The Big Apple

A Whirlwind tour of New York City!

I recently got a chance to visit New York City. It was sadly a short visit, but I think I managed to see a fair bit of the city in a very short time ... I was staying right in the center of that concrete jungle - Manhattan! ... It is really a jungle - you have narrow, dimly lit roads amid the foliage of concrete structures all around. I was awed by the look of the place: skyscrapers seemed to be there everywhere! ... so much that the traffic congestion didn't really bother me!

58th Street, New York City

I suddenly discovered that the US is actually populated. You see people everywhere in New York - running around to get to office, to catch their subway train, in great hurry all along .. For a while I felt like I was back in Mumbai ... pedestrians don't care for traffic lights; you can actually hail a cab and run halfway across Broadway Street to get into it while the cab driver stops amidst the traffic, and you have those creaky train stations (only subway) that people literally pour into!! ... Only its streets are cleaner and buildings taller :)

When you are on a short visit to New York, I guess the best place to visit would be the Empire State Building! ... The view from the 86th floor observatory is awesome and it'll be a chance to see everything else in New York as well :-) .. Here are a few pics from atop the Empire State Building ..




And equally stunning were these photos I chanced to take on the streets of New York ... I never imagined I'll see something like these in this country itself .. let alone in the heart of Manhattan!

"Cycle Cab": a rickshaw near Empire State Building

Street Side Shops in Manhattan! ... Never saw one till then in the US :-)