05/26/17 - Day 53 - NYC - GMA, UN, RI, & NYY
Long day today. I got up super early to catch the Good Morning America summer concert series at Central Park featuring Florida Georgia Line and Nelly. Every Friday during the summer GMA hosts a popular artist to perform a couple of songs during their show. The show is free but you have to arrive early and stand in line in order to attend. I left my apartment in Queens at around 5am in order to get to Central Park by 5:30am as the gate for the venue opened at 6am (By the way, I didn't get home until about 1:30am that same morning, so it was a quick turn around). I will say this, the Upper East Side is a ghost town at 5:30am in the morning. I saw all of about 2 people and 0 moving cars on the walk from the Lex & 63rd St subway stop to the park.
After standing in line during an early morning drizzle for an hour, the security folks starting letting people into the stage area.
GMA is on the air between 7am and 9am, but artists don't make the air until around 8:30am so we had a lot of time to kill. On top of that, because this was a television show, we had to go through the beating of participating in their production schedule which included practicing cheering, pretending something was happening for the camera when it really wasn't, going through the band's entrance to the stage several times, etc. They tried to keep the audience engaged throughout the morning by having a few silly audience participation games or talking to folks in the crowd. The band did come out early and go through a sound check performance in preparation for the television segment.
The GMA portion of the concert ran from about 8:30 to 9:00am. Afterwards the two acts came back and did a couple more songs for the crowd that weren't part of the television show. All in all we only saw about six songs total, four from Florida Georgia Line and two from Nelly. It was nice that it was free and I got to be really close to the stage, but it wouldn't call it a concert. I will say that I think Nelly's new song, "Sounds Good to Me" should probably be a hit. Also, the sun finally came out after a couple lousy days in a row, which was good to see.
By 9:30 I'd been on my feet for about 4 hours straight so I chilled out in Central Park for a little bit deciding what else I wanted to do with the day. I ended up visiting the UN, which I'd neglected on my last several trips. It was a 2 mile walk from the park. I got there a around 10:30am.
Security is a little tight at the UN, which I guess isn't that surprising. I had to across the street and go through an ID verification to get a temporary pass and then pass through an airport like security search at the UN itself. The exterior grounds of the UN had a few artsy displays that didn't strike a cord with me. The interior is fairly limited to a small art exhibit, a bookstore, cafeteria, and gift shop. They offered guided tours for a price, but the 10:45 tour was sold out and I had no intention of waiting around for the 12:30 tour. I did get to peek into a viewing area that have for one of the conference rooms which looks exactly like every TV and movie representation of a UN council meeting, except absolutely nothing was happening. I don't know if they were waiting on a speaker or a vote, but there wasn't much to hold my attention. I was ready to go after less than hour. I decided to grab lunch at the well known Halal Guys cart near the Hilton on 6th Ave and 53rd St, a 1.3 mile walk. I got there a little before 12, there was no line, bonus. Ordered the combo sandwich (chicken & lamb on a pita). Sooooooooo good and only $5, highly recommended.
After lunch, I decided to address one more item on my NYC checklist and ride the Roosevelt Island Tramway. It was a 1.1 mile walk from the Halal Guys cart.
Opening in 1976 the commuter tram connects Manhattan and Roosevelt Island and runs right next to the Queensboro Bridge. The tram holds a max of 110 people (though I'd hate to see the car when its that full) and crosses 3100 feet in about three minutes. It's a big tourist draw because it climbs to about 250ft above the ground and offers some nice views of the city. I image the ride from Roosevelt Island to the city is more impressive than the reverse, but I was already in the city.
Roosevelt Island itself is mostly a residential area of a little over 11 thousand people that sits in the middle of the East River between Manhattan and Queens. There isn't a heck of a lot to see or do here, although there are a couple of parks, including the FDR Four Freedoms Park on the southern tip which I decided to visit. The park's designer, Louis Kahn actually died in 1974, but the park wasn't finished until 2012. It offers some nice views of Manhattan, including the UN building I've visited earlier in the day.
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Looking across the river I saw an oddball penthouse designed to look like a typical house situated on top of an apartment building. No idea which building it was or who lived there, but it was a trip to see it.
After Roosevelt Island I took the subway back home for a quick rest before heading back out to catch a Yankees game all the way out in the Bronx.
The Yankees had a much bigger pregame scene than the Mets. The stadium was surrounded by several bars and restaurants that were full of fans. That said, I was again able to get a ticket for less than $20 (nosebleeds, of course).
The stadium itself wasn't as interesting at the Mets stadium, though they did have small museum that was open to visitors during the game.
I ended up leaving before the end of this game as well in order to avoid the subway rush. The Yankees lost this game, so I'm 0-2 for NYC baseball games. Ended up crashing for the night after getting home - long day.
After standing in line during an early morning drizzle for an hour, the security folks starting letting people into the stage area.
GMA is on the air between 7am and 9am, but artists don't make the air until around 8:30am so we had a lot of time to kill. On top of that, because this was a television show, we had to go through the beating of participating in their production schedule which included practicing cheering, pretending something was happening for the camera when it really wasn't, going through the band's entrance to the stage several times, etc. They tried to keep the audience engaged throughout the morning by having a few silly audience participation games or talking to folks in the crowd. The band did come out early and go through a sound check performance in preparation for the television segment.
The GMA portion of the concert ran from about 8:30 to 9:00am. Afterwards the two acts came back and did a couple more songs for the crowd that weren't part of the television show. All in all we only saw about six songs total, four from Florida Georgia Line and two from Nelly. It was nice that it was free and I got to be really close to the stage, but it wouldn't call it a concert. I will say that I think Nelly's new song, "Sounds Good to Me" should probably be a hit. Also, the sun finally came out after a couple lousy days in a row, which was good to see.
By 9:30 I'd been on my feet for about 4 hours straight so I chilled out in Central Park for a little bit deciding what else I wanted to do with the day. I ended up visiting the UN, which I'd neglected on my last several trips. It was a 2 mile walk from the park. I got there a around 10:30am.
Security is a little tight at the UN, which I guess isn't that surprising. I had to across the street and go through an ID verification to get a temporary pass and then pass through an airport like security search at the UN itself. The exterior grounds of the UN had a few artsy displays that didn't strike a cord with me. The interior is fairly limited to a small art exhibit, a bookstore, cafeteria, and gift shop. They offered guided tours for a price, but the 10:45 tour was sold out and I had no intention of waiting around for the 12:30 tour. I did get to peek into a viewing area that have for one of the conference rooms which looks exactly like every TV and movie representation of a UN council meeting, except absolutely nothing was happening. I don't know if they were waiting on a speaker or a vote, but there wasn't much to hold my attention. I was ready to go after less than hour. I decided to grab lunch at the well known Halal Guys cart near the Hilton on 6th Ave and 53rd St, a 1.3 mile walk. I got there a little before 12, there was no line, bonus. Ordered the combo sandwich (chicken & lamb on a pita). Sooooooooo good and only $5, highly recommended.
After lunch, I decided to address one more item on my NYC checklist and ride the Roosevelt Island Tramway. It was a 1.1 mile walk from the Halal Guys cart.
Opening in 1976 the commuter tram connects Manhattan and Roosevelt Island and runs right next to the Queensboro Bridge. The tram holds a max of 110 people (though I'd hate to see the car when its that full) and crosses 3100 feet in about three minutes. It's a big tourist draw because it climbs to about 250ft above the ground and offers some nice views of the city. I image the ride from Roosevelt Island to the city is more impressive than the reverse, but I was already in the city.
Roosevelt Island itself is mostly a residential area of a little over 11 thousand people that sits in the middle of the East River between Manhattan and Queens. There isn't a heck of a lot to see or do here, although there are a couple of parks, including the FDR Four Freedoms Park on the southern tip which I decided to visit. The park's designer, Louis Kahn actually died in 1974, but the park wasn't finished until 2012. It offers some nice views of Manhattan, including the UN building I've visited earlier in the day.
.Looking across the river I saw an oddball penthouse designed to look like a typical house situated on top of an apartment building. No idea which building it was or who lived there, but it was a trip to see it.
After Roosevelt Island I took the subway back home for a quick rest before heading back out to catch a Yankees game all the way out in the Bronx.
The Yankees had a much bigger pregame scene than the Mets. The stadium was surrounded by several bars and restaurants that were full of fans. That said, I was again able to get a ticket for less than $20 (nosebleeds, of course).
The stadium itself wasn't as interesting at the Mets stadium, though they did have small museum that was open to visitors during the game.
I ended up leaving before the end of this game as well in order to avoid the subway rush. The Yankees lost this game, so I'm 0-2 for NYC baseball games. Ended up crashing for the night after getting home - long day.
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