How to see the Big Apple with minimal cost? - ForumDaily
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How to see the Big Apple with minimal cost?

“New York is a unique city. You can watch it without spending a fortune or spending practically nothing,” an American friend once shared this discovery with me. Then she handed me a piece of paper with a list of places where you can go if you want to save on entrance fees, but not on impressions. In the Big Apple, a lot of secret treasures await tourists, as well as New Yorkers. You just need to know where to dig.

New York Public Library

The library, located at the intersection of 42nd Street and 5th Avenue, remains one of the recognized wonders of Manhattan architecture. The building with fifteen-meter ceilings, built of pure marble and celebrating its centenary last year, was named after billionaire philanthropist Stephen A. Schwarzam, who in 2007 donated one hundred million dollars for its renovation.

This old library, especially by American standards, is remembered by the catastrophe film “The Day After Tomorrow”, where the heroes ruthlessly burned ancient books in order to warm themselves in the midst of half-world snow. She was also a film set for dozens of very different pictures, including 60's classic comedy Breakfast at Tiffany with Audrey Hepburn.

Admission to the largest and most beautiful library in New York is free. Moreover, anyone can join the free guided tours that take place in the library every day at 11.00 and 2.00 in the afternoon. Please note that the library is closed on Sundays during summer. The groups meet a few minutes before the appointed time in Astor Hall (entrance from Fifth Avenue). During an hour-long tour, you will be told about the history of the building's construction and taken through the halls and book depositories.

In the exhibition hall Gottensmen is always open thematic exposition. Free tours of it are held daily at 12.30 and at 2.30.

Station Grand Central and its environs

From year to year, every Friday, Peter Laskovich, a historian and teacher, conducts excursions around Midtown, adjacent to Grand Central Station. Groups gather in the lobby at Park Avenue, 120 (42-I street, opposite the terminal entrance) on Fridays at 12.30.

For an hour and a half, the guide will share with you interesting facts about the history of the most magnificent New York station and its environs, including the beloved Chrysler skyscraper. It turns out that the Grand Central building is literally filled from top to bottom with symbols that architects laid in it, declaring in 1913 to the whole world about a young and strong America and its values. It is no coincidence that Laskovich's tours are called "Dynamic New York". The guide does not allow the public to relax, constantly surprising and sharing interesting facts.

Today, the Grand Central is not as widely used as it was at the beginning of the 20th century. Then the Americans could not boast of enviable highways, and the journey from California to New York by train took only three days, while on four wheels it took up to ten days. In those years, trains from all over America constantly arrived at the station and the building was full of passengers. Its crossings are specially constructed in such a way as to stimulate the movement of people in the right direction. In the 30s, ambitious American railroad workers even talked about building a Paris-New York highway, designed to connect the two continents via the Trans-Siberian Railway, Chukotka, Alaska and Canada. However, the grandiose plans were not destined to come true.

However, one should not think that the days of the former glory of the station were left far behind. It is likely that passengers will soon arrive at the Grand Central. By 2016, the Long Island Railway plans to complete the construction of the Penn Station-Grand Central tunnel, which will help unload the transport route of the metropolis and make life easier for many who have to travel from Long Island to Manhattan every day.

Excursion around the station and Midtown borrowed a half hour. Participation in it is free, but donations are welcomed.

The oldest escalators in the world

In New York, a lot of the most-most. At the same time, the modern city looks straight into the future, not especially looking back. However, if you search, you can find, say, the oldest escalators in the world. They are located in the world's largest store - Macy's department store on 34-th Street. To see this miracle of technology that once struck the world, you will have to go up to the upper floors of the store.

In the lobby of the Krayser-building right above the reception you can look at the world's first electronic clock. They were installed in 1930, when the building was completed, and are still in operation.

Walking on the water

I have several acquaintances who have lived in New York for almost their entire life and have never been to Staten Island. This is a big omission, by the way. If only because there is a ferry from Whitehall Street in Lower Manhattan (right next to the South Ferry subway station on the 1st line) to Staten Island there is a ferry every half hour. The ferry ride is completely free. Despite this, it is difficult to assess in banknotes the view that opens over Manhattan and its Financial District from the middle of Upper New York Bay.

 

View from the ferry to Manhattan, 2012 year

... I well remember my first city tour. In 2009, I bought a bus tour of Manhattan. Our guide joked, pointing his finger at a man in a suit who was hurrying somewhere: “This is a New Yorker. Look at him - rushing down the street, headlong. He had already forgotten that he lives and works in one of the most amazing cities in the world. Walking down the street, he only looks down, at his feet. How to tell a New Yorker from a tourist? The tourist looks around with interest ”. So, gentlemen New Yorkers, let's not forget what an amazing city we are lucky to live in. New York is happy to share its treasures with anyone who wants to find them.

Miscellanea Leisure
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