NYC. Travel. USA. Unusual.
Seeing the Small Bites in the Big Apple
Even in the biggest places, Keep an eye out for the little things.
Okay, so two things I list here aren’t ‘little’, yet they usually get missed. And that’s natural. NYC is a big place. Lots of people, lots of hustle and bustle, and lots to see.
On our last day on the island, my partner and I were at a loss why we’d felt like we’d run out of things to do. How could this happen? This is the Big Apple. But we’d done all the usual things — looked at New York from atop the Empire, viewed it, and the lovely lady, from the Staten Island ferry, been in and around all the villages and districts.
What to do next? We wandered at random. Walk a couple of blocks until we found something quirky or unique, then change direction and jump on the subway for a couple of stops and find the next thing. We ended up spending most of our last day doing this, and I fell in love with New York all over again.
There are less than a dozen wooden buildings and houses remaining in Manhattan. Deemed fire hazards in a growing city, wood construction was outlawed on the island in 1866.
The Rose Hill House, pictured above and built in 1837, is the only wood-framed and weatherboard structure left in all of lower Manhattan. The original framing dates back to 1790, but a fire destroyed much of the original building. Guess the law made sense, eh?
Located at 203 East 29th Street (if you’re interested).
Note: We didn’t find this, The Bridge Cafe (1792), but read about it after our trip (don’t ya hate that?). At 279 Water Street, it is the oldest tavern in NYC and in its past was a beer-serving grocer with a brothel on an upper floor.
The Hidden Holocaust Memorial of Madison Park.
On an ornate marbled courthouse and adorned with sculptures of law, walked past by thousands every day, they tucked away a miniature memorial to the horrors of war on a corner of the building.
A column of swirling flames embedded with a carving of Auschwitz. They say the sculpture is based on an aerial photograph taken in 1944.
You can find the courthouse and memorial at 27 Madison Avenue (it causes a pause in the middle of such a busy city).
The Grand Central Terminal in Midtown is worth a visit simply to take in the view of the “Great Hall’, but make your way down further into the building and you may find people talking face to face with the walls. Don’t judge, they may not be insane, they might be tourists.
Stand in a corner of the Whispering Wall gallery and talk softly to the wall. The low ceramic arches carry the sound to a person standing in the opposite corner, 10 meters (32 feet) away. You can hold a conversation as if you’re standing next to each other.
Located on the dining concourse near the famous Oyster Bar & Restaurant (if you’re okay looking like an idiot savant).
6 1/2 Avenue street sign.
Like a laneway at Hogwarts, this avenue runs between 51st Street and 57th Street.
Standing 21 meters tall (69 feet), yet Cleopatra’s Needle gets lost in the sheer size of Central Park.
An Egyptian obelisk erected in the park in 1881 was originally one of three erected in Heliopolis, Egypt in 1475 BC. Ramesses the II added the inscriptions a couple of centuries later. The obelisks were moved to Alexandria and later toppled.
Being toppled and partially buried had the fortuitous effect of preserving the engravings from weathering.
Near the East 82nd Street entrance to the park (to help cut down your search).
Our favourite find was these little guys down in the 8th Avenue subway station. Nicknamed the ‘Life Underground’ cartoon statues and created by artist Tom Otterness, they installed the somewhat political bronze characters in the 1990s.
Enter the subway station at 8th Avenue and 14th Street (try to find all 130; good luck).
The Hesse Triangle was born out of a land fight between a Philadelphia landlord, Hesse, and the City of New York in 1910 when the city claimed eminent domain of over 250 buildings in the neighbourhood.
Hesse lost the fight against the city of New York, but this teeny triangle of that eminent domain was overlooked by city surveyors. When the city approached Hesse’s heirs to donate the ‘property’ years later, the family refused and instead installed this defiant mosaic in 1922.
Found on a corner of 7th Ave and Christopher Street in the West Village. (It’s truly tiny, but a laugh).
Our last day in NYC was a spur-of-the-moment idea and a random wander on foot and on the subway. It reminded me of what makes New York City so special and enjoyable.
We could walk a couple of blocks and feel the surrounding change — the architecture, the different colours and style, the fresh foods and smells. Jumping on a subway line for two stops and we’d pop up in a very different neighbourhood. Midtown one moment, Flatiron district the next… Some days it really is the ‘little’ things.
There’s a hell of a lot to see and take in on Manhattan. These are just a few of the little things. I’m sure many of you have more.
Travel Your Own Life
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