We were in New York City in fall 2014 for 3 or 4 weeks with two Latin American girls from Miami.
We stayed near the southeast corner of Central Park, near the Central Park Armory (Park Ave and E 66th).
We rented a townhouse from an old friend and business partner of our dad's,
who was about to sell his home, while we were trying to get in the NYC real estate market at the time.
Otherwise we would never be able to afford renting in that area.
In the evening (and during the day sometimes), we would shop for groceries,
bring our bulky groceries home in hiking backpacks, and prepare our own basic meals at home.
We did this in other cities as well, such as Rio de Janeiro, Mumbai, Hong Kong, Tokyo, etc.
The house was small, only 3 windows across, only 2 rooms per floor usually, 5 floors I think, so plenty of stairs.
The local real estate was absurdly expensive; we could enjoy a much higher quality of life elsewhere for a much lower price.
NYC may be a good investment but the urban environment and lifestyle was too alien and difficult, even for us!
We could not find any real estate that we wanted or could afford in NYC,
but we are in business further out on Long Island (near the Hamptons).
We did not rent a car in NYC, we took a taxi from the airport (crossing Queens),
which showed us how big and crowded the city was, and how terrible the traffic was, and how difficult it was to drive in NYC.
We used the subway a few times for fun, and we did not enjoy the experience.
It was dirty, crowded and full of hobos and thug blacks, and it smelled like piss.
We did not use taxis either. We walked everywhere, we knew that there would be a lot of walking.
For the first two weeks,
we were mostly walking from the southern end of Central Park all the way to Battery Park, the southern tip of Manhattan,
which was maybe 10 km one way. Sometimes we did this during the day AND at night as well.
Usually we would eat in Battery Park or at the nearby Ferry Terminal Market or Pier 11.
We walked all the way on every major north-south avenue, from 2nd to 9th I think,
but as the island narrows, all of the streets lead into Broadway or Bowery, so these were our main streets.
20 km of walking every day was normal, sometimes 40 km, and sometimes only several km (central park).
So we walked hundreds of kilometers when we stayed nearly a month in NYC.
We were sore and tired by the end of the trip, more so than usual.
We would stop at all the parks and squares and at all the major buildings,
but otherwise we did not explore the neighbourhoods much.
We passed through Chinatown and Little Italy and the edge of the Lower East Side, on Broadway, Bowery, etc.
We did not see much of the Lower East Side,
but we had a memorable experience when we stopped for lunch near 2nd Avenue and Bowery.
The cafe was on a shady residential street, and we explored the street a little,
and we discovered a private cemetery hidden between the buildings, rarely open to the public,
used by the old elite families of the city!
We were able to go inside and explore the cemetery,
that was very nice and unexpected.
We fully explored Midtown and went shopping!
We passed through the Garment District, Hells' Kitchen, the Diamond District,
East Midtown, Gramercy Park, the Flatiron District, Union Square, Ukrainian Village, Little Italy, Chinatown,
and Chelsea, West Village, Greenwich Village, Noho, Soho, Tribeca, and other nearby districts that we do not remember.
We stopped at every park and square on the way. This was a wonderful way to explore the city and immerse ourselves in it.
We also walked up and down the major bridges, including the Brooklyn Bridge a few times (day and night),
and the Manhattan, Williamsburg and Queensboro Bridges and Roosevelt Island.
We would stop for lunch in Brooklyn at the end of the bridge, but the area was full of government buildings,
we never explored the trendy areas of Brooklyn or Queens.
We also went to the top of the Empire State Building.
The new World Trade Centre observation deck was not open yet.
We also visited the Flatiron Building, Chrysler Building, Rockefeller Building, Woolworth Building, the UN Building, City Hall,
as well as the Museum of Modern Art and the famous department stores.
Almost every day we spent time at Battery Park, Wall Street, the Financial District.
On our days off, we would explore Central Park and relax in the park. We fully explored the park!
We also visited the Guggenheim and the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
We also stayed and relaxed at the Gramercy Park Hotel,
(Park Ave and E 21st, near Flatiron, Union Square) for two nights for a special occasion,
which was a very memorable experience.
And we had never stayed at a hotel before, amazingly.
The interiors were very trendy, and we were able to explore Gramercy Park, which is a gated, private park closed to the public.
Many famous artists such as David Bowie, Madonna, Blondie, etc stayed at the Gramercy Park Hotel in the past.
We very much enjoyed riding the ferry repeatedly!
We explored Liberty Island, Governors Island,
and the New Jersey waterfront (Liberty Park).
We also went on all of the ferry routes, and passed by all of Queens and Brooklyn from Astoria to Sunset Park.
We passed by DUMBO and the Brooklyn Navy Yard, I remember that, but we did not go ashore.
We even went as far as Staten Island, the Bronx, and Rockaway Beach with the ferry.
We enjoyed being on the water very much. We even took the ferry from Pier 9 to the waterfront Ikea in the port area of Brooklyn.
At the end of the trip, we took a few helicopter tours, day and night, from Pier 9 near Battery Park.
New York was one of our most memorable trips,
the city's position is incredible, and the two helicopter trips and our many ferry trips were unforgettable!
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