Enjoying the sights and sounds of New York City

Enjoying the sights and sounds of New York City (The Big Apple)

By Faith Nyambura Muturia                                                                           December, 2015

A dream comes true

Have you ever dreamt of visiting a place near and dear to your heart, or do you have a dream destination, a place you imagine or hope you can visit some day?

For me, that place is New York City, aka the Big Apple, so you can imagine my joy and the thrill I felt when my family and I travelled there recently for a visit. With so many things to see and do, attractions to visit, and landmarks to photograph, we wondered where to begin our exploration of the city. We knew that we could not see everything this famous city has to offer in one weekend, therefore we honed down our focus on some specific  attractions we really wanted to see right away if time allowed: the Statue of Liberty, Times Square, Central Park, the Empire State building, and the Rockefeller center to name a few.

We arrived in New York City early on Saturday morning, having driven from the city of Syracuse where we currently live. Syracuse is located in the central part of the state of New York. Since our main interest was to stop at Times Square first, we drove straight to Manhattan, where we actually ended up spending most of the day.

Kenyans dominant in the New York City Marathon

Kenyan elite runners have time and again proudly put Kenya on the map by winning the New York City Marathon several times including this year when Stanley Biwott and Mary Keitany emerged the winners. Furthermore, two Kenyans, Geoffrey Mutai and Margaret Okayo hold the world records for running the fastest times in the NY City Marathon. It is a great feat to not only participate in the largest marathon in the world and race against the best runners from all over the world, but more so to win, become a runner-up or be among the top ten finishers.

It was really fascinating for us to drive through the Brooklyn Bridge that connects Manhattan to Brooklyn as we crossed over the East River, but I wished I could have gotten out of the car and walked on the bridge, stepping where my fellow Kenyans have run over the years. May be that is something to do another time.

Yellow cabs

One of the things a visitor notices right away on arriving in New York city is the abundance of the bright yellow taxis/cabs that the city is famous for. The sight of the taxis weaving their way effortlessly through the streets of New York is a wonder to behold.

While I was enjoying the pleasure of being driven through the NY streets by my husband, David, he too was actually enjoying the challenge of driving through the New York streets (his words, not mine). It was thrilling for him to go toe to toe with the taxi drivers, bus drivers, and local residents, hearing them honk at him once in a while.  But my husband was not intimidated one bit; instead he drove as if he had always driven in the vast network of busy, often hectic streets of New York City.

My assistance, if any, was in the way of ensuring we were following the GPS navigation system on our phone to get directions to our destination- what a handy tool!  I tried to give him plenty of notice about when to turn to the places we were heading to as well as look for parking. But mostly I enjoyed the sight-seeing.

Mysterious passengers in dark, tinted vehicles

Besides the yellow cabs driving alongside us, we also regularly came across large, imposing black SUVs (standard utility vehicles) with tinted windows which presumably were driving around well-heeled or/and famous people, perhaps diplomats, Hollywood types, and so forth. It was difficult to tell due to the tinted windows, but anyway, we were here to sight-see, not that we would have minded to stare at a celebrity if we came across one.

What to eat? Where to eat? More importantly, where to park?

Upon arriving in the city, we wanted to enjoy breakfast in a restaurant that a friend had recommended to us. He had mentioned that the meal prices were reasonable. While we were driving through the city, I could read off the names of fancy-looking restaurants that I admired from afar but couldn’t dream of going in to eat (at least not yet, but someday).

But before we could eat anything we needed to find a parking spot for our vehicle, and the faster the better, given that our one year old baby, Isaac, was now wide awake, hungry, and tired of sitting in the car. He was expressing his displeasure with bouts of crying and thus the sight-seeing was not going as positively as we would have wanted. His older sister was doing her best to try and keep him calm but her efforts were becoming unsuccessful. We needed to find parking soon!

Exorbitant parking rates!

As we drove through the city, we began searching for parking spots. We drove from street to street, and avenue to avenue, turning right, turning left, then right again, in search of a parking spot close enough to the restaurant. Then we spotted an empty metered parking spot- a place whereby we could just park and walk to the restaurant. How lucky for us!  I was just about to complete my credit card order payment whereby I was to be charged 4 dollars (1 dollar translates to 102.20 Kenyan Shillings at the current exchange rate) for one hour of parking when a gentleman, whose FEDEX truck was parked in front of us, kindly stopped me in my tracks.

“Hey, you can’t park your vehicle there. This parking meter is only for commercial vehicles.”

We thanked him for alerting us about that and for saving us a hefty fee or worse still, towing of our vehicle. We then continued our search for metered parking, but soon abandoned the idea of finding an empty parking spot, especially near our preferred restaurant. We would have to find parking anywhere and walk to our destination. We then realized that there was parking advertised at several buildings but when we inquired about the costs, they were indeed sky high!

For instance, one parking place charged $32 for the first hour of parking, $42 for the second hour, or $52 for parking a total of ten hours. You could also elect to park your car for a whole day (24 hours) and pay $58. This information was not particularly surprising given that we were in Manhattan, where parking costs are among the highest in the world. Nevertheless, we continued the search, hoping for a better parking deal. We stopped at several other parking areas but they offered relatively similar parking rates, so we kept on driving. Finally we saw an advertisement for parking marked in large letters: $16 parking for one hour. We had to take this deal, we drove into the parking and the cashier assured us this was one of the best deals in town. We proceeded to park our car, but the parking attendant was quick to point out that if we overstayed, even by a few minutes, we would be charged a higher rate.

Lunch at last in the city

By the time we parked the car, we were all famished, not to mention a little exhausted and a little worn out after dealing with a fussy one year old! But now we could eat! We walked for a couple of blocks and came to the Cosmic Dinner. It is a small, cozy restaurant where we were warmly welcomed and seated. The friendly waiter took our orders as he told us a little bit about the restaurant, which was very nice of him to do, but all we wanted was to order our meals!  Interestingly, moments after we sat down, a group of about six NYPD (New York Police Department) policemen came in for lunch and sat at the table next to ours. The waiter joked that we were now very safe!

David and I ordered lamb while our 12 year old daughter, Zippy, ordered a burger and fries. Fortunately, we enjoyed lentil soup and salad as we awaited our main meal. The delicious, heavy lunch was certainly what we needed, and we left the restaurant feeling refreshed and ready to take in the sights and sounds of the city.

We started making our way through the clean, organized sidewalks and streets of the city, walking with fellow curious and delighted tourists. We stopped at the numerous traffic lights and looked right and left so that we could see as much of the city as we could. I found myself often looking up to admire the very tall, shiny, glass skyscrapers of Manhattan.

Along the way we saw lots of hot dog stands as well as countless gift shops selling postcards and assorted items featuring such as T-shirts, hats, bags, and umbrellas, many of them featuring the ‘I Love New York’ logo. We walked past sales men and women eagerly, but not forcefully, trying to persuade people to buy tickets for bus tour rides. All I could think was that I was not dreaming, I was really walking in the city of my dreams!

Broadway Theater- Live Entertainment!

Soon we found ourselves on Broadway Street, where we walked by theater after theater. Each theatre proudly displayed its advertisements for the shows that were taking place or that were upcoming. The famous Broadway Street is the part of the city where lots of plays and musicals and other theatrical performances are held every year. Indeed this particular street draws a lot of audiences who come watch the performances. This was truly an exciting time for me and my family! We were now standing just a meter away from one of the theaters!  If we wanted to, we could stand in line, purchase tickets, and step into a theatre to watch The Lion King, Fiddler on the Roof or The Color Purple!  Well, that is another good reason to return to the city- to watch some fine acting!

Fun at the Times Square!

We finally arrived at Times Square. You can’t miss it!  You know you are there when you get there and are welcomed by gigantic, towering billboards and enormous screens advertising anything from cosmetics to clothing, as well as upcoming Broadways shows. In addition, live news of the day was being continuously displayed on humongous TV screens.

Group photo!

Meanwhile, tourists posed to take photos of themselves in the famous Square! We actually got to join other visitors at the Times Square for a group photo which then appeared on one of the enormous screens in front of us and everyone was delighted with this experience. There were so many people just like us, visiting the city for the first time, the second, or may be the third time! They hang around the popular spot taking pictures with their phones or cameras; couples kissed as they took selfies, and families posed for photos. Old and young alike savored their time at the famous square.

The experience was further enhanced especially for those with young children because for a few dollars, or even pennies, you could have your picture taken with the fictional characters that are very familiar around the world: Mickey Mouse, Spider Man, the Incredible Hulk, or even a man dressed to look like the Statue of Liberty, among many other characters.

Times Square attracts throngs of locals and tourists during New Year’s Eve when people gather to count down the minutes to the end of one year then usher in the New Year with celebration and partying. Times Square is also where a lot of broadcast television and radio networks such as CBS, ABC, CNN and NBC have their headquarters or offices and report the daily news from.

Taking it all in

For a few minutes, we stopped taking photos and stood still to enjoy the moment at Times Square, to look at the crowds, to admire and marvel at the city with all its hustle and bustle and in all its glory and grandeur. This was the big apple and indeed it had lived up to its name- big!

But we had been in only a small section of the city, in Manhattan, yet the city consists of four other areas also called boroughs: Queens, The Bronx, Brooklyn and Staten Island. Manhattan itself is divided into three areas: Upper Manhattan, Mid-Manhattan and Lower Manhattan. Manhattan is the heart of not only the city but the country as well, especially with regard to economic and cultural aspects.

The city of New York is a vast, bustling, busy, lively, metropolitan attracting throngs of tourists, business people, diplomats (the United Nations Headquarters is located here), artists & musicians, workers, students, and all kinds of people. We were so glad to pay it a visit.

All good things must come to an end

So what does it feel to visit the most populous city in the United States, the city which never sleeps, the city of lights, and fashion and entertainment?

It feels fantastic!!! As they say, you have to see it to believe it! New York City is a city which makes you want to return for more. My family and I saw the city (at least some of it) and we can’t wait to return to see some more of New York City!