We visited NYC in May 2011 as part of the USA or Bust – You Cant have Both tour and it was great. The iconic structures are all fantastic but as Viggo the Venison would say you can google all of the stunning shots of them you want so lets go with six of the best occasions that struck a particular chord with me
1. Madison Square Garden
For someone who was a young man in the early 70’s when Heavyweight Boxing ruled the sporting world Madison Square Garden stood out like a beacon of sporting events and it never shone brighter than March 8th , 1971 when The Fight of the Century and its 2 combatants transcended sport. So a visit to MSQ was mandatory and on a miserable rainy day I ran from the taxi to a largely non descript building that was well concealed in a typical NYC city block. You could not get anywhere near the actual arena or so the 3 x 6′ 8″ security guards seemed to confirm. However dominating the “foyer” was the banner celebrating that special event. No more was needed.
2. Top of the Rock
The NYC skyline is stunning whether day or night and there are many vantage points to take it all in. We did go to top of Empire State late on a Friday night and the view was indeed stunning. I love the view from top of Rockerfeller center though as it shows the amazing expanse of Central Park in amongst all of this human sprawl.
3. NBC Studio Tour
Speaking of Rockerfeller Place, 30 Rock may not be the show it once was but it is still a firm favourite for moi and Tina Fey floats my boat in so many ways. The first thing you realise though is that 30 Rock is shot in LA not NYC! The tour was tres interesting with set visits like Saturday Night Live but the highlight for us was some photoshop magic right at the end of the tour
4. Grand Central Station
For a movie buff this is a must visit and is indeed a stunning building inside . Once again rather nondescript building on the outside but the magic is there once you walk through the doors
5. The Naked Cowboy
An iconic character in the iconic area of Times Square. He displays both the quirkiness of NYC and also the surprisingly friendly nature of the locals. You can spend an easy day wandering around Times square and still not see all the highlights it has to offer but you are strangely drawn back to this one man show.
6. An Offer he could refuse
Walking through The Bronx may not be the best idea in the world but it was daytime and we felt rather safe. The search was on for Mario’s restuarant as mentioned in The Godfather book. Coppola wanted to shoot the Sollozzo shooting there but the owner actually refused although he did allow a Soprano’s scene in later years because they were eating and not shooting people. The image is a bit blurry sadly and can only assume that CLP was a tad nervous given the number of headless horses on the streets nearby
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