Welcome to my website !
An extensive virtual collection of interesting stuff...
2015 - New York City
New York City/ManhattanJune 12th to 22nd 2015
With summer arriving, a trip to enjoy the Big Apple with warmer temperatures...
But this time planning to see several places that I never visited before.
New York City - June 2015
Empire Fulton Ferry State Park With summer arriving, a trip to enjoy the Big Apple with warmer temperatures...
Use the Article navigation drop down list above to browse through this vacation diary.
From there you can see the report of each day of the vacation, and you also have the option to see All pages together.
Also, you can find all the photos from this vacation in the My Photos section.
Summary of the vacation
| Day | What | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 12 Jun 2015 (Fri) | Milan - New York City
| |
| 13 Jun 2015 (Sat) | Chinatown, Little Italy, Bubble Battle in Union Square
| |
| 14 Jun 2015 (Sun) | Governors Island, Staten Island
| |
| 15 Jun 2015 (Mon) | Bronx's Little Italy
| |
| 16 Jun 2015 (Tue) | The High Line
| |
| 17 Jun 2015 (Wed) | World Trade Center 1
| |
| 18 Jun 2015 (Thu) | Roosvelt Island, Brooklyn in the night
| |
| 19 Jun 2015 (Fri) | Hudson River Park
| |
| 20 Jun 2015 (Sat) | Coney Island and Brighton Beach
| |
| 21 Jun 2015 (Sun) | Brooklyn
| |
| 22 Jun 2015 (Mon) | New York City - Milan
|
12 Jun 2015 (Fri) : Milan - New York City
Trip from JFK this time from Jamaica Center | Flight(s) | Flight # | Departure/Arrival | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Milan Malpensa MXP -> New York JFK | EK205 | 16:10/19:30(30 mins delay) | A380-800, seat 85K |
| Hotel | Room # | Notes | Cost |
| Wall Street Inn (9 S William St New York NY) | 507 | Included in Expedia package | |
| Expenses | Notes | Total | |
| 20 packets Marlboro Lights (Malpensa airport duty free) | 42.50 EUR | ||
| Air train (JFK Airport, Jamaica Center) | 5$ + 1$ card | 6.00$ | |
| Metrocard (refillable) (JFK Airport, Jamaica Center) | 10$+1$ bonus 1.10$, total amount on card 11.10$ | 11.00$ | |
My experience with Emirates begins with a delay in the departure of 1 hour. But the arrival was 30 minutes late, therefore not so bad.
The A380 is a magnificient airplane : new conception in everything, starting from the seats with more legroom to the entertainment system and the cell/wifi network available during the flight.
It feels weird to chat with family and friends via Facebook or Whatsup during the flight, and sharing pictures etc.
Once in the hotel, nothing better than a walk to Pier 17 : the new building is not yet started... Probably because the old Fish Market building will be used instead for shops/restaurants.
I guess I'll have to come back in some time and check again.
- Pier 17
13 Jun 2015 (Sat) : Chinatown, Little Italy, Bubble Battle in Union Square
Chinatown, Little Italy, Bubble Battle in Union Square | Expenses | Notes | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Metrocard (Canal st) | 31$ + 1$ card | 32.00$ | |
| Shirt, long sleevs, grey (Macy's, 34th st) | + tax | 21.99$ | |
| Shirt, short sleeves red (Macy's, 34th st) | + tax | 18.74$ | |
| Shirt, short sleeves blue (Macy's, 34th st) | + tax | 18.74$ | |
| Blue slacks (Macy's, 34th st) | + tax | 39.99$ | |
| Levis 501, blue (Macy's, 34th st) | + tax | 49.99$ | |
| Levis 501, black (Macy's, 34th st) | + tax | 49.99$ | |
| Drinks and various (Duane Read, 67 Broad st) | with Campbell Soup - Vegetable Beef (2.39+tax) | 11.62 | |
| Snack/dinner (Whole Foods, 4 Union sq South) | 6.64$ | ||
| Bottle of water (Westside Market, 77 Seventh ave) | 0.99+tax | 1.04$ | |
Very popular touristic detinations today.
It's worth to see how quickly Chinatown is eating up Little Italy's space around Mulberry St.
The battle was not actually a battle but rather a happy meeting of adults and kids, all equipped with soap bubble guns and stuff...
Very amusing, and very american. Union Square is the best location for this type of events, like the pillow war for example, which is another event I would like to attend to, one day.
- Chinatown
- Little Italy
- Bubble Battle in Union Square
14 Jun 2015 (Sun) : Governors Island, Staten Island
Governors Island, Staten Island | Expenses | Notes | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Water bottle (Governors Island) | 2.00$ | ||
| Hotdog and Coke can (Governors Island) | hotdog 1.50, coke can 1.00 | 2.50$ | |
| Big Mac meal (McDonald's 501 Bay St Staten Island, NY 10304) | 7.28$ | ||
| Bottle of coke (Grocery shop ar 1203 Bay St, Staten Island) | 1.50$ | ||
| Bike rental (Blazing Saddles, Pier 17) | 58.00$ | ||
| Dinner (Adrienne's Pizzabar, 54 Stone St, NY) | 41.37 + 9 tip | 50.37$ | |
My bike riding day!
With such a shining sun, this day was the best chance to do the bike ride to visit two places I have never been to, in all my visits to the Big Apple.
The bike rental is a new choice for me : Blazing Saddles, very good choice because it's very close to the docks of the ferries to my trip destinations.
And close to the hotel, so no long walks or subway rides after be returning the bike in the afternoon.
The trip was absolutely beautiful, both Governors Island and the Verrazano bridge offer opportunities to rest and relax admiring spectacular views.
Particularly stunning is the view of the bridge, comparable only to the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco.
Not so interesting are the areas of Staten Island, near the coast from the ferry docks to the bridge...
- Governors Island
- Staten Island
- Verrazano Bridge
- Broad St
Governors Island 
The dock of the ferry From Wikipedia :
Governors Island is a 172-acre (70 ha) island in Upper New York Bay, approximately 800 yards (732 m) from the southern tip of Manhattan Island and separated from Brooklyn by Buttermilk Channel, approximately 400 yards (366 m). It is legally part of the borough of Manhattan in New York City. Physically, the island changed greatly during the early 20th century. Using material excavated from the IRT subway under Lexington Avenue, the Army Corps of Engineers supervised the deposit of 4,787,000 cubic yards of fill on the south side of Governors Island, adding 103 acres (42 ha) of flat, treeless land by 1912 and bringing the total acreage of the island to 172.
The Native Americans of the Manhattan region referred to the island as Paggank ("nut island"), likely after the island's plentiful hickory, oak, and chestnut trees; the Dutch explorer Adriaen Block called it Noten Eylant, a translation, and this was borrowed into English as Nutten Island. The island's current name, made official in 1784, stems from the British colonial era, when the colonial assembly reserved the island for the exclusive use of New York's royal governors.
Defensive works were raised on the island in 1776 by Continental Army troops during the American Revolutionary War, and fired upon British ships before they were taken. From 1783 to 1966, the island was a United States Army post. From 1966 to 1996 the island served as a major United States Coast Guard installation.
The National Park Service administers a small portion of the north of the island as the Governors Island National Monument. The Trust for Governors Island administers the rest as a public park. The national historic landmark district, approximately 92 acres (37 ha) of the northern half of the island, is open to the public for several months in the summer and early fall. The circumferential road around the island is also open to the public. The island is accessed by ferries from Brooklyn and Manhattan.
The Verrazano Bridge 
Vew from the Gateway National Recreation Area From Wikipedia :
The Verrazano Bridge (sometimes called simply the Verrazano Bridge) is a double-decked suspension bridge in the U.S. state of New York that connects the New York City boroughs of Staten Island and Brooklyn. It spans the Narrows, a body of water connecting the relatively protected upper bay with the larger, wide open lower bay.
The bridge is named for the Florentine explorer Giovanni da Verrazzano, whose name is misspelled on the bridge, as well as for the Narrows. In 1524, while in the service of Francis I of France, Verrazzano became the first European to enter New York Harbor and the Hudson River. It has a central span of 4,260 feet (1,298 m) and was the longest suspension bridge in the world at the time of its completion in 1964, surpassing the Golden Gate Bridge by 60 feet, until it was in turn surpassed by 366 feet by the Humber Bridge in the United Kingdom in 1981. It has the eleventh longest main span in the world, while retaining its place as the longest bridge span in the Americas. Its massive towers can be seen throughout a good part of the New York metropolitan area, including from spots in all five boroughs of New York City and in New Jersey.
The bridge establishes a critical link in the local and regional highway system, and also marks the gateway to New York Harbor. All cruise ships and container ships arriving at the Port of New York and New Jersey must pass underneath the bridge and therefore must be built to accommodate the clearance under the bridge.
Since 1976, the Staten Island end of the bridge has been the starting point of the New York City Marathon.
15 Jun 2015 (Mon) : Bronx's Little Italy
Bronx's Little Italy | Expenses | Notes | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lunch (Warner Center, Columbus Circle) | 24.00$ | ||
| Bottle of water | 2.00$ | ||
After the walk in Arthur Ave all I wanted for lunch was a sandwich with Genoa Salame (or Salami, like the Americans say).
The food store in the basement of the Warner Center was again a good choice, generally speaking : lots of varieties of food at the buffet, salads, ready snacks, everything....
BUT... the sanwich with the Genoa Salame was a disaster : the salame was very poor quaity and the bread "ciabatta" was a real italian ciabatta... Ciabatta in the sense of shoewear article.
After lunch, going down along 5th Ave for a walk was a must.
I finally got to see a bit of the popular Diamond District, full of jeweleries and stuff like that.
Probably what made the visit along 47th st less interesting was the rain. All the rest, shop windows with Rolex watches everywhere in them, etc, was interesting to see.
After 47th st I was exhausted and could barely get to the hotel still waking.
The nap I took was supposed to last till dinner, but instead I woke up in the morning after.
- Arthur Ave in the Bronx
- Columbus Circle
- Warner Center
- 47th Street, Diamond District
Calandra Cheese, formaggio specialists 
Little Italy in the Bronx Arthur Avenue is the heart of the real Little Italy in the Bronx, and I finally got to visit there, a place that has always been depicted by friends as worth seeing.
And it was, despite my wrong decision of going there in a cloudy, humid monday morning at 10am.
Getting there from the closest subway stop can be amusing too, walking along some apparently neutral but potentially interesting streets of this part of the Bronx.
Once there, an important emotion : I could actually hear some old men speaking Italian, sitting at a table outside a bar on the street, smoking and sipping their glass of wine.
Something that is impossible to experience in Mulberry Street.
From Wikipedia :
Arthur Avenue is a street in the Fordham section of the Bronx, New York City's northernmost borough. It was once the heart of the Bronx's "Little Italy". "Little Italy" generally refers to Arthur Avenue and East 187th Street.
Although the historical and commercial center of Little Italy is Arthur Avenue itself, the area stretches across East 187th Street from Arthur Avenue to Prospect Avenue, and is similarly lined with delis, bakeries, cafes and various Italian merchants. Arthur Avenue and Morris Park are viewed as the Bronx's primary Italian-American communities. Other Italian-American communities in the Bronx are the middle and upper-class neighborhoods of Schuylerville and Country Club. The avenue itself is named in honor of President Chester A. Arthur.
In Popular Culture
Robert De Niro's directing debut A Bronx Tale takes place in the vicinity of Belmont. However, it was largely filmed in Astoria, Queens. The series Third Watch was based on Arthur Avenue initially, with the first episode referring to the firehouse as "Camelot," based on its location at the intersection of King Street and Arthur Avenue. The 1973 film "The Seven-Ups" starring Roy Scheider was filmed on Arthur Avenue and Hoffman Street. In 2003, a scene from the HBO hit series The Sopranos was shot in Mario's Restaurant.
Leonard of James Frey's A Million Little Pieces grew up in this area. Much of the novel Underworld takes place near Arthur Avenue. The author himself, Don DeLillo, grew up there.
The opening scene of the 1955 film, Marty shows Arthur Avenue. The film's main character, Marty Piletti, works at a meat market on Arthur Avenue, and in the movie he considers buying it from its owner.
The 1950s doo-wop music group called Dion and the Belmonts originated in this area, named after Belmont Avenue.
Italian rock band Elio e le Storie Tese at the end of their song "Gargaroz" in studio album "Studentessi" featured a mock advertising of a food shop in Arthur Avenue, in Italian language with some strange Americanisms.
A reality TV show called Mama's Boys of the Bronx was about grown men living on and around Arthur Avenue in the Bronx with their mothers.
Lady Gaga's music video for "Eh, Eh (Nothing Else I Can Say)" takes place in and around Arthur Avenue/Little Italy.
16 Jun 2015 (Tue) : The High Line
The High Line - The high Line
- Canal St
- DUMBO
- Empire Fulton Ferry State Park
- Fulton st
My walk 
From Wikipedia :
The High Line (also known as the High Line Park) is a 1.45-mile-long (2.33 km) New York City linear park built in Manhattan on an elevated section of a disused New York Central Railroad spur called the West Side Line. Inspired by the 3-mile (4.8-kilometer) Promenade plantee (tree_lined walkway), a similar project in Paris completed in 1993, the High Line has been redesigned and planted as an aerial greenway and rails_to_trails park.
The High Line Park uses the disused southern portion of the West Side Line running to the Lower West Side of Manhattan. It runs from Gansevoort Street, three blocks below 14th Street, in the Meatpacking District through Chelsea, to the northern edge of the West Side Yard on 34th Street near the Javits Convention Center. An unopened spur extends above 30th Street to Tenth Avenue. Formerly, the West Side Line went as far south as a railroad terminal to Spring Street just north of Canal Street, however, most of the lower section was demolished in 1960, with another small portion of the lower section being demolished in 1991.
Progress map Repurposing of the railway into an urban park began construction in 2006, with the first phase opening in 2009, and the second phase opening in 2011. The third and final phase officially opened to the public on September 21, 2014. A short stub above Tenth Avenue and 30th Street, is still closed as of September 2014, but will open by 2015. The project has spurred real estate development in the neighborhoods that lie along the line. As of September 2014, the park gets nearly 5 million visitors annually.
17 Jun 2015 (Wed) : World Trade Center 1
World Trade Center 1 - Jersey City
- Colgate Clock
- World Trade Center 1
- Times Square
The entrance in the lobby 
18 Jun 2015 (Thu) : Roosvelt Island, Brooklyn in the night
Roosvelt Island, Brooklyn in the night | Expenses | Notes | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Campbell Soup - Cream of Potato (Gristedes, 686 N Main st Roosevelt Island) | price + tax | 2.69$ | |
- Roosvelt Island
- Brooklyn Bridge
- Empire Fulton Ferry State Park
