And my saga continues with lots of memorable moments in my life , lucky to now be able to write them down in my blog for posteriy of my family. I am glad be able to tell you about a hugely nice City, New York and my doings there even so far back pictures are hard to come, old paper pictures will do !!!. Therefore, here is my small take on my City of New York and al, Hope you enjoy the post as I
I was lucky to lived just across it for 13 years !!! New York City or NYC (to avoid confusion with New York State), and whose best-known nickname is The Big Apple is made up of five boroughs such as Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, Bronx and Staten Island (it was the closest to me back then), New York took its current name after the conquest of the city by the English. In 1660, King Charles II offered his brother the Duke of York, the future James II, the lands between the Colonies of Virginia and New England. As part of the English invasion of New Netherland, New Amsterdam was conquered on September 6, 1664 after the surrender. Two days later, the city was incorporated into the Kingdom of England and renamed in honor of the Duke of York.
However, before all that on April 17, 1524, the navigator Giovanni da Verrazzano, commissioned by the king of France Francis I, discovered the bay of New York which he named Sainte-Marguerite bay, in homage to the king’s sister, and he named the land located in the bay and on the banks of the river La Nouvelle-Angoulême. Today, the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge remembers this discovery, In 1609, the Dutch East India Company hired the English explorer Henry Hudson to try to discover a new sea route to the East Indies. He entered the New York Bay and sailed up the river that now bears his name,the Hudson river ! Later, in 1785, the Continental Congress settled in New York, which then served as the provisional capital of the United States. But, under pressure from Thomas Jefferson, Congress moved to Philadelphia five years later. In 1789, the first president of the United States, George Washington, took the oath of office on the Bible on the balcony of the Federal Hall National Memorial in lower Manhattan.
I took couple times as usually by there with a car was the subway or metro ; one of the largest public transport networks internationally, it has 422 stations for 468 stopping points, placing it first in the world in terms of the number of stations served. The network includes 337 km of lines, most of which have four tracks (two tracks for express trains and two tracks for omnibuses). It is also one of five 24/7 transit systems in the United States. The things that made come more to NYC was sports, an avid fan (still) of the New York Yankees baseball team and Yankee stadium was my first ever trip by car borrowing my Dad’s Ford LTD !!! An experience that have never forgotten, got there ok but on the way back end up in Philadelphia on the Garden State Parkway a State Trooper police help me get back home !!! Also, followed the New York Giants ,American football, but not the newly name MetLife stadium in East Rutherford, NJ when it was called the Meadowlands and came to see the New York Cosmos of the NASL (see brochure below) with Pelé (met him at Downing stadium Randall’s Island NYC when he came to USA), Beckenbauer, Giorgio Chinaglia, Carlos Alberto, and Johan Neeskens great all time players played ! And of course the institution of the Madison Square Garden to see my New York Knicks basketball and New York Rangers, ice hockey. All still my sentimental favorites.
The official Madison Square Garden : https://www.msg.com/madison-square-garden/directions/
The official MLB Yankee stadium : https://www.mlb.com/yankees
The official MetLife stadium (former Meadowlands) : https://www.metlifestadium.com/getting-here/directions
A sentimental favorite as arrived with my dear late Mom Gladys in 1970 from Madrid Spain on Iberia flight No 951 at 3:30pm to John F Kennedy International Airport . When going to France with my dear late wife Martine in 1992 we transfer at JFK airport ; and my first flight to Miami on National Airlines in 1972 was done by here too, Memories forever that need to have in my blog.
John. F. Kennedy International Airport was named after the 35th President of the United States, it is located in the borough of Queens, on Jamaica Bay, 12 miles (about 19 km) from Manhattan and 16 miles ( 26 km) from city center/downtown NYC, The airport covers 20 km2 (4,930 acres), which includes 3.6 km2 (880 acres) in the Central Terminal Area (CTA). The airport is owned by the City of New York and its management is entrusted to the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, A bit of history I like tell us that construction of the airport began in April 1942, and was named New York International Airport on July 31, 1948, more commonly known as Idlewild Airport, it was renamed on December 24, 1963 to honor John F. Kennedy. Today he is commonly known as JFK. In 1962, the Worldport terminal was opened by Pan Am, today Terminal 3, as well as the TWA Flight Center terminal for Trans World Airlines, now Terminal 5. In 1970, the Sundrome terminal was opened by National Airlines, now Terminal 6. In 1998, construction began on the fast train connecting the different terminals, the AirTrain which was completed in 2003. The AirTrain JFK allows passengers to access the New York City subway/metro via the Long Island Railroad and numerous bus lines also connect the airport to the New York JFK subway/metro with five terminals active, with 130 doors in total. The terminals are numbered from 1 to 8, but terminals are 2 (permanently demolished in 2023), 3 (demolished in 2013) and 6 (demolished in 2011). In 2020 began the renovation and expansion of Terminal 8. It was finished end of 2022, and it replace the older terminals 1, 2 and 3, and will be the largest in the airport.
The official JFK airport NYC : https://www.jfkairport.com/
The Rockefeller Center was my one stop in NYC, especially around Christmas time, it was superbe sadly in those days my take on pictures were nul and was just collecting post cards,,, The RC is a shopping complex built by the Rockefeller family under the influence of the Beaux-Arts style, composed of 19 buildings. It is located in the Midtown district, between 5th Avenue and Avenue of the Americas in Manhattan, It made up of numerous businesses and performance halls, whose reputation, like that of Radio City Music Hall, has crossed the borders of the city and the country. The complex is a tourist destination, due to the many decorations of Rockefeller Plaza, the view offered by the Comcast Building observatory, but also thanks to numerous seasonal events such as the large ice rink or the gigantic tree which brings together each year thousands of people for Christmas season, One of the lesser-known yet interesting parts of Rockefeller Center is its underground passageway complex. Yes indeed and when young this is fun !!! This series of pedestrian galleries stretches from 47th to 51st Streets, and from Fifth Avenue to Seventh Avenue. Around the ice rink, access is from the stairs located in the halls of the six central buildings. It is also accessed from the rink restaurants by escalators and elevators located to the north and south of the ice rink. The latter is itself at the level of the passage. One anecdote I like is that the International Building North housed the main premises of the British intelligence services (MI6) in the United States during WWII, and Room 3603 which became the main operational center for American intelligence organized by William Joseph Donovan. It also housed the office of the man who later became the first civilian director of the Central Intelligence Agency, Allen Dulles. Every Saturday noon, the aerial bombardment warning siren sounded from the top of the Comcast Building. At the same time, patriotic demonstrations were organized on Rockefeller Plaza and a party was improvised for the liberation of Paris in August 1944.
The official Rockefeller Center : https://www.rockefellercenter.com/
I went many times here with my dear late Dad Elio to purchase supplies for my dea late mom Gladys grocery store and Dad restaurant club in Perth Amboy NJ, Another sentimental spot for me, we rose by 3am to be at opening time by 5am get the meats and take back to our small business, and then shower and go to school !! We did it !!! proud of it !!! Great parents I missed them RIP, The Meatpacking District is a neighborhood in Manhattan that runs from West 14th Street south to Gansevoort Street, and from the Hudson River east to Hudson Street , Meatpacking continued to be the major activity in the neighborhood through the 1970s , however, beginning in the late 1990s, the Meatpacking District went through a transformation. High-end boutiques catering to young professionals and hipsters opened,I guess it will never be same, The official Meatpacking district today : https://meatpacking-district.com/
A wonderful spot I visited with my parents many eons ago and fondly remembered was the Ellis Island at the mouth of the Hudson River, less than a km from Liberty Island which is home to the Statue of Liberty. It was, in the first part of the 20C, the main entrance for immigrants who arrived in the United States. Territorially, it is shared between the city of Jersey City in New Jersey and the city of New York in the State of New York. 83% of the island is owned by the city of Jersey City. A bridge connects Ellis Island to Liberty State Park in New Jersey. The official NPS Ellis Island : https://www.nps.gov/elis/index.htm
The Statue of Liberty is one of the most famous landmarks in the United States. This monumental statue is located on Liberty Island, south of Manhattan, at the mouth of the Hudson river ,and near Ellis Island. Built and assembled in France, on an idea in 1865 from the jurist Édouard Laboulaye, at the time of a collection of the daily newspaper Le Phare de la Loire to honor the widow of Abraham Lincoln, the statue was offered by the French people to the Americans, in sign of friendship, and unveiled on October 28, 1886 in the presence of the President of the United States, Grover Cleveland for the centenary of the American Declaration of Independence. The sculpture was entrusted in 1871 to the Frenchman Auguste Bartholdi and the enormous base made it possible to increase its height from 46 meters to 93 meters, for a total of 225 tons. For the choice of copper, the architect Eugène Viollet-le-Duc had the idea of the repoussé technique and upon his death in 1879, Bartholdi called on the engineer Gustave Eiffel who imagined a metal pylon supporting the hammered and fixed copper plates. The structure was designed in the Gustave Eiffel workshops, in Levallois-Perret, and at 25 rue de Chazelles in the 17éme arrondissement/district of Paris, where the copper pieces were mounted. The official NPS Statue of Liberty : https://www.nps.gov/stli/index.htm
When graduated from high school at Perth Amboy NJ (see posts) my class senior trip was done to Rocking Horse Ranch Resort at 600 US-44, Highland, NY State, Here I remembered fondly the Big Splash Indoor Water Park and Horse Riding Trails in 1977 !!! Rocking Horse Ranch Resort opened Memorial Day Weekend 1958 by founders Nathan “Toolie” Turk and Gloria Turk. In 1962, they were joined by Toolie’s brother, Bucky , The Turk brothers were first-generation Americans, their parents having emigrated from Europe, It is located about 90 miles (about 144 km ) north of New York City, The Toolie and Gloria Turk found the only place they could afford. It was called Friedman’s Shady Lawn Rest Hotel. Built in the late 1800’s, it was one of the oldest hotels in Ulster County and had been closed for twenty years. In fact, during the 1930’s and Prohibition Era, it was even used by the infamous Jack “Legs” Diamond, Irish-American bootlegger, as his headquarters ,To transform the aged hotel into a modern resort, they became carpenters, electricians, and stone masons during the week, while catering to guests on the weekends. Occasionally, guests even exchanged their working skills for a stay at the newly established Rocking Horse Ranch. It had an accident burn down and they rebuilt it again !! Sadly, after 45 years of dedicating his life to Rocking Horse Ranch, Toolie passed away in the spring of 2002. Gloria remains active as ever, riding and feeding the horses and greeting families daily. The guest list at Rocking Horse now includes the children, grandchildren, and even great-grandchildren of the very first families , They greeted. , Memorial Day Weekend 2023 marking Rocking Horse’s 65th Anniversary. A wild memorable time, memories forever !! The official Rocking Horse Ranch :https://www.rockinghorseranch.com/
The official City of New York things to see : https://portal.311.nyc.gov/kacategory/?id=311-39
The official NYC tourist office: https://www.nyctourism.com/
There you go folks, a ride in nostalgia lane that again lucky to have it written in my blog for all time’s sake and family anecdotes. The wonders of New York City are endless, just given you a bit of my own in this post, Again, hope you enjoy this post on my New York and al as I.
And remember, happy travels, good health, and many cheers to all !!!
Paris1972-Versailles2003 