential high-rise towers are on the way.