| We went to the Empire State Building after managing to get there through the dozens of ticket touts. There is a reduced ticket for seniors (I feel ancient!). There is
security and endless queues. We even had to walk up the last six flights to
the main platform. It is expensive but I think it is worth it. |  |
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Of course trying to work out which view is which is not easy. I think here
we are looking south east over the East River towards Brooklyn. |
| So this will be north
east towards Queens. |  |
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We also looked down. That you can see the people is a function of the
quality of the camera. I couldn't see them with the naked eye. |
| This will be north west
looking towards New Jersey north of Hoboken on the left and The Bronx to the
right. The crane on this 80 storey partially completed building is destined
to become famous. |  |
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This is more or less west over the Hudson River to Hoboken in New Jersey. |
| I think this is west but
looking more at Manhattan itself. So this is showing 33rd and 34th streets. |  |
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Looking south this could well be Broadway or Fifth Avenue. Avenues go
north-south and streets go east-west. Other names may go either way or
diagonally. You can see how busy it is. |
| The main viewing platform
is at the 86th floor but there is a smaller one 15 more floors above it for
which you pay an additional fee and travel in a different but equally
venerable elevator. |  |
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There are fewer buildings at these elevated heights. At one time the Empire
State was the tallest but not any more. This is looking south towards the
World Trade Centre. |
| Slightly to the west we
have the Hudson River with Ellis Island (the former immigration centre) and
behind it the Statue of Liberty on Liberty Island. Just to the right of the
picture is where we were camped. |  |
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This is the Verrazano Narrows bridge from Brooklyn to Staten Island, named
after the Italian explorer who first discovered New York. The central span
is 4260ft and in 1964 it was the longest bridge in the world. Now it is the
ninth and is surpassed by the Humber Bridge. |
| Just to remind us we are
at the 102nd floor having come up from the 86th. |  |
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This is the famous Brooklyn Bridge which connects Brooklyn to Manhattan.
There are also tunnels under the East River. |
| The sun came out which
makes the view across the Hudson to the New Jersey shore much prettier
than it really is. |  |
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Another view but looking more to the west. |
| The world famous Macy's
store almost directly below us. Actually it's about six blocks away. |  |
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You take your life in your hands when you try to cross the road. Despite the
rules cars do not always give way and some people drive them way too fast
for these conditions. |
| I haven't quite mastered
the panorama shot at this stage but the new zoom is awesome. This is the USS
Intrepid, a museum on the Hudson which we visit later. |  |
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.Looking more or less north, this is Central Park. Again we visit it later. |
| This is reputed to be the
most photographed building in New York. It is called the Flatiron Building
and is on the junction of Fifth Avenue and Broadway a little to the south of
us. |  |
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Gardens are hard to find in Manhattan but I did spot this one on the top of
a building at least 20 floors high. |
| The round building is
Madison Square Gardens. Underneath it is Penn Central Station. They are just
to our west. |  |
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Sorry about the focus. This is actually on the other side of the Hudson and
is probably a main station in Weehauken to the north of Hoboken. As you can
see there are at least 30 platforms. |
| The 102nd floor is quite
small and has a much smaller number of visitors. You can't move down on the
86th. |  |
| Looking over to Queens in
the sunshine... |  |
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Trains leaving Penn Central and heading under the Hudson to Jersey City.
This is by far the busiest train station in the US, All the east coast
Amtrak trains go through here along with many commuter lines. |
| Can you work out the
directions of the panoramas above? This shows the rails necessary to stop
folk jumping off at the 86th floor. |  |
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