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Monday, June 7, 2021

Arrival, Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA


The first thing I noticed coming out into the daylight from the underground Penn train station was a wall of sound - cars, trucks, horns, raised voices, a babel of different languages, hawkers selling things, street people shouting odd tirades, police sirens, ambulances, fire trucks, boom boxes, jackhammers, drills, blowers, motorcycles, exhaust pipes, did I mention horns? - yep, I'm definitely in New York! (And yes, that is the Empire State Building visible standing tall looking down 33rd street).

There is always something to do or see in the city that never stops - less so during and since the pandemic but, recovering. Though NYC barely makes the top fifty most populated cities in the world, there are still millions and millions that call the city and the metro area home. The metro area is the largest in the United States but, dwarfed by many other metro areas around the world.



After settling in, I took a walk on my favorite, The High Line, an urban parkway built on an abandoned elevated railway track through much of Chelsea.

I had a nice time last month on my visit here but, I wanted just a few more days so, I went back to visit  again.  I wanted to do this before it turned summertime hot - it didn't work out that way.

Same travel routine - train from Providence to Penn Station and a hotel in nearby walking distance. My previous posts from last month's trip are at this link.



Amidst all the modern glass and steel buildings, I stopped at this nearby market to pick up some supplies to have in my room. Dark chocolate and more dark chocolate.



Sometimes I think it would be a good idea to drive my car to NYC and avoid the drive to the Providence train station, paying for parking, and then riding the train into NYC. Here's one of the reasons I don't: Manhattan parking at this nearby lot is about $57 a day including the 18% tax.



Another nearby lot, for comparison is only $53 a day including the 18% tax. Add tolls, gas, traffic and aggravation and the nice quiet on-time train seems a better choice. Also, overall less expensive. Depending on where in the city, the rates vary but, seems like a minimum of $50 a day in the best case. Parking, like food or real estate, and most everything else here - is expensive.



Here's another - the most expensive I've found so far at $77 a day including tax! These three were in the central Manhattan area, it could be even more costly in other locations - like maybe the Upper East and West sides and the financial district. It would be an interesting project (for someone else) to visit every garage in Manhattan and document the rates.



Wandering along 42nd street, I am reminded that in the fall, Broadway shows will return at long last after about 18 months shut down for the pandemic.



Times Square in early evening on a perfect late spring day is hard to describe. A mass of random humanity just out and about. Hucksters, hawkers, screaming children, believers shouting at one and all to accept Jesus, you name it. New York sounds at New York volume.



And speaking of random humanity.



As darkness falls, the lights of the Penn Station Moynihan Hall are at right and the Madison Square Garden at center light up the sky.



And so too, do the lights of distant lower Manhattan, the World Trade Center towering over all.


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