GJabouri's Blog: New York – Arrival and Day 1

Hello again,

It's been a while since I posted ... so here are 3 posts at once, covering our trip to New York! I had to attend the Translators Conference in New York, so we added a few days and explored the city a bit.

Wed, Oct 28: We took off with JetBlue (which is no longer as comfortable to fly as I remembered it), and after landing at JFK we were going to take the bus/subway to our hotel - we had it all planned out, but once we finally figured out where the buses are, and schlepped ourselves and our carry-ons there, we found out that the buses here apparently ONLY take change! We had the correct amount, but in bills and change and couldn't take the bus because of it. Grumble! So we schlepped ourselves and our carry-ons back to the airport exit area where we booked a taxi – luckily it was less expensive than we feared to go to Staten Island. Contrary to recent reports about NY taxi drivers having become friendlier, we had one who was not only grumpy, but who was also a bad driver.

Around 7:00 pm we arrived at The Staten Island Hotel - an oldish hotel with good service (but they really try to push their a la carte breakfast menu on you. The hotel advertises its free “continental” breakfast (coffee and a danish); but you have to ask for your danish (the puniest one I’ve ever seen, of a diameter of maybe 2.5 inches and somewhat dry) and you don’t get milk with your coffee, just the packaged dry stuff). Even though the room was quiet and clean, I would not stay there again (read on).

Thu Oct 29: In the morning we took the Staten Island Ferry (free!), which passes by the Statue of Liberty ...

... and Ellis Island, landing at the southern tip of Manhattan:

Staten Island Ferry approaching Manhattan

There we bought a weekly pass for the subway system ($27.00 – totally worth it!) and took a ride north into Manhattan where I showed my face at the Translators Conference. Later we went to Times Square (Las Vegas pales in comparison!) to meet a friend of my husband’s, who is also into animation. Based on seeing it many times in New Year's Eve shows, I expected it to be much larger – it looks more like a small clearing in a forest of skyscrapers.

Times Square, seen from the red steps

Even the NYPD has flashing neon signs!

Really, how can anyone take seriously a police station with a Las Vegas-style sign???

The friend showed us around the Financial District, Brooklyn, SoHo, Manhattan - in and out of subways, up and down countless subway station stairs, even walked us over the Manhattan Bridge ...

Rooftops seen from the Manhattan Bridge

Along the way we took a look inside the Museum of Comic and Cartoon art (MoCCa). In the evening we had the best pizza EVER at Grimaldi's in Brooklyn ...

Best Pizza, EVER!

... we only had to wait in line for about 10 minutes which, we were told, is an extremely short wait. On the same block, there is also a very good chocolate shop, Jacques Torres: