Must See in NYC - Roosevelt Island Tram

In NYC not everything is free, but there are a lot of things that are almost free. The Roosevelt Island Tram is one of them. This Tram lifts people over the city streets into the sky 250 feet over the East River. The Tramcar has been using the Queensboro Bridge to take passengers across the river 3,100 feet to Roosevelt Island for over 30 years. Take it as the Sun is setting and get a even better ride! The New York Times has said that it is "the most exciting view in New York City!" In 2002 the first Spider-Man Film used the Tram for Spider-Man's battle with the Green Goblin. This is when Mary Jane Watson was thrown off the Queensboro Bridge. This was not the first time Spider-Man had saved the tram. The Comic book had used it many times as a way for evil doers to hurt the people of New York City. So for the swipe of a Metro Card one can go for this 4 minute ride and see the streets from above. Then once on the Island pictures can be taken of Manhattan's famous skyline. From there one can take the ride back over the water or find the Underground and take the F Train to the next exciting place in this the Greatest City in the World.

**Two cabins make the run at fifteen minute intervals from 6:00 a.m. to 2:30 a.m. (3:30 a.m. on weekends) **Bicycles are permitted on the tram.

Must See in NYC - The High Line

This is the one of New York City's best parks because it saved a historic elevated freight rail line that used to have trains rumbling through the West Side. This park saved the line from being torn down in 1999. This not only saved a part of the city's history, but also gave Midtown on the West Side much needed public space. Community residents helped to transform an eyesore into a beautiful place to walk and take in the city's buildings and the Hudson River. Now one can just walk West and go up into the sky to get away from the hustle and bustle of the city streets. No car traffic here just a nice place to walk, sit and take in sights like the Empire State Building. The park starts from Gansevoort Street in the Meatpacking District and runs uptown to West 34Th Street, between 10Th & 11Th Avenues. Open everyday from 7am to 7pm it is a reason to get out of the Subway and walk from 14Th St to MSG and Penn Station. So go and take a camera, a sketch book or just your lunch and enjoy being surrounded by the city up in the sky.

Must See in NYC - John Lennon's Imagine Circle

John Lennon lived in NYC for the last years of his life. He worked on his solo material and lived the family life with his wife and child in the Dakota Apartments on the Upper West Side. It was outside the well known building that Lennon was gunned down in December of 1980. Many fans would come to mourn for the loved Beatle in front on West 72ND Street. So many that the city of New York had to make a memorial. "Strawberry Fields" and the Imagine Circle designed by Bruce Kelly was opened on what would have been Lennon's 45Th birthday, 9 October 1985. A grassy hill on the west side of the park is "Strawberry Fields" The Imagine Circle in just inside the opening to the park at Central Park West at West 72ND Street. This triangular pathway with a round mosaic of inlaid stones with the word "Imagine" at the center is black and white but is always covered with colorful flowers from fans. The mosaic is a reproduction of one from Pompeii. A city near modern Naples that was completely destroyed and then buried by the volcano Mount Vesuvius. This is not just a beautiful part of Central Park its a gathering place for lovers of John Lennon and his message of peace.

Katz's Delicatessen

Katz's is New York's landmark eatery in the L.E.S. This Delicatessen has been on the corner of Ludlow and Houston for over a century. Only moving once from the east corner to the west corner because of subway construction. They are now known for there famous pastrami sandwiches which are Huge. One can get a half pastrami sandwich with soup, not as intimidating. This pastrami is tasty enough to be on the food channel but before TV it was their Knackwurst and Bean special that was a big neighborhood tradition. Tradition is definitely important to Katz's. As Billy Crystal says in When Harry Met Sally, "There's nothing more New York then Katz's." Don't miss the hustle and bustle of Katz's Delicatessen.

NYC Haunted Spots to Visit on Halloween

Its the time of year to dress up, have fun and see something scary. This city is an old one. So there is no shortage of haunted spots to check out. Here are a few that may just surprise you. Starting with the oldest haunt in town "The Bridge Cafe." This is in a building that dates back to 1794. Believe it or not this was a old pirate bar and brothel. In what was The Fourth Ward this bar was in a hood that was no joke. "A travel guide of the day called it the most violent street on the continent." If you messed around in this place a 6-foot-tall Irish bouncer would bite or cut off an ear and pickle it in a jar above the bar. Her name was Ms. Gallus Mag, a woman not to piss off. Then there is "The Death House" on West 10Th. It is said that 22 people have died in the house. This was once Mark Twain's old stomping ground and he is said to haunt the stairwell of the house. Then in 1987 Joel Steinberg beat his 6-year-old adopted daughter Jessica Steinberg to death. Just walk by and feel the death coming out the windows. Some spots with ghosts are places people walk passed every day. Like Empire State Building where there has been 14 suicides from the Building's observatory. Five in 1947 alone. Also in 1945 a B-5 Bomber crashed into the building killing 14 people. It is said if one was to walk by at Midnight screams can be heard from above. Then Washington Square Park was once a potters Field where the poor bodies that were unwanted by the church were put to rest. Most of the graves were not deep enough and reports of stepping on crushing bones were made. In the 18Th century the park was used for hangings. It is said that the large tree in the northwest corner of the square is Hangman's Elm, but there is some evidence that the tree was where the fountain is now. In 1825 the cemetery was closed. So when walking through this park that is now a tourist attraction think about the people hung there and the 20,000 bodies that remain under foot. Happy Halloween!!

Bridge Cafe
279 Water St
The House of Death
14 West 10Th Street (near Fifth Avenue)
Empire State Building
350 Fifth Avenue
Washington Square Park
West 4Th Street and MacDougal

Must See in NYC - Staten Island Ferry

The Staten Island Ferry is a every day thing for commuters back and forth from Manhattan, to Staten Island. This quick trip through the New York Harbor provided for free gives you a great view of The Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. One can get great pictures of the skyscrapers, but don't drop your camera. Every 30 minutes it leaves from the Whitehall Ferry Terminal on South Street, take the 1, 4, 5, N, R, W, J, M, Z subway lines. The concessions in every boat has food, soda, and even beer. Then after the free ride why not head to china town for some food?

A Must See in NYC - Chelsea Hotel

If your not from the city then you need a place to stay when on a visit to New York. There are lots of famous hotels on the Island but non as cool as the Chelsea. If you can't get a room then just head over and bask in the glory of "The last outpost of bohemia." This red-brick building on West 23rd Street was the first cultural preservation sight listed by New York City. Built in 1883 it was the city's tallest building with only twelve flights till 1899. Once the center of the theater district the Chelsea Hotel is in Midtown close to the Empire State Building, and minutes from Greenwich Village in the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan. Lots of historical events took place in New York that involved this hotel, like when the Titanic sank some of the survivors stayed at the Chelsea. All this History is nice but the real skinny in not about the building or the neighborhood, its the guests. Hundreds of writers, artists and musicians made it their home though the years. If your are a writer or love authors then this is a real treat. So many thinkers and writers stayed in these rooms. House hold names like Arthur Miller, Mark Twain, Thomas Wolfe, and Tennessee Williams. This is where Arthur C. Clarke wrote "2001: A Space Oddyssey." It was also a beat hang-out with writers and poets in every hallway. William S. Burroughs, Gregory Corso, and Allen Ginsberg all where guest. Their friend Jack Kerouac wrote "On the Road" during his stay at the Chelsea. Some of the hotels literary guests never got the chance to check out. Dylan Thomas died of alcohol poisoning in 1953 after falling into a coma in his room. Then author of "The Lost Weekend", Charles R. Jackson committed suicide in his room at the Chelsea on September 21, 1968. Home to writers and artist alike, the Chelsea has Art filling every hallway and staircase. Creativity seem to seep out of the walls and into the minds of visual artists that stayed in the hotel. Both artists Harry Everett Smith and painter Alphaeus Philemon Cole lived and died there. Andy Warhol made "Chelsea girls" at the hotel. It was called a "three and a half hour cesspool of vulgarity and talentless confusion which is about as interesting as the inside of a toilet bowl" by Rex Reed. Lots of Warhols Factory stayed in the hotel like the lovely Edie Sedgwick. Warhol was not the only director to be connected to the Chelsea, the wacky Stanley Kubrick called it home for a time. If you think that's a lot of famous names check out the list of Musicians that lived within the hotels walls - Tom Waits, Virgil Thomson, Dee Dee Ramone, Sid Vicious, Patti Smith, Henri Chopin, Rufus Wainwright, Ryan Adams, John Cale, Édith Piaf, Joni Mitchell, Bob Dylan, Alice Cooper, Jimi Hendrix, The Grateful Dead, Canned Heat, it goes on and on. Janis Joplin had an fling with Leonard Cohen there. Cohen then went and wrote the song "Chelsea Hotel #2," about it. The Sex Pistols bassist Sid Vicious, was staying in the hotel in October of 78' when he woke up and found his girlfriend Nancy Spungen stabbed to death. He had not been able to remember what happened that night and died himself soon after. It has been a long haul for this building in midtown. Lots of ups and downs, highs and lows made famous by the creative forces that mingled inside this red building with black iron railings. This is where you get the New York you imagined when listening to songs or reading the passages of the greats. So get a room and open the window on the New York night that inspired so many legends.



"The building sits on 23rd Street with the air of a great dame who finds herself in the midst of a party of her social inferiors but instead of complaining decides to join right in the fun."
The New York Times


Living with legend
The last outpost of bohemia
http://www.chelseahotelblog.com/

http://www.hotelchelsea.com/