 |
| Busy, beautiful streets and wonderful day! |
I woke up quite early today so that I could go on another walking tour! Man, I know I'm not doing that much, but I gotta say, I am exhausted. Physically really. I need to sleep earlier - really that's my own fault. The blog is taking a lot of time and dedication, but my thoughts are that once I'm done this experience, I'll have this really great souvenir to look back on, reminisce and enjoy.
 |
| The last wooden house in Greenwich village. The owl up there is meant to scare away pigeons. It isn't doing a very good job. |
Today I walked down the Avenue of Americas and boy is it beautiful. It's just so alive, there are stores everywhere, tourists, people, everything really! Because the weather is so nice, there are a lot of outdoor patios and places to sit and eat, and all the chairs and tables are always so colourful! It's like an amazing tossed salad here (Not a melting pot) where there's a little bit of everything.. I saw a lot of souvenir shops and when I passed by the Empire State building - wow were there a lot of people waiting outside. So glad I wasn't going up (I bet there are better and free views around the city! Just have to find them. If anyone has any tips, e-mail me!). I walked all the way down to Greenwich village for my next tour of the day. I saw a lot actually.
 |
| Beautiful, but expensive houses. |
We started off by learning a bit about the history of the area, like how Greenwich village was originally a Dutch word meaning "Green village," so the name Greenwich village is literally Green village, village. Creative, New York. On top of that (and I knew this before), when the Dutch owned New Amsterdam (what New York was called at the time), they actually traded it off to the British... so that they could get the sugar producing countries instead. To this day, they still revere it as the worst decision ever.
 |
| Ladies and gentleman, human rights history happened here. |
I was told around the whole area of New York, there are signs. The colour of the signs matter a lot. Green signs are normal signs, however, signs that are brown mean that you're in a historical district. And of course, the easiest thing is that streets run East-West and Avenues run North-South. Super simple! And I found out that Wall Street is actually called Wall street because they built a wall to separate the Dutch and the British. Again, very creative. I didn't realize it, but the tour was very much about celebrities and movie stars so it wasn't something I was super into, but it was enjoyable to listen and learn all the same.
We started walking around and our first stop was the Stonewall Inn (Which they're trying to turn into
 |
| Can you guess what this is? That's right! That's the "Friends" apartment |
a Federal historical monument, how cool is that?). For those who don't know why the Stonewall Inn is so significant, it is because it is a very historical place - it was pretty much where the American gay rights movement began, in 1969. Prior to this, a lot of gay men who may have been in the closet or even married, would come to the Inn to have a drink and really be themselves. However, the mafia owned the place and sometimes they would steal these gay men's identities, research them to see how much money they made and blackmail them.
 |
| Used to be the smallest property in New York. |
The mafia made a lot of money that way. One night (And I can't remember all the details), after the police raided (since it was illegal to be gay - which is totally stupid) the Inn, instead of going home, they stayed outside and protested. For a while actually. Then the protests became riots and it actually got to the point where when people were beginning to get arrested, the crowd threw pennies at the cops (Pennies were made of copper back then so that was a derogatory term for police). And thus began the gay liberation movement. All over the world, on the last weekend (I think last weekend?) of June, all over the world, people celebrate the Gay Liberation movement, calling their gay rights celebration the "Christopher Street Day." This is, of course, named after Christopher Street, which the Stonewall Inn is on. Cool right?
 |
| House where ugly naked guy/Ross lived. |
We also walked by the smallest property in New York. Originally, the man who owned it owned much of that whole street, but it was taken away from him when New York city decided that they needed it for the "common" and "public" good. He sued the city and lost. All he was left with was a small triangular piece of land that was then sold off to a convenience store for about $1000. Poor guy.
We walked a lot through Greenwich village and I learned a lot of things. For example, it is expensive as hell to live there. Of all the houses I heard the prices for... the lowest was $3 million. And these aren't even big or super nice houses. Just expensive. I also learned about the New York city rent control. Where the New York board decides how much rent can be set at and how much people can put it down for. For example, if there are more than 6 (or 8?) apartments, then that building must be rent controlled. There was one place we passed by, the tenant was an 81-year-old man.
 |
| That apartment is NYC's smallest apartment. Sold for no less than $3mil. |
I found out his rent was less than $400. I need to find him so he can adopt me.
We went through a lot of artsy areas, like the Cafe Wha? where Bob Dylan started as a 19-year-old playing harmonica. Since he couldn't get into bars because of his age, he went to cafes instead. Hendrix also used to play there. How cool is that? Plus on Minetta street, it was actually built over an old ravine and if you lift up the manholes, you can actually see parts of it! Around the area was also a lot of really delicious good food.
 |
| The Up and Up on Macdougal St |
As well, there was a bar called the Up & Up. And boy do I have a story for you. So the Up and Up originally had vents (or something along those lines) that went all the way up from the bar up to the apartments above. So when people clapped for shows, the sound would travel up, the tenants would hear and then call the police. So people started snapping their fingers to show that they enjoyed it instead. Which is why people snap instead of clap (literally told to me by my tour guide please do not blame me).
I also found Marie's Crisis Cafe, which is supposed to be SUPER amazing (It's also where Thomas Paine used to hang out). The servers actually sing show tunes for you to enjoy. Beside it is another great bar, also on Grove Street, Arthur's tavern, the oldest continuous Jazz bar in New York - and one of the few that WILL NOT charge you any cover for going. Two places for you to check out on your
 |
| There's a plaque dedicated to him |
way to NYC! While still walking, I walked by the Friend's apartment and as you can see in the picture, it is 100% lacking the balcony that they are always on. I learned more about the apartments, and Greenwich village was home to a lot of really amazing composers, artists, actors, and aspiring everything! It's such a cool and trendy neighbourhood. Apparently it's also where all the movie stars and singers pretty much live if
 |
| Cafe Wha? With Hendrix painted |
they live in NYC. It's pretty much the "best" area.
After that, we walked around more areas. It's interesting and ironic at the same time that many New Yorkers back in the day would live on busy and lively streets to show how rich or successful and better off they were and the poor would go to smaller side streets because they couldn't afford it. Now it's the complete opposite. People who are richer want smaller more secluded areas while the poorer will live on busy loud streets.
One of the biggest reasons that New York buildings are literally side to side (unlike a lot of Canada) is because people would build straight to their lot as much as they could (because their lot was so small and narrow with so many people wanting to move in and stay there). Unfortunately, this meant that there was no alleyway for back deliveries. That's why they built many basements so that deliveries could be sent there, and it was for the peasants to go in. They would have metal coming straight out so that people could scrape
 |
| Small metal thing at the bottom is where you would scrape off the dirt from your shoes back when roads were made of dirt and had horses pull carriages. |
off the dirt on their shoes before they went in. If you look down at main streets with restaurants, all of them have these metal doors that open into their basements where they get deliveries. That's because there isn't really an alleyway behind or on the side to bring them too. Cool eh?
While walking around and seeing more famous areas and where things were filmed, I found out that a lot of people actually wanted to expand their homes (since they were so tight). So many would actually build and expand their basements. However, many can't because there are actually wires and steam (ways to heat your house) going through it. That's why on a lot of streets in New York, you will simply not see wires hanging overhead. They're all underground in front of the houses!
 |
| Theater where many aspiring actors/resses had their start. It is an "off-broadway" threatre. |
We also passed by a park on St. Luke's street (where a bunch of really famous people, including DiNiro, lived) where I found out ... it was originally a cemetery before the mayor at the time (who was living across from the cemetery then) decided he didn't want to see it and unearthed all the tombs and turned it into a park. While they unearthed stuff, they found a tomb that said "Le Roi" on it.. (the street is named Leroy st btw) and there are some conspiracies that it may have been Louix XVII, who may have escaped from the Revolution and a killing (I mean when running away from the French, where else would you go but America?). I also found out that the terms for Broadway, Off Broadway and Off off Broadway are different. It is Broadway if it has more than 500 seats, off broadway if it has less than 500, more than 100 and off-off Broadway if it has less than 99, since a lot of threatres, such as the Cherry Lane Threatre thought it was ridiculous that, although they were famous and pulling in millions, they were still "off-off Broadway."
 |
| Tiny apartments, but beautiful and secluded with their own courtyard, used to be for the workers, now it's for the rich |
We ended off our tour in front of Washington Square park and talked a bit more about the Washington arc there (where there are two Washingtons, one of him as a soldier and one of him as a politician) and some of the history behind it.
All in all, it was an extremely enjoyable experience doing the tour. Still with the same company. But I wasn't done my day yet!
I was going to head over to Brooklyn for the first time with my friends to check out the food festival, smorgasburg. First I walked around lower Manhatten for a fesitvals, where they just closed the roads to cars and let people sit, set up tables on the road, set up mini flea markets, eat and just generally enjoy! It was really great to see. I hope I get to experience even more of them.
bit since I was was very early. I walked by so many street festivals! I mean so many. Some of them even had carousels and a bouncy council!
 |
| Great initiative for girls. |
While strolling, I walked by a pop-up shop! It was a KotexU pop-up shop that was dedicated to girls on their periods. How awesome is that? It all started from a girl who was frustrated that we have stores for so many things, like clothes, makeup, etc. but there isn't one for girls on their periods to get excited for. And voila, this store came up. It was pretty awesome, very innovative and I definitely enjoyed it. They gave out free samples, had a store up top to give out goodies and even had a DJ. Tomorrow they're going to be doing nails and massages. I'm going to head back with some girl friends! :D
 |
| So clean |
Since I had nothing else to do, I took the MTA (For my second time ever) over to Brooklyn to the food fest. Oh my god, when I got out, the atmosphere was totally different from Manhatten, it's super trendy, young and hipster. Let me just say, I have never see the words "home-made," "organic," "Kale," or "fresh" as much in my life. It was pretty awesome I gotta say, really reminded me of home and of Kensington Market. Loved it.
Met up with some friends and headed over to the food fest, ran into a flea market first where I tried a bunch of free samples and saw some really cool jewellery and handmade items, from avocado lip balm, to vegan coffee, to whatever you could really think of really.
 |
| So hip, chic and trendy |
Headed over to the food festival afterwards and oh my god was it PACKED. SO MANY PEOPLE. AND SO MANY OPTIONS. I didn't even know what to do, I was so overwhelmed. We walked around so that we could try to see what kind of foods they were offering and it was really just stuff from around the world. The food was innovative, creative and unique. It was also super overpriced, but that was okay since I had put away a few dollars for the experience.
 |
| YES |
We split up so that we could each lineup and get the food we wanted... My god, when I finally settled on the Venetian sandwich place, the line up was huge and the wait was almost 10 minutes. There were only two guys hand making the sandwiches. But it was totally worth it. I got a sandwich with fresh beef cured meat, arugula, and then I watched him take a wheel of parmesan cheese and cut off an insanely huge chunk and then stuff that all into my sandwich. With chips. Oh, and they added a flower to it.
 |
| So many people! |
 |
| So yummy! |
We went to sit by the beach there where there was an excellent view of Manhatten and the skyline. God was it gorgeous. I'm so happy I didn't get rained on honestly. We got to sit, eat and enjoy the view with friends.
 |
| ANOTHER FOOD FESTIVAL |
Afterwards, we walked around looking for dessert but realized that we were quite full... So we ended up going for coffee instead! We ended up at Starbucks (Do not judge to me) where they had this awesome half priced frappuccino deal going on during their happy hour until tomorrow (the only way I could afford a drink from there to be honest) and we just sat and talked. Afterwards, we all headed our separate ways and headed home. I got off the subway and I could have transferred to get closer to where I lived, but I wanted to really enjoy the sun (It was warm. Almost 21 [or as the Americans will tell me, 72 - like how ridiculous is that?!]) and walk home.
I walked into another food festival that will be at Madison Square Garden (I coincidentally also live close to that) until the end of the month!! Prices were actually more reasonable there (maybe not as reasonable as Canada :P).
It's just amazing. Walking around this city I will always find new places, new adventures and new things to see! It's never-ending. I don't think I'll ever get enough of this city.
 |
| Beautiful view of the skyline |
 |
| Hehe |
No comments:
Post a Comment