So that's how we found ourselves on the plane to New York City to catch a short part of the joint American headline tour of the Manic Street Preachers and our favourite band Suede. Both bands hadn't toured there for twenty five years and probably wouldn't tour there again, so it was a bonafide once in a lifetime trip.
 |
| The awesome Chrysler Building, New York |
I thought I was over NYC. Seen it, done it. But the chance to see two of our favourite bands playing in historic American theatres was too much to resist. So I find myself sitting in the back of yellow cab with the driver playing laid back jazz classics on the way from JFK airport to Manhattan. There is a busy background cacophony of beeping horns and police sirens and I start to feel the excitement. Then that skyline wheels into view and I am again hooked, desperate to explore this living, breathing film set that is New York City. Then we spend two hours crawling through rush hour traffic and I realise I'm not that big on jazz.
 |
| Central Park skyline, New York |
Last time in NYC we based ourselves in the trendy Lower East side and I made a few notes about that trip
here and a few more interesting places further afield
here. On this visit we had a hotel adjacent to the kaleidoscopic light show of Times Square, as we had a bit of traveling to do and its proximity to Penn Station was going to come in useful.
The Italian restaurants in New York are fabulously traditional and the sprawling and very busy Tony's Di Napoli just off Times Square was no exception. You could only order plates for two, which complicates things if one of your party is vegetarian. But the compromise was to share a gargantuan mozzarella aubergine rigatoni with a side of meatballs, that when they arrived were the size of my fist. Day one and portion control is out of the window.
 |
| View from the Roosevelt cable car, New York |
This continued the next morning at the New York Luncheonette diner near the wonderful Chrysler Building, which I am in awe of. Buoyed by a great combo breakfast of eggs, bacon and fried spuds and lashings of coffee we then headed to the Roosevelt tramway and caught the cable car over to the island for the price of a subway ticket. The cable car travels adjacent to the Ed Koch Queensborough Bridge and has some wonderfully high views of the midtown skyline.
 |
| Roosevelt Island cable car, New York |
Roosevelt island was almost deserted in comparison to Manhattan. It's a splendid walk to the northern tip of the island to the Lighthouse park, home to some lovely sculptures and of course the lighthouse.
 |
Roosevelt Island Lighthouse, New York
|
At the opposite end of the island is the Franklin D. Roosevelt Four Freedoms State Park which has stunning skyline panoramas of Manhattan. There's also the crumbling smallpox memorial hospital which is a eerie Gothic style building built in the mid 1800s which has had a varied history throughout the years. Including it being the site of famous duel to the death between Spiderman and the Green Goblin in Spider-man 2002.
 |
| The smallpox memorial hospital, Roosevelt Island, New York |
Our first gig was actually in Philadelphia so after a whirlwind two days in NYC we caught the train to Philly from the new and modern Amtrak building in Moynihan hall, opposite Penn Station.
We had read and been told a lot about Philadelphia before we travelled, not all good. A few people we had spoke to had given us advice about staying central and getting ubers after dark, and our first impression of the city probably reinforced that view. There seemed to be a social safety blanket missing and folk who needed care were left to fend for themselves on the streets. I don't think this exclusive to Philly as we saw this in Manhattan and in Brooklyn (our next stop). But I must emphasise that during our short stay in Philly we felt safe and walked extensively around the city centre but we were careful and did heed the advice given. Here are a few of our Philly highlights.....
 |
| Philadelphia City Hall |
The Philadelphia Museum of Art is the iconic setting for one of the most famous scenes in cinematic history when Rocky sprints up the steps and punches the air. He now has his own statue that watches over a steady stream of people emulating his famous Balboa run up those steps to the museum.
 |
Rocky Statue at the Philadelphia Museum of Art
|
The nearby Eastern State Penitentiary is a great place to explore, and the audio tour provides a fascinating history of this revolutionary penal facility and it's impact on the worldwide prison system. It's had it's fair share of famous inmates such as Al Capone, who seems to have visited every American prison at some point in his career. Large parts of the Penitentiary are left to ruin which only adds to the drama of this foreboding building. Some areas have been reconstructed to their original state, some now house art exhibitions highlighting current prison issues. It was originally designed to inspire penitence - or true regret - in the hearts of prisoners. And the crumbling building still exudes this aura today to chilling effect.
 |
| Eastern State Penitentiary, Philadelphia |
The Reading Terminal Market is a bustling hive of local folk enjoying a huge range of great looking food, We were quite conservative in having coffee and cake as we spotted people gnawing on ribs for breakfast! You should see the nearby famous Liberty Bell that graced the original Independence Hall. We decided not to queue up to view it but spotted it through a window at the museum....it's a big bell. The Bell Museum is in the Old City district, the starting point for American independence and it's cobbled streets are home to some nice looking restaurants and eclectic shops. It's just a short stroll to Penn's Landing and the waterfront which was quiet given the time of year.
 |
| Reading Terminal Market, Philadelphia |
Heading south to the Washington Square West district we sought out the Magic Gardens which is a fulcrum of several houses and streets decorated with funky mosaics. It's also near South Street where you'll find lots of independent shops and the fabulously named Woolly Mammoth bar, which does cheap beer in a very friendly setting.
 |
| South Street, Philadelphia |
 |
| Mosaics, Philadelphia |
No back to the reason for our trip to Philadelphia. The first show watching The 'London' Suede and the Manic Street Preachers was at the wonderful Met Philadelphia Theatre. Both bands were on great form buoyed by enthusiastic reception from the the Philadelphia crowd.
 |
| Met Philadelphia |
We'd enjoyed our two days in Philly and were now heading back to NYC for the second gig of our tour. As we waited at the magnificently grand William H. Gray III 30th Street Train Station an elderly lady sat on the bench next to me and struck up conversation. She was back in town visiting relatives and explained how she had to move out of her local neighbourhood in Philly several years ago because of the increase in shootings. She sadly told me her neighbourhood was now a no-go zone. It was a stark reminder of the issues facing folk in America and the real impact on normal lives.
 |
| Retail therapy in Philadelphia |
On our return to New York we moved location across the Hudson to Brooklyn. We had time to revisit the fantastic area of Dumbo (Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass) between the Brooklyn and Manhattan Bridges.
 |
| Walk in Brooklyn |
We always make a point to walk across the Brooklyn Bridge when we visit New York - Every viewpoint of the downtown skyline is a spectacular assault on the senses. The stroll across the historic wooden walkway with the fantastic overhead patterns of the iron cables and cars streaming below never fails to impress.
 |
| Brooklyn, New York |
We explored Brooklyn for a couple of days, mainly on foot taking in the brownstones and loving the restaurants, bars and shops. The Mexican diner, the Terrace should get a special mention as it was superb for lunch on a couple of occasions.
Make sure you check out the imposing Grand Army Plaza is at the entrance of Prospect Park which is the perfect green space for a wander in the crisp Winter sunshine.
 |
| Brownstones of Brooklyn, New York |
The second and final gig of our East Coast trip was at the King’s Theatre in the Flatbush neighbourhood of Brooklyn. The theatre is an incredible piece of restoration work from the original 1920s design. The concert fully lived up to the grandiose setting with both bands, Suede and the Manics lifting the roof off the place. The shorter sets because of the joint headline arrangement seemed to concentrate the excitement even more! A gig we’ll remember for a long, long time,
 |
| King's Theatre, Brooklyn, New York |
On a high after the gig we returned to our Brooklyn neighbourhood and dropped into the cosy High Dive bar for a post show beer. It was Monday night, packed to the rafters and the jukebox was cranked up. Beers and popcorn. The bar lady is stood on the bar pouring shots into three punters mouths from above. And it all seemed quite normal. The city that never sleeps eh? Phew!
 |
| The astonishing King's Theatre, Brooklyn, New York |
Comments
Post a Comment