New York City... We found it easier and cheaper to stay out on Staten Island and then catch the ferry into Manhattan each day.  The hotel had a free shuttle to the terminal which was just my price. So each morning and afternoon we'd sail past the Statue of Liberty and arrive downtown.  The ferry was free as well.  Here we are arriving downtown the first day.  My zoom on the camera has been playing up so...

I'll enlarge this for you...

 

 

 

And here we are just off the boat in downtown Manhattan...

What a great start!

 

Figured out the subway and then it was off to Coney island...

The Mustang actually ate a chilli dog at Nathan's famous hot dog stand...



...while I fended off the homeless begging for change.

She then minded the bags while I rode the hurricane and the latest ride...

It was the bloke next to me who was screaming like a little girl..

He didn't want his picture taken anyway.

 

 

 We saw some interesting products in some of the shops...

 

Not enough fibre in your diet?

 

 We saw some interesting products out in the streets as well...

Marijuana laced lollypops being offered from the sidewalk.

 

We went looking for a coffee and followed Google maps on a walking tour through the Bronx. Complete with shoes over the power lines, fire escape dwellers and street step sitters. We stopped at this picturesque canal but couldn't see any floating corpses. Those cement shoes must do the job....

 

Stick with me kid. You'll see all the highlights..

 

Manhattan is just jammed packed with tourists.  This is the crowd waiting to get a picture at the wall street bull...

 
It looked like the money shot was a no go until I approached it from a different angle...

 

In need of a bigger glove...

Zombie squirrels!

(time for a new camera)

On our daily ferry rides in we went past the old girl twice but never really got a good photo as the zoom on the camera is still playing up... 

 

So here is one I've magnified for you...

 

We haven't been to any zoos on this trip so far and the little zoo on Staten island looked cute.  One of the larger exhibits... 

Most of the animals kept there were sick and unable to be returned to the wild so it was more like a hospital. Others weren't real...

 ...  however it was a nice interlude..

 

What's that over there?

Back into town for a night on Broadway...

Pre show lemonades. (Overpriced cordial but you got to sit down)

The line for Matilda goes around the block. Looks like it's a hit.  We couldn't get decent seats here so we went to the Sondheim instead to see the Carol King musical.  It has been running for three years so we managed great seats.  It was a really slick show. The $80 worth of drinks (that buys you two each) led to midnight timer photos in Times Square...

About the eighth attempt.

The Mustang has been in her element getting "New York rude" with the touts. Around midnight in Times Square she admitted that, "Me, being me, is just too rude for New York rude."

Another day and the Mustang hits her straps at M&M's World.  Three stories of overpriced chocolate and marketing merchandise...

Out of control retail therapy... and this is the queue to pay for the privilege of advertising their chocolate buttons...

 

Smarties never stood a chance.

 

Then a quick wander round downtown for some money shots...

Grand Central Station where you can wear a clock hat.

The lone protestor yelling at the Pride marchers.

Library frescos.

Rockefeller Centre.

A Swan View landmark in Manhattan.

 

Another day and a bit further uptown to Yankee stadium. We arrived late and just as we were buying tickets the home team came crashing down giving up four runs. It was just about over by the time we settled in with the mandatory hot dog in our seats in the heavens.

Actually you could see the game quite well. However with the game diminishing we took the elevator down to stand behind home plate.  Most of the season ticket holders had abandoned the game by then but I still couldn't get past "security with the large ass" for a seat. This will have to do...

Just like the members bar at the WACA

 

The hotel we are staying at was built next to a landfill site. For years Manhattan's rubbish was barged over here. A few years back they capped the site and now there are two grassy mounds that they are turning into a park.  Some of the last to go in was the rubble from the World Trade Centre. So we have a window view of ... 



...the Twin Towers.

It's actually quite nice  with birds and we've even seen a deer but it is fenced off and a security guard who stopped me going for a walk. 

Unlike Central Park where there are thousands of mostly tourists...

We  watched for quite a while and mostly saw the boats being rowed backwards using the "Scottay" method. Only one money shot for me here in a little space called Strawberry Fields...

Some little offerings...

The Mustang had been hinting at a romantic carriage ride during the lead up to our visit. I think after watching the doves going through the horse droppings, the smell and the general crassness she wasn't that keen.

 

We had a slow start the next day so headed uptown to the largest camera shop in the world! Finally going to replace the Cambodian box brownie. The salesmen (no women) spoke Yiddish and most sported bangs or at least Yarmulkes.  Guess what?

They'd sold out!

 

Had a great burger on 34th street the headed to Madison Square Garden. The Mustang looks pretty happy in the picture but you will notice that she is drinking beer! 



Something to numb the pain.

 

As promised here is a review of the show...

 

**** The Show gets four stars.  Two really talented guys (Peter Gabriel and Sting) with 14 other quality musicians on stage. They've been doing it long enough and some of the arrangements of their standards were very refreshing. Their was a layer of cheesiness that grated (Oooh) with me. Perhaps they didn't think their audience was very sophisticated. Perhaps we've become the visiting snobs.
* The venue gets one star. As this age's Coliseum The Gardens should have seating that can fit normal sized people.  The Mustang couldn't put her ass on the seat and her heels on the floor at the same time. I felt like I was flying Air Asia. When we gave up and danced on the steps security gave us a hard time. We eventually left during the last song.  On the way down the five floors they'd shown the great forethought to turn the escalators off.
We are so lucky to be able to go to outdoor events at home.

Our last day here and the weather has turned so we went and bought a new camera!  Here we are a Staten Island Pier. Love the clouds swarming around the Brooklyn bridge....

...and the place to ourselves. 

"clink, clink"

"Warriors...come out to play...."

When we got back to the hotel the alarm was going off.  Some steam in one of the corridors, apparently...vaping is a big thing over here.

New York's finest.  They Crossfit too. They love a fad here.

 



New York drivers are probably the best we've seen in the country so far.  They basically stick to the speed limits because the roads are so poor.  Our last taxi driver even let down the image of the New York cabbie by making an unbidden trip back to the hotel to return a bag I'd left in his cab by mistake.

Now we've heard a couple of "Fork U" and "Fork U Do" exchanges which have been hilarious.  The clerk at the hotel won't speak to us anymore. The Mustang can't help bursting into laughter when she talks. Her accent is great. She now hides behind the desk when she sees us coming.

So, that's New York.  It's been a great week all up, but there is a lot more to see....